Hey Feminists, Your demonization of Miss America is hypocritical

Last Thursday, the 99th Miss America was crowned at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. Congrats, Miss Virginia! Now, cue the comment section. Cue the social justice warriors of Twitter declaring pageants to be sexist, antiquated, demeaning and the root of all gender inequality in America (ok, maybe the last one is a bit of a stretch). And because everything on the internet leads back to Donald Trump, cue the broken record regurgitating the myth that Miss America is just another item on the President’s list of human rights violations. Maybe I should clarify for the people in the back; Donald Trump has never had ANYTHING to do with Miss America. Miss America has NOTHING to do with Donald Trump.

In 2019, most people do not know nor care about the most recent successor in the lineage of America’s oldest and longest-standing pop culture icon — with the exception of die-hard pageant fans and equally zealous pageant opponents. As a former pageant skeptic turned contestant, I have heard every argument, misconception, misunderstanding and accusation surrounding the Miss America Organization; and while some are perfectly valid, most are not. Cheap blows about beauty queens are a dime a dozen — that they are dumb, ditzy, shallow and starving with world peace, becoming a trophy wife, and a possible reality TV stint on the agenda. Yet, dozens…