Atlantic City, N.J. • The Miss America pageant is dropping the swimsuit competition, saying it will no longer judge contestants on their appearance.
The competition began nearly 100 years ago in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as a bathing beauty contest designed to keep tourists coming to the seaside resort the weekend after Labor Day.
But it has run into resistance to the swimsuit, and to a lesser extent, evening gown competitions, that had come by some to be seen as outdated. An email scandal last December in which former Miss America officials denigrated the intelligence, appearance and sex lives of former title winners led to a shake-up at the top, and the group’s top three leadership positions are now held by women.