Beauty pageants are often criticized for objectifying women and only focusing on their beauty. While the fabulous Miss Georgia, Betty Cantrell, was crowned the winner, many other women shined by demonstrating their strength and intelligence. Here are four moments that really stood out:
1. Miss Vermont demonstrated her scientific knowledge by doing an experiment onstage.
To support her platform of “Success through STEM” (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics), Miss Vermont Alayna Westcom did an experiment commonly called “Elephant’s Toothpaste.” She has traveled around Vermont sharing her STEM enthusiasm with thousands of students.
Westcom, who according to the Miss America website wants to be a pathologist, was inspired by all those who doubted her ambitions. In an interview with the Vermont publication Seven Days, she said that she was tired of hearing people say, “You don’t look like a scientist.”
2. Miss Colorado gave a moving monologue about her experience as nurse
Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson’s talent portion of the competition is already going viral. She didn’t sing or dance, but rather talked about her passion: nursing. She recalled a time when she was caring for an Alzheimer’s patient named Joe, who often asked her to do things that she wasn’t able to do because she was, as she often told him, “just a nurse.”
One day, Joe surprised her with a moving statement.
“Although you say it all the time, you are not just a nurse,” she remembered him saying. “‘You are my nurse, and you have changed my life because you have cared about me.’ That’s when it hit me. Patients are people with family and friends, and I don’t want to be a nurse that ever pretends. Joe reminded me that day that I’m a lifesaver. I’m never going to be just a nurse.”
3. Miss Tennessee showed support for women’s health rights
Judge Vanessa Williams asked Miss Tennessee Hannah Robison, “Some legislators are threatening to shut down the government over federal contributions to Planned Parenthood, even though no federal funds can be used for abortions. Should Planned Parenthood funding be cut off?”
Faced with a controversial question, Robison still shined:
“I don’t think Planned Parenthood funding should be cut off. The $500 million that gets given to Planned Parenthood every single year goes to female…care,” she said. “It goes for scanning for cancers, it goes for mammograms…and if we don’t give that funding to Planned Parenthood, those women will be out of healthcare for reproductive causes.”
4. The Miss America chairperson apologized to Vanessa Williams
Now famous actress and singer Vanessa Williams was crowned the first African American Miss America in 1983. Just a short while later, she had to resign the title due to her nude photos appearing in Penthouse magazine.
Miss American chairman Sam Haskell took the stage during the competition and apologized for the actions of his predecessors regarding anything “that was said or done” during the photo scandal.
This seemingly small gesture made a big statement for a woman’s right to make her own choices and do whatever she wants to do with her body, despite the backwards views of society.
Rock on, ladies!