Miss America Ending Swimsuit Portion “Pivotal Moment” in Pageant History, Says RI Expert

Miss America Ending Swimsuit Portion “Pivotal Moment” in Pageant History, Says RI Expert

The decision by the Miss America to drop the swimsuit portion of the beauty competition was “not surprising," but a pivotal moment in pageant history, says Hilary Levey Friedman, PhD, who appeared on GoLocal LIVE following the organization's announcement. 

“It’s not surprising,” said Levey Friedman, who teaches in the Department of Education at Brown University. “There’s new leadership — Gretchen Carlson, who many will know from Fox News and suing Fox Chairman Roger Ailes. She was actually Miss America 1989.  She was brought in in January to remake the pageant after the email scandal and she hinted even then there were going to be some pretty big changes.”

“It’s not surprising that they dropped swimsuit, but it is surprising they dropped any fitness component at all,” said Levey Friedman. 

The author of “Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture,” Levey Friedman is currently President of the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Women (RI NOW) and on the Platform and Issues Committee of the Rhode Island Democratic Party.

Friedman spoke to what she sees as the differing directions for the Miss America and Miss USA pageants; what her students want to know when she teaches classes on pageants; and how she envisions pageants moving forward now.