Pageant News Bureau

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u

A trend exposed

and reader comments*

Hollywood starlets wouldn't be caught dead in gowns you can't see through. High school girls are buying so many thong panties -- and so few bras -- that lingerie companies are having to change their business plans. A former Miss USA has done a nude pictorial in Playboy magazine. A former Miss America has done two.

As the vaudeville comedian might say, "What's coming off here?" Why is everybody so bare? And why does nobody care?

Ann-Marie Rozyla shows off a style of beachwear that is now common-place, but could once get a lady arrested. Unless you never visit the beach, or look away quickly when a bathing beauty turns her back, this scene is not wholly unfamiliar. - Photo by Steven L. Goldberg photography

This societal change has come fairly quickly, at least in the traditionally more straitlaced societies of Northern Europe, North America and Northeast Asia. In the 1960s, Barbara Eden couldn't bare her navel on "I Dream of Jeannie." James Bond films were described by some critics as "lewd" because of busty heroines in low-cut dresses. Now, folks, that's family fare.

Ms. Rozyla, a Los Angeles model who was American Dream's Miss December, demonstrates a pose that was once considered racy, not so much for what it shows but for what it suggests. It suggests that women sometimes take their clothes off, something we should all have guessed by now. - Photo by Steven L. Goldberg photography

Pageants, especially, were always a stronghold of puritanical mores. As recently as the early 1980s, a reigning Miss America criticized the Miss USA Pageant as a "skin show." As recently as the late 1990s, self-appointed promoters of a "positive" image of pageants were denouncing PNB for showing beauty queens in bikinis. (These people's dim view of swimsuits has now changed, but their reverence for money remains.)

Perhaps the acceptance of "skin" is a sign of changing sexual attitudes. Certainly the distinction between "good girls" and "bad girls" has diminished in many people's minds. In the 1950s, almost no beauty queens lived with their boyfriends. Few even thought of such a thing. Today such arrangements are common, and known to everybody, though still almost never acknowledged onstage.

When an adult woman dresses like a high school cheerleader, some people say it's offensive. It conjures up images of dirty old men leering at girls. But why do so many school scandals involve middle-aged women who get crushes on boys? Maybe NFL jerseys should be banned. - Photo courtesy of Kimberly Hitt

Alabama model Kimberly Hitt, a Resaca Beach competitor, shows the kind of view that made Sophia Loren stare scornfully at Jayne Mansfield during a Hollywood party way back in the fabulous '50s. Ronald Reagan was at that party, too, so it can't have been too scandalous. - Photo courtesy of Kimberly Hitt

Well, enough about the sociology of sex. If you're interested in that subject, there are lots of good books available (plus a number of bad ones, which you have already read).

What concerns most serious pageant-watchers is the effect this daring, baring trend is having on the pageant culture. Much of that culture, and certainly most of the pageant business, is built on clothes. But will clothes become optional? And morals aside, what is in good taste nowadays?

PNB, as the recognized conscience of the pageant industry, has been asked by serious individuals and organizations to formulate a code of taste and propriety for pageant pictures on the Internet. We may institute a ratings system. It's also possible that we will receive a U.N. mandate to enforce these rules, but that seems unlikely.

This is a worthy project, but not one we plan to tackle alone. In the spirit of democracy, and with keen awareness of the power of the "marketplace," we are soliciting feedback from you, the members of the pageant public. Instead of complaining about the lack of guidelines, you now have the potential to help set guidelines.

Aaron Cervantes dresses like Johnny Weissmuller and stares like Rudolph Valentino. It's that combination that made our female staffers give this a thorough evaluation. "Girls shouldn't be looking at this," one concluded. But she was still looking herself. - Photo courtesy of the Raul Villalobos Organization

Brazil is south of the equator, and the front of Raquel Alves' swimsuit goes well south of the navel, far beyond what Barbara Eden was allowed to show. But after all, this is Brazil. - Photo courtesy of Jander Fischer-Joergensen and the good people at Beauty Brazil (http//belezabrazil.com.br)

We are offering for your consideration six photographs, with commentary to provide context. Some would have been considered scandalous a generation ago, but all are now rather tame compared to what is seen in much of the popular culture.

Please rate these photographs on a scale of 1 to 6, with 1 being the least offensive and 6 being the one you find most shocking. And please feel free to include any comments.

This may be the most important project in which you ever take part, so please approach it with utter seriousness.

*Much ado about images

Here are the two most pithy, though rather different, responses to our recent feature on scanty clothing in pageant and modeling circles
I am responding to your article about what pageant contestants are wearing (or not wearing).
Your question, "Do people care?" They absolutely do care! But, inevitably, one eventually hears those tired, worn-out cries of "First Amendment Rights." [Note to international readers: The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees free expression.] With rights, however, come responsibility and accountability. Scantily clad women in suggestive poses does not lend itself to responsible behavior.
We must remember that history tends to repeat itself. The Roman Empire fell because of moral decadence. Our current mode of dress (and specifically the photos you had at your Web site) shows us that we are not morally progressing but regressing. Yes, I am very offended at seeing a woman's breast and buttocks while the model wears an innocent little smile on her face, especially at a pageant news Web site. I thought pageants were to extol the "virtues" of women, not demean them by undressing them. Just because there are some women who chose to undress for the world does not justify that behavior. Pageant winners and participants should be role models for their peers and their culture.
I definitely believe that we are heading in the wrong direction by continually "exploiting" women who, unfortunately, do not mind being "used" in this way. My question is if we do not set standards of moral dress code within our society, there is, consequently, no end to where this will all lead to.
Pageants should "celebrate womanhood" not "exploit" it!
Sincerely,
Pamela S. Muench
Mrs. Indiana International 2002

You wanted us to rate pictures. They were all overly revealing.
The first one, with the thong, was the worst. Nothing is more low-class and tacky-looking than having someone with their rear end out for the whole world to see. There is little difference in that pose than someone at a strip club, or in a porn photo.
Pageant women should have more pride in themselves, and they should not sell out just for money or temporary fame. Women say they want respect, and claim that they do not wish to be treated as sex objects, but what some say and how some dress and act is conflicting. I miss the classy way pageants used to be. As your article said just a few years back they frowned on skin shows.
I think the picture with the girl showing herself like a cheerleader looked more like porn ad than a pageant photo. That was second in poor taste. The woman showing the bottom of her breasts was third in low life, and the guy's picture looked like porn, too, and it is fourth in poor taste.
The girl in the boat at the bottom of the page is the least offensive. At least she is not waving her rear in the air. I did not like it, but it was not as bad as the others.
I like to enter acheivement beauty pageants because they are not about who can show the most skin. It is based on the beauty of mind and spirit and accomplishment. It does not take talent or morals to expose your fanny to the world, and many of us are still offended with such poor taste and nasty, blatant overexposure. I was even sad with the Miss America Pageant for cutting out the talent portion, and allowing more revealing swimwear. I would rather not see the bathing suit portion, and see the women's talent.
I also think that having high morals in one's personal life is important for a pageant queen. A pageant queen should be a role model, not a porn queen with her rear stuck out in everyone's face. Women who flaunt their bare fannies apparently have nothing else to offer.
Name not provided

EDITOR'S NOTE: These comments, and others we did not choose to publish, are much appreciated. However, while we have received many comments about what is unacceptable dress, no one has offered standards about what is acceptable.

In some societies today, the display of a woman's bare legs is considered indecent and immoral. Just 100 years ago, the same rule applied in "modern, Western" countries. But today, even most devout Westerners find nothing wrong with women in short trousers.

So, if we must draw a line, where do we draw it? Are "conservative" swimsuits acceptable and "revealing" swimsuits beyond the pale? Or are swimsuits simply the first step toward nudity?

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u