Beyond the Body

Theres always the question "Whats the difference between Miss USA and Miss America?" The clearcut answer is that Miss America is the largest scholarship provider for young women in the world...AMAZING, but also that there is a talent portion of competition. Miss America stands for education, class, service, etc. but with the swimsuit competition still in place, it detracts from all of the good the program is and stands for.

The swimsuit phase of competition has been around since the pageants fruition, and we have kept it due to maintaining tradition. Our world is changing, and so should the pageant. The swimsuit competition is unnecessary in finding young women capable of serving their communities, states, or country and deserving of scholarship money.

There is no correlation between a persons body and their ability to serve. It saddens me that this organization is the largest provider for scholarships for women in the world but yet deters many incredible, smart, successful, passionate women from participating because of this phase alone. We cannot fully control our bodies or fight our genetics but we can control who we are as people and that is what should be showcased and celebrated. I am not saying lifestyle and fitness isn't important for a woman's health, but I am saying looking at a woman's body will not tell you how healthy a person is. Some people have great metabolisms and can eat whatever they want, others have to watch what they eat very carefully. Some people work out everyday and others don't ever work out. Even when working out and eating right you may not get the results you think you need to go on stage in a swimsuit. Maybe the Organization should adopt a phase of competition in which the contestants talk about what they do to stay healthy, or showcase what they do to stay healthy. The fitness portion of the teen pageant would even be more indicative of what the swimsuit phase is trying to measure. Lets adopt that. Or lets just encourage eating well, and working out through participation in the programs. Each persons body is different, takes a different amount of time to see results, and has different genetics and life situations. With all of these differences we CANNOT expect women to go on stage and judge their bodies or compare them.

This program is about empowering each other and I am very empowered through all other phases except the swimsuit portion. Why should I have to walk on a stage in a swimsuit when it doesn't directly tell or show the judges how healthy I am? To me it is degrading. I want to be known and remembered for my intelligence, talents, and heart, not by body. I know it will take a lot more than this blog post to make a change, but addressing the issue and coming together we can start a revolution.

The Miss America Organization is an amazing program that I am proud to be a representative of as Miss West Sound 2016, but with all things changes are necessary. Times are changing, so lets keep this pageant up to speed and allow more women to feel comfortable utilizing the scholarship dollars they deserve.

With love,
Brittney Brown


Here are some photos of me competing. As you can see I'm not stick thin, and I have curves. I eat well and stay fit, but I cannot change the makeup of my body. I am not up to pageant standards for how I look in my swimsuit but I don't care. I am happy with the way I look and will embrace it. If it takes me to feel comfortable in my body to empower other women like me to fight for scholarship money, then its all worth it. If enough of us show confidence with who we are and how we look then we can change the expectations and standards associated with pageants. Heres to being healthy this the new year for ME, and no one else.