Miss America Organization, pageants provide role models for women

As a seven-year pageant contestant, I feel that it is necessary to debunk some of the misconceptions surrounding pageants, particularly the Miss America Organization.

First, the women I have encountered through pageants are emotionally strong and intelligent. Many have overcome extreme adversity and use that experience to educate through their platforms and personal stories. Life-threatening illness, bullying, depression, child abuse and domestic violence are a few examples of challenges which my fellow contestants have overcome and which have inspired their platforms – platforms hoping to change our world.

Furthermore, the “lifestyle and fitness” category, also known as “swimwear,” is one of the most positive and attractive aspects of competition for contestants. As someone who has struggled with maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the past, I now have an active support group of pageant sisters who uplift and encourage each other to stay fit and healthy. America, as a nation, is infamously unhealthy. It is fantastic to have role models who inspire women to be active and healthy.

Moreover, most pageants welcome and encourage women of all shapes and sizes to compete. This has taken the emphasis off physical appearance and focused on inner beauty and achievements. The National American Miss pageant is a prime example of this. It is beautiful to see confident and inspiring women of all shapes and sizes winning pageants.

Despite stereotypes reinforced by pageant outsiders, the women who compete in pageants are the most confident, genuine and supportive people I have ever known. The most fiercely competitive pageant in which I ever participated was the Miss New York pageant, which Nina Davuluri won this past July. I have never experienced such an intense level of competition, with an even greater level of camaraderie. The degree of sportsmanship and support of this sisterhood is unparalleled.

If this past Miss America pageant has revealed anything about society, it is that a woman’s worth is not skin deep. It has proven just the opposite. However, it also has revealed that there is still a great deal of racism and ignorance in our country today. Fortunately, Miss America, Nina Davuluri, has been educating others through her platform – “Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competence” – and now has the opportunity to do so on the national level. She is intelligent, strong, driven and someone women across the world can view as a role model.

Now that is true beauty.

Alexandra Curtis
Miss Upstate New York 2013