Miss America Is Doing Away With The Swimsuit Competition

The Miss America pageant said Tuesday that it will no longer judge women based on their looks and to that end, the organization is scrapping the swimsuit portion of the event and revamping the evening gown phase.

"We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance," Gretchen Carlson, chairwoman of the Miss America Board of Directors, told Good Morning America on Tuesday. 'That's huge and that means we will no longer have a swimsuit competition and that is official as of Sept. 9, when we have our competition in Atlantic City."

Carlson, the former Fox News host who accused Roger Ailes of sexual harassment, is a former Miss America herself. She also announced that the evening gown phase of the competition will be revamped. Contestants will no longer judge women when they come out in their chosen attire. Carlson said judges will be interested in what the contestants have to say when they talk about their social impact initiatives.

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In place of the swimsuit competition, each candidate will participate in a live interactive session with the judges. For the evening gown portion, contestants will be allowed to wear evening attire of their choosing while discussing how they will advance their social impact initiatives, the organization said in a statement.

"We want to be open, transparent, inclusive to women who may not have felt comfortable participating in our program before," Carlson said. "We have always had talent and scholarship and we need to message that part of the program better as well."

Asked about a potential impact on ratings, Carlson said the swimsuit part of the competition is not a highly rated event and people are more interested in the talent portion, which will remain a highlight of the competition.

Ratings for last year's Miss America pageant dropped when compared to the 2016 competition. As documented in The Press of Atlantic City, moments from the pageant trended on social media, including Miss Texas Margana Wood's response in the Q&A portion of the event.

Wood was asked whether she agreed with President Trump that people on both sides of the protests in Charlottesville were equally at fault for the violence that led to the death of one counter-protester. Wood responded that it was a terrorist attack and that the president should have made a statement earlier addressing the fact.

"This is a new beginning and change can sometimes be difficult but I know a lot about change, my life has worked in mysterious ways, I never though I'd be the chairwoman of the Miss America Organization but here I am and we're moving it forward and we're evolving in this cultural revolution," Carlson said.

Carlson was the first woman to publicly come forward and accuse then Fox News chairman Roger Ailes of sexual harassment in July 2016. She was also one of the first women in the #MeToo era to publicly accuse a powerful figure of such behavior. After Carlson came forward, more women spoke of their experiences with Ailes and he resigned that month. Following the ouster of Ailes, a number of Fox News executives and hosts left the channel as accusations of sexual harassment riled the organization, including Bill O'Reilly, Eric Bolling and Bill Shine.

Carlson has also worked with members of Congress to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and end forced arbitration in sexual harassment settlements.

Carlson coming forward with her accusations against Ailes was part of a wave of women speaking out against powerful men. On the same day that Carlson announced the changes to the Miss America competition, disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to sex crime charges in Manhattan after being indicted by a grand jury. Weinstein's appearance in court comes eight months after The New York Times and The New Yorker first reported on accusations against Weinstein. He has been accused of sexual harassment, rape and assault by dozens of women.

The Miss America pageant itself was caught up in controversy last year after HuffPost reported on emails in which then CEO Sam Haskell allegedly disparaged pageant winners. According to HuffPost, Haskell regularly maligned, fat-shamed and slut-shamed former Miss Americas. Haskell resigned in December.

“Miss America’s new mission statement is: ‘To prepare great women for the world, and to prepare the world for great women,’” Regina Hopper, President and CEO of Miss America, said in a press release. “We want more young women to see this program as a platform upon which they can advance their desire to make a real difference and to provide them with the necessary skills and resources for them to succeed in any career path they choose.”

Photo: Miss Missouri 2017 Jennifer Davis, Miss Alabama 2017 Jessica Procter, Miss North Dakota 2017 Cara Mund, Miss New Jersey 2017 Kaitlyn Schoeffel and Miss District of Columbia 2017 Briana Kinsey react during the 2018 Miss America Competition Show at Boardwalk Hall Arena on September 10, 2017 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Dick Clark Productions/Getty Images Entertainment