GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK)- The Miss America Organization announced Tuesday it would be dropping the swimsuit portion of the competition beginning this September.
It’s part of a completely new experience the organization would like for the show, including getting rid of the word “pageant” altogether.
The Miss America Organization began as a “bathing suit beauty contest” in 1920.
“Walking in a swimsuit onstage in Boardwalk Hall where so many young women had walked before us was one of the most empowering things I’ve ever done in my entire life,” said current Miss Wisconsin McKenna Collins.
Ninety-eight Pageants later, a new board of directors has announced they will no longer have a swimsuit portion of the competition. A twitter post shows this video, calling the movement for the program #byebyebikini.
“I think we do need change,” said Collins. “I just don’t know if this is necessarily the change that we needed.”
Collins said she thinks it’s possible to promote body positivity without taking away the swimsuit element.
“I think that removing this portion of the competition puts women into two boxes, and I think it forces them to choose between having brains and being beautiful,” said Collins.
For 2003 Miss Wisconsin and Miss America second runner-up Dr. Tina Sauerhammer, it was a special part of the experience.
“I actually loved that part of the competition,” said Sauerhammer. “I actually won the bathing suit portion of the competition at the Miss Wisconsin pageant.”
But she says the progress is necessary.
“In the 1920s it was very progressive for them to wear a bathing suit and be judged on that, and so likewise, it’s very progressive that we’re actually getting rid of the swimming suit competition,” said Sauerhammer.
While the decision seems bold, Collins believes they’ll find a good equilibrium moving forward.
“Miss America has always been about cultivating that balance between inner and outer beauty,” said Collins.
