Has The Time Come To Discontinue The Miss America Pageant?

Although there are probably a few good things that have come from it over the years, it would be best if it were to stop. It's degrading to see women judged mostly based on looks.

Although I don't watch I think that it shouldn't just go away and disappear. The pageant circuit does provide the opportunity for scholarships (which is a competition in its own right) and community service. I do feel like the competition should be revamped some. I think it needs to start at the kid level though. It shouldn't be about looks and stuff but promoting a healthy body image and actual talents. Do I think it will ever change who knows but I do know the Miss America Pageant will be around a long time.

yes its enough it should end

It needs to go away. Girls growing up these days have enough pressure!

Miss America Pageant should definitely continue. This is as American as apple pie. I watched it as a child and I am now 45 years old. It is a positive platform for the most part.

Discontinue - not relevant in our current age.

There are so many other worthwhile things we can be doing with our time, our voices and our money!

I think it should still exist though I personally don't watch it, it gives women a scholarship fund & is a great forum for them to show case their talent & intelligence. I feel that it should be updated to feature different categories to be judged on. Women compete with each other on a daily basis maybe let's find ways to help praise one and other starting with one of the ways women started competing against each other. We should all help build one & other up, not tear each other down.

I personally love the miss America pageant. I grew up watching it, and I watch It now with my four children. It is only what we make of it, young children don't watch it thinking that it's objectifying women, they are told that it is. If it's not for you, don't watch it, it's really that simple.

I think it's a degrading parade, but that's just me. If the contestants find it to be an important "competition" then, let them be.

I think the pageant should continue and show more diverse Miss America contestants.

There's no need for a pageant, like other people have mentioned. Discontinuation might be nice but if you're going to compare it to reality TV, this is a much better alternative than drunk women fighting, probably in their underwear, over a guy. That type of show is aired on a weekly basis whereas the beauty pageant is on once a year, right? If women want scholarship money, there should be a new type of 'pageant' that highlights the intelligence over the beauty. A little more Jeopardy, and less skin. I'm not saying it should be a boring program, but for crying out loud, I have a hard time listening to a woman answer questions about world issues after she paraded out in her bikini. My problem, not hers, so I don't watch the show. A "beauty" pageant makes me think of it negatively like women should be seen not heard. What year is this?

I think that it shouldnt be based so much on looks.

I think it gives girls a complex and makes them believe if they are not skinny, smart, and pretty then they are not good enough. These pageants really do nothing good for America or its citizens. I did pageants when I was young and regret it. It is time to say goodbye.

Scholarships are good and needed right now, so I don't have a problem with that. I don't like the reality direction it has been going, and I don't like the sleaze factor of the swimwear. It used to have more of a wholesome quality to it. If they concentrated more on talent and less on their plastic bodies and faces, then I'm O.K. with it. The focus on "beauty" in these pageants is laughable when they are all as fake as they day is long.