Less than a week after groundbreaking changes to the Miss America pageant were announced, Tampa Bay area pageant queens are speaking out.
The changes include dropping the swimsuit competition, revamping the evening gown portion, and no longer judging candidates on their looks.
Lauren Hubbard, Lisa Patel, and Shana Mitchell have spent years in beauty pageants. While each has been crowned with different titles, they can all agree the competition has pushed them to new levels physically and mentally.
Earlier this week, when they heard of changes coming to the iconic Miss America competition, they were caught off guard.
“It was surprising, shocking and took a minute to process, but I was happy about the change,” said Shana Mitchell. The mother of three currently holds the Ms. Florida United States title, "I love swimsuit, personally, and have gained a lot from competing in swimsuit, but I feel like the changes even the playing field and focuses more on the scholarship aspect of Miss America.”
The 97-year-old contest initially billed as the bather’s review has long been criticized as degrading to women.
“I think as a little girl when you watch these pageants, you think, 'oh wow!' Swimsuit is just a part of that,” said Lauren Hubbard, who holds the titles of Miss Vizcaya Swimwear and Miss Local Norway.
While many people focus on the beauty of Miss America, the beauty pageant will now be considered just a competition. After all, it is a scholarship competition and leaders want to reflect that.
For these women, swimwear is empowering. Lisa Patel, who was Ms. Florida Galaxy 2016 said, “It’s your womanhood being showcased at the highest level for where you’re at during that time frame.”
“You work so hard, not just on your body, but on your confidence and your mental state to be comfortable in a bathing suit. Once you put on heels and walk across the stage in a bathing suit, you really feel like you can do anything.” Mitchell said.
Another change is a revamped evening gown portion. While the organization says it’s shifting focus from contestants' bodies to their brains, the competition still isn’t open to everyone.
“They say they want the competition to be more inclusive, but why take away swimwear? Why not take away height and weight, some of the other restrictions and start from the top,” Hubbard said.
There’s concern the changes could affect other pageants.
“If they start to change, then what is the effect that happens from there? I would not be a person of interest for those pageants, because I represent swimwear,” Hubbard said.
Lisa Patel says she hopes that doesn’t happen.
“It touching on other pageant systems is a little scary for me because I do stand for swimsuit and gown as well," Patel added.
Mitchell says coming out of an abusive relationship where negativity was put on her appearance, being a part of pageants gave her a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence.
“I found the swimsuit competitions I’ve done empowering to own who I am and my skin. That includes my stretch marks from having three kids, my deflated chest from breastfeeding them. All of my life experiences that left a mark on my body, owning that and accepting that and loving myself made that experience, even more, was therapeutic for me,” said Mitchell.
Last year, the competition was included in the #metoo movement after leaked emails exposed sexist comments about contestants. The top executives have since resigned.
Now, under new leadership and new changes, the next Miss America competition will be held on September 9th in Atlantic City.
Leaders say the competition will be open to women of all shapes and sizes.
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