Why weren’t Christians the ones to ‘ruin’ Miss America?

Jim
Society & Culture
Miss America

In 1935, Atlantic City businessmen hired Lenora Slaughter, a Southern Baptist from Florida, to revive the pageant. In an effort to sanitize the salacious revue, Slaughter shunned the word “bathing suit” in favor of the term “swimsuit,” playing up contestants’ athleticism rather than sensuality. She added a talent component and instituted scholarships for winners. A new rule banned contestants from visiting bars and nightclubs, established curfews, and forbade contestants to speak to any man alone. Christians felt increasingly at home in the pageant as Slaughter reformed it, inviting some of them to serve as hostesses, judges, or board members. In time, many who once opposed the pageant most vocally became its fiercest allies. To be sure, some Christians continued to oppose the spectacle, but gradually their voices were marginalized. The pageant came to be seen as a preserver and protector of American womanhood, even an antidote to feminism. The Miss America pageant promoted an ideal of femininity in keeping with Christian values, one that did not threaten to usurp male power.

Discussion

Profile picture for user Bert Perry
Bert Perry
Sun, 06/10/18 10:13 pm

Think about it. The article claims that the early organizers cleaned it up just enough so that Christians would watch, and participate in, a spectacle of men ogling 50 scantily clad women on stage talking about world peace and being a fourth year freshman at UCLA, and wanting to be a veterinarian because they love children. (h/T Julie Brown)

You might suggest that Hugh Hefner owed Mrs. Slaughter a hearty thank you for helping make that kind of thing acceptable.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.