Miss Louisiana is turning 50 this year. This week, 36 women arrived in Monroe to compete for the title and for a chance to represent the state at the Miss America pageant in September. For nearly a century, the American beauty pageant tradition has survived myriad social and cultural changes.
The Miss America pageant -- not to be confused with Miss USA -- was born in the summer of 1921 when Atlantic City businesses created it as a publicity event for the vacation destination. Advertisements promised "thousands of the most beautiful girls in the world." Instead, the crowd of 100,000 people looked on as Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., was selected from just a handful of young female contestants.
Miss America quickly grew to include state-wide representatives and expanded into the large network of pageants, and was first televised nationally in 1954.
Although the Miss America pageant has its origins an Atlantic City publicity event, the organization stands by its position as the world's largest scholarship provider for young women. Miss America received her first scholarship grant in 1945 for $5,000, and last year the organization "made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance," according to its website.
Despite the cash flow, Miss America hasn't been without her difficulties. The most well-known protest against the organization came in 1968 when the New York Radical Women argued the competition simply paraded women and judged them on impossible beauty standards.
Other critics claim the organization is rooted in "racial politics."
Since the proliferation of reality TV, child pageants have taken the spotlight on a controversial stage.
Former Miss Americas have historically spoken against TLC's "Toddlers & Tiaras" and "Here's Comes Honey Boo Boo", both of which follow young girls and their families on paths to pageant success or failure. Others, however, like The Atlantic's Allison Yarrow argue the "spirit (of the family on 'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo') is refreshing, even radical, in the universe of reality TV."
As Miss Louisiana turns 50, what do you think about the changing atmosphere of pageantry in the United States? Do you believe Miss America has moved on from the 1960s protests, or do you think the pageant world is still grappling with the idea of unrealistic beauty ideals?