Miss America due for change?
One Woman' Soapbox COLUMN: No to new pageant rules
By JO ZULKOWSKY
The Miss America pageant has come and gone again. I heard who the winner was on the news (I just couldn’t pull myself away from homework to watch a bunch of half-naked women parade around to see who is the most beautiful).
I had always been under the impression that with her good looks, wholesomeness, and life goals Miss America is supposed to represent the "ideal" American woman.
The other night, before the pageant, I heard a news story announcing that the Miss America Pageant Committee is considering letting women who have been divorced and/or have had an abortion enter the pageant.
Now let’s take a reality check as to what is wrong with this idea.
The women who enter the Miss America Pageant are 18 to 24 years of age. I would not expect a woman of that age to have had an abortion or to have been divorced. A woman of that age might just be considering marriage.
Does a woman who has had an abortion and/or a divorce at that age (no matter how good looking she is or what her goals are) have good morals and values? Is she the "ideal" American woman?
If the Pageant Committee allows women who have had an abortion and/or been divorced to enter then doesn’t this open the door for all sorts of changes?
Will we next include single mothers, lesbians, alcoholics, drug addicts, ex-criminals, and prostitutes? Or are they not considered the "ideal" American woman? How is a woman who has had an abortion and/or been divorced any different?