1. Today, Aspiring Beauty Queens Are Going Broke
Today, beauty pageants cause very polarizing opinions; You either love them, or you hate them. TV shows like Toddlers in Tiaras gave a behind-the-scenes look of the cringe-worthy world we now live in, where literal babies are paraded around by their parents in hope that some day, they might grow up to become the next Miss America.
In the original Miss America, competitors showed up wearing their Sunday Best. Today, they are expected to buy multiple outfits that are incredibly expensive to make. On average, one dress costs hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. Their goal is to win a scholarship, but only one girl out of hundreds of competitors will actually go away winning the crown.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
Miss America: A History. MissAmerica.org
How Vanessa Williams Endured Her Miss America Scandal. The OWN Network. YouTube.
Fifty Years Ago, Protestors Took To The Miss America Pageant And Electrified the Feminist Movement. Roxane Gay. Smithsonian. 2018.
I Trained Like Miss USA For 60 Days. Michelle Khare. YouTube.
1944 Miss America Who Inspired WWII Effort Dies At 91. Business Insider.
Beauties Are Going Broke Trying To Win Pageant Crowns. Christian Gollayan. New York Post.