Miss America Ditches Swimwear Competition: “We Are No Longer A Pageant; We Are A Competition”

From evening wear to talent competitions, there are several elements that make up Miss America. However on Tuesday, they have decided to leave the iconic swimwear competition in the past.

Gretchen Carlson, the chairwoman of Miss America’s board of directors, announced on Good Morning America that there will be a shift in focus on the contestants’ physical beauty. “We are no longer a pageant; we are a competition,” she said.

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She says that along with the swimwear, they are working on “revamping the evening gown competition” to change the entire nature of Miss America. Carlson says that the annual show will be more “open, transparent, inclusive to women who may not have felt comfortable participating in [their] program before.”

While scholarship and talent have always been a part of Miss America, Carlson shares that those elements will have a bigger role in future competitions.

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Cara Mund, who currently holds the title of Miss America, shared her support of the “whole new era” by sharing a tweet of a bikini going up in smoke.

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While the organization is excited to move the competition in a different direction, many pageant viewers and contestants are not as thrilled.

The next Miss America competition will on held on Sept. 9 in Atlantic City, N.J.