And the crown for the latest pageant scandal goes to…
Well, it depends on who you ask.
Last month, Genesis Davila, formerly Miss Florida, lost her crown after only six days for allegedly having her hair and makeup done by professionals (contestants aren't allowed to have any outside help). Davila claims she’s innocent—that the supposed photo evidence of her time in the beauty chair was from the week before the pageant, not just before the event itself—and is now suing Miss Florida 2017 for defamation, to the tune of $15 million.
Over the weekend, Miss Teen USA excitingly tweeted its top five contestants and was hit with a barrage of criticism for a lack of diversity—these gals basically looked like identical quintuplets. But that’s not the biggest ugh here: Hours after one of the quints, Karlie Hay of Texas, was crowned the winner, it was discovered that she had repeatedly tweeted the n-word in 2012 and 2013. Hay quickly apologized, calling it a “careless mistake” and blaming her youthful musical taste and wanting to fit in for her use of the word, which she said was “not acceptable ever.” The pageant organizers will allow Hay to keep her crown, saying: “Karlie learned many lessons through those personal struggles that reshaped her life and values. We as an organization are committed to supporting her continued growth.” (Hey, maybe the pageant should grow a little and do a social-media search or two on their contestants?)
All this pageant BS in the news brought back plenty of memories of past scandals, both the nude- and compromising-photo variety and the dumbest-answer-on-the-planet kind. (Ex. I believe, um, such as…) Sigh. So we had to wonder: Have pageants ever done anything good? The answer: Kind of! In the sense that they've been the setting of some positive change:
In the 2003 Miss Earth competition, Miss Afghanistan wore a red bikini as an FU to her conservative government. Vida Samadzai, then 25, was the first Afghan woman to compete in an international beauty pageant since 1972. For the swimsuit portion of the competition, Samadzai chose a modest boy-short suit, understanding “that it would probably not be acceptable in my society." Now, TBH, we’re totally icked out by a woman turning slowly to be judged in her swimwear, but not because a woman's body is shameful, so in this instance, the bikini was a boss move. (It’s also cute, and I would like to buy it.) Samadzai didn’t win Miss Earth but was given a special “Beauty for a Cause” award.
In 2012, Jenna Talackova, who’d competed in the 2010 Miss International Queen pageant for transgender women, entered Miss Universe Canada. When officials learned that Talackova, who’d transitioned when she was 19, was not born a woman, the 23-year-old was disqualified from the competition. Boo. But Talackova didn’t give up on her pageant dreams. She hired a lawyer (specifically Roe v. Wade attorney Gloria Allred), who pushed organizers, including Miss Universe Organization owner Donald Trump, to reconsider. Trump’s special counsel ultimately said: “As long as she meets the standards of legal gender recognition requirements of Canada, which we understand that she does, Jenna Talackova is free to compete in the 2012 Miss Universe Canada pageant”—and she was back in! Talackova made the top 12, but more significantly, she became a local celebrity for her activism.
Hop into the way-back machine for this one: In 1945, Miss America pageant organizers begged Bronx-born Bess Myerson to compete under a less Jewish-sounding name—“Beth Merrick” or “Betty Meredith.” The five-foot-ten pianist refused to hide her background: "Already I was losing my sense of who I was; already I was in a masquerade, marching across stages in bathing suits," she said years later. "Whatever was left of myself in this game, I had to keep, I sensed that. I knew I had to keep my name. It turned out to be one of the most important decisions I ever made." In the photos in the pageant’s program, the other contestants wore their swimsuits; Myerson wore her Hunter College cap and gown. Her pluck and pride won her the pageant, and she became the first (and only, to this day) Jewish Miss America. Multiple sponsors pulled out of their post-pageant events for unspecified reasons, but Myerson soon joined the public speaking circuit with the Anti-Defamation League; her speech was titled: “You Can’t Be Beautiful and Hate.” Though her later political career had highs and lows and her personal life was plagued with scandal, Myerson, who died in 2014 at age 90, was always committed to her Jewish roots, becoming a trustee of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City.
Now, sure, these positive moments are few and far between. But however archaic they are, pageants can get the world to talk about things that matter. What would you like to see a contestant champion this year?
Watch three women share their personal stories in mastering the art of aging: