Miss America began in 1921, but did not have a Black winner until 1984. Some women, disabled people and members of the LGBTQIA+ community said they feel like beauty pageants have not done enough for diversity even though some progress has been made since 1921.
“I am not completely surprised that it took until 1984 for a Black woman to win Miss America. It is extremely disappointing,” Miss Colorado contestant Molly Casey said. “Part of the role may be due to segregation, however, post-segregation I would have expected a black woman to win sooner.”
There is a lack of diversity in pageants around the United States which have historically been majority-white.
Casey who competed in her first pageant when she was 14, said she looked up to the women around her in the pageant world as polished and engaging. After three years of competing, Casey won the title of Miss Colorado’s Outstanding Teen in 2012 where she received over $400,000 in scholarship offers. She has gone to compete in three Miss America competitions leading to further scholarship opportunities for her.
During her time competing Casey said she experienced growth in interviewing, public speaking, networking and presentation skills.
“I have gained self confidence I didn't know was possible and have learned that I am capable of achieving even the greatest goals I set for myself,” she said. “It has encouraged me to work on myself, personally and professionally, and has led me to opportunities I wouldn't have had otherwise. I have also made lifelong friends and "sisters'' that encourage me, support me and love me no matter what.”
Casey competed at Miss Colorado earlier this year where for the first time she had an Asian- American competitor.
“We have had quite a few Black-American women compete and in the last few years two have won the title. Nationally, there is much more diversity,” Casey said. “I would love to see more Latinas and Native American women compete. Unfortunately, preparing for and competing in pageants can be extremely expensive.”
Casey noted that the pageant world can be expensive on all levels. She notes the effect socioeconomic status might affect the number of women of color participating in such programs. According to the U.S. Census, Black women were paid 63% of what white men made in 2019.
“The system is much more geared towards young women who are of higher socioeconomic backgrounds or in private schools, which often means women of diversity are underrepresented,” Casey said.”Not to say that young women of diversity are not in higher socioeconomic classes or private schools, there is just a lack of diversity and representation in those groups and those populations often alienate individuals of diversity.”
Miss Colorado USA, along with many other USA state pageants, asks for a $1,000 entry fee.
“Should pageants offer scholarships or financial aid to women who are at a financial disadvantage to allow them to compete, pageants would see a massive increase in young women of diversity choosing to compete and representing their communities,” Casey said. “This would encourage other young women who identify with those they see onstage or with the crown to compete through use of the scholarships/grants offered by pageants to cover the costs of entry fees and other fees associated with pageants.”
Although she is a white woman and has not had to face the same struggles as women of color in pageants, Casey said she sees the importance of diversity. She has not had to face the struggles of many women of color in the world of pageants.
“Diversity is important to me because it is essential to learning and reaching a place of understanding one another better. Diversity helps us understand the true makeup of the world around us and forces us to see each other as equals,” Casey said. “Diversity in pageants is extremely important because the young women who win titles become role models for their communities. For those looking up to the titleholder, to see someone that looks like them or comes from a similar background is very encouraging, inspiring and thought provoking. Those who look up to the titleholders and see themselves in her may drive them to compete as well or choose to pursue goals that they might otherwise not be able to see themselves achieving.”
Race is just one of the many possible causes of discrimination in pageants. Plus-sized women, women in the LGBTQIA+ community and disabled women have also faced setbacks due to their identities.
“Highlighting diversity should be a key component for organizations claiming to support women because women do not come in just one shape, size, color, background, etc. To encourage women of all walks of life to compete, pageants need to highlight those women who do compete and come from diverse backgrounds and populations,” Casey said. “Judging women because of how they identify does no good to help increase diversity, equality, tolerance and acceptance in pageants and the world.
Distinguished Young Women Madison County, Alabama 2020 participant Ellie Hundley was one of two women of color participants and the only Asian participant for her program. While she never felt discriminated against she did note an odd experience in her interview portion of the program.
“In my interview, I got asked a question about discrimination against Asians in America,” she said. “It was fine that the panel asked me that, but I was never asked about African American discrimination. It could have just been a coincidence, however, it was odd to me that I was not asked about both groups considering that the news was flooded with information about how both groups were being discriminated against.
Kenzie Herring also participated in the competition with Hundley. Herring was the only Black participant and felt that she was profiled because of her skin color.
“I really do not think that it was fair that I was asked questions about the murder George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protest while the other white participants were not asked questions like that,” she said. “I feel that as soon as my answer came out my mouth it was already decided I was not going to win, but I was okay with that because I stood by my beliefs and was not willing to conform to what they wanted, which is extremely wrong. I feel as though we should write our answers down and it should be a blind judgement because my skin color really did play a huge factor in it.”
Only two winners of the Distinguished Young Women national competition have been Black since its founding in 1958.
“It makes me feel extremely sad and uncomfortable that there have only been two black girls to win the DYW national title,” Herring said. “When I was a little girl I loved watching pageants but I would always ask my mom ‘Why aren’t there any that look like me’ while watching. I think it is very important for young black girls to see that representation and know they have a chance which I did not have with DYW.”
Herring said she believes that if organizations like DYW and pageants want to claim they support women that it should be women of all walks of life.
“I think that highlighting diversity should be a key component for this organization [DYW] that claims to support women because the world is full of color, there is a severe lack of representation and it is not okay,” Herring said.
Herring has ideas for how these organizations can remove bias or discrimination in their programs, but she believes it will take a long time to erase the years of discrimination in the pageant world.
“I feel like a step this organization can take to become more inclusive is by having a wider variety of judges,” she said. “While I was participating there were not any judges of color and with how the questions were asked and worded I could already tell their views on certain topics. Another step is to remove extremely biased interview questions from the interview section of the program.”