Miss America

Miss America - is a long-standing competition which awards the most beautiful american women and the winner gets the crown and post of "Miss America" for one year. The Miss America organization was originated on September 07th 1921 but it is not simply a beauty contest anymore, as the judges look beyond simple beauty to judge the contestants. A beauty contest looks for models and the Miss America organization looks for role models. In the early years of the competition the bathing suit competion was the main highlight of the contest. In 1951 Miss America refused publicity pictures of the women wearing swim suits and decided to make it a less important part of the competition. The Miss America show has been continuously nationally televised for years and by the 1960's it was rated as the highest popular show on American television. The show is seen as the symbol of the United States. Audiences often referred to Miss America as the equivalent of the president and she has been honored with the same respect. The competition was origianlly open to caucasian women and didn't start to admit woman of other races until the 1970's. This was symbolized by "Rebecca Ann King" an outspokenly law student who was selected as "Miss America" in 1974 and Vanessa Lynn Williams became the first black winner in 1984. Winners of the competition since 2000 include, Heather French (2000), Angela Perez Baraquio (2001), Katie Harman (2002), Erika Harold (2003), Ericka Dunlap (2004) and Deidre Downs (2005).

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Miss America, beauty contests, role models, models, Vanessa Lynn Williams,
Heather French, Angela Perez Baraquio, Katie Harman, Erika Harold, Ericka Dunlap,
Deidre Downs,