美国国家公共电台 NPR Shedding Swimsuits In A Miss America Reboot

 

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UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) There she is, Miss America...

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

It's been a year of change for the Miss America pageant¹. For one thing, it's no longer called a pageant. These days, Miss America is billed as a competition, and there's more beyond the change in terminology². Tomorrow night, 51 women will compete in what organizers say is a contest for the modern era. From member station WHYY, Joe Hernandez reports.

JOE HERNANDEZ, BYLINE³: The biggest change to Miss America in 100 years was announced on the show "Good Morning America" on ABC earlier this summer.

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GRETCHEN CARLSON: We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance. That's huge.

AMY ROBACH: That's huge.

CARLSON: And that means that we will no longer have a swimsuit competition.

HERNANDEZ: That's Gretchen Carlson, the new head of the Miss America organization. She took the job earlier this year after leaked emails showed the former Miss America CEO and other top executives were disparaging⁴ contestants⁶. They resigned and a new all-female leadership slate⁷, including Carlson, took their place. Carlson is a former Miss America herself, having won the 1989 pageant. She'd also recently quit her job as a host at Fox News, where she sued her former boss, Roger Ailes, for sexual harassment⁸. Carlson quickly made changes to Miss America when she took over, scrapping⁹ the swimsuit section in what she said would be a more modern and evolved competition. It was to be a beauty pageant for the #MeToo era. Carlson declined our request for an interview but described on "Good Morning America" what she and other organizers are calling Miss America 2.0.

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CARLSON: We're not going to judge you on your outward appearance because we're interested in what makes you, you. Tell us about your goals and your achievements in life. And by the way, at the end of the day, we hand out scholarships to these young women.

HERNANDEZ: Some people hailed the changes as long overdue¹⁰. But almost immediately, there was a backlash about removing the iconic swimsuit section. Critics accused Miss America of bowing to the forces of political correctness. Representatives from 22 state pageants¹¹ called on Carlson and other top officials to resign. Crystal Lee got second place in Miss America 2014. We spoke¹² via Skype.

CRYSTAL LEE: If you ask any contestant⁵ in the Miss America pageant, they want to wear that swimsuit.

HERNANDEZ: For decades, Miss America hopefuls have strutted¹³ down the runway in nothing but a bathing suit and high heels.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Miss Georgia, Alyssa Beasley.

HERNANDEZ: They strike poses for the judges and wave to the audience. Lee says she understands why getting rid of the swimsuit section might make it easier for the organization to recruit new applicants¹⁴. But she says she didn't see the Miss America of old as an attack on feminism.

LEE: I felt, if anything, that being in that swimsuit was a choice. Being in that swimsuit made me feel like I get to do something that women in past generations did not have the privilege to do.

HERNANDEZ: The very first pageant took place in 1921 as a so-called bathers review. Margot Mifflin, a professor at the City University of New York, says it was a way for the women to show their independence by flouting¹⁵ the customs of the time.

MARGOT MIFFLIN: In the decade preceding that, women had to fully¹⁶ cover up. Like, they were wearing, at the turn of the century, basically wool dresses into the water, like street clothes into the water.

HERNANDEZ: But as years passed and women fought for more equality in public and private life, the swimsuit competition came to be seen, by some, as a step backward. What had once been a liberating¹⁷ act for women was now considered an affront¹⁸ to feminism and equality.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Up against the wall, Miss America.

HERNANDEZ: In 1968, a group of women protested at Miss America, saying it was anti-feminist to objectify the female contestants. One protester's sign likened the pageant to a cattle auction¹⁹. Fifty years later, organizers seem to agree - removing the swimsuit section of Miss America in an attempt to make it less about how women look and more about what they say. Margot Mifflin says it's impossible to tell how the changes will go over with the audience.

MIFFLIN: I think this year is going to determine, at the very least, do people want to watch a Miss America where they don't see women in swimsuits? And if they do, what will they be watching for?

HERNANDEZ: Gretchen Carlson wooed the Miss America judges when she won the 1989 pageant. Now, she has a new challenge - wooing Miss America viewers from her seat in the boardroom. For NPR News, I'm Joe Hernandez.

1 pageant   

n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧

参考例句：

• Our pageant represented scenes from history.我们的露天历史剧上演一幕幕的历史事件。
• The inauguration ceremony of the new President was a splendid pageant.新主席的就职典礼的开始是极其壮观的。

2 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 disparaging   

adj.轻蔑的，毁谤的v.轻视( disparage的现在分词 )；贬低；批评；非难

参考例句：

• Halliday's comments grew daily more and more sparklingly disagreeable and disparaging. 一天天过去，哈里代的评论越来越肆无忌惮，越来越讨人嫌，越来越阴损了。 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡
• Even with favorable items they would usually add some disparaging comments. 即使对好消息，他们也往往要加上几句诋毁的评语。 来自互联网

5 contestant   

n.竞争者，参加竞赛者

参考例句：

• The company will furnish each contestant with a free ticket.公司将为每个参赛者免费提供一张票。
• The personal appearance and interview of the contestant is another count.参加比赛者的个人仪表和谈话也是一项。

6 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

8 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

9 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。

10 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

11 pageants   

n.盛装的游行( pageant的名词复数 )；穿古代服装的游行；再现历史场景的娱乐活动；盛会

参考例句：

• It is young people who favor holding Beauty pageants. 赞成举办选美的是年轻人。 来自互联网
• Others say that there's a fine line between the pageants and sexual exploitation. 其他人说，选美和性剥削之间只有非常细微的界线。 来自互联网

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 strutted   

趾高气扬地走，高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The players strutted and posed for the cameras. 运动员昂首阔步，摆好姿势让记者拍照。
• Peacocks strutted on the lawn. 孔雀在草坪上神气活现地走来走去。

14 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

15 flouting   

v.藐视，轻视( flout的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• By selling alcohol to minors,the shop is deliberately flouting the law. 向未成年人出售烈性酒，是商店故意犯罪法。 来自口语例句
• By selling alcohol to minor, the shop is deliberately flouting the law. 向未成年人出售烈性酒，是商店故意犯法。 来自互联网

16 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

17 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

18 affront   

n./v.侮辱，触怒

参考例句：

• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
• This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。

19 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。