Tag: Television

‘Bye-Bye Bikini’: Miss America Nixes Swimsuit Competition

Posted on by robbie

If you were hoping to see women clad in bikinis and slinky evening gowns parade onstage at next year’s Miss America pageant, you’ll be disappointed.
That’s because the nearly 100-year-old contest as we have all come to know it is no more. In its place: a more body-inclusive, #MeToo-friendly display in which contestants won’t be judged on their physical appearance.
In fact, it isn’t even a pageant anymore, says Gretchen Carlson, who won the title in 1989 and now chairs the Miss America Organization’s board of trustees.
“We are no longer a pageant. We are a competition,” Carlson announced today on Good Morning America. “We’ve heard from a lot of young women who say, ‘We’d love to be a part of your program, but we don’t want to be out there in high heels and a swimsuit.’ So guess what? You don’t have to do that anymore.”
In an era where the #MeToo movement has given more power to women’s voices, the shift from a largely looks-based pageant to a competition centered on women’s talents and achievements is long overdue.
In 1968, amid the backdrop of the country’s cultural wars, the women’s rights movement was on the forefront of protesting the Miss America pageant for not only its racial politics but also for the overt way it exploited and sexualized women.
“Has anything changed since 1968, when hundreds of feminists gathered on the [Atlantic City] boardwalk to protest the Miss America pageant?,” asked Blain Roberts in an op-ed for The New York Times. “Yes and no.”
It wasn’t until this year that Miss America announced that the organization would be led by an all-female team, after the Huffington Post reported that prominent male executives and board members, including the pageant’s CEO, were demoralizing women in emails.
Now, with an all-women board made up of former winners, the organization is enacting dramatic changes.
Even the organization’s website is getting an overhaul with the site promoting the upcoming “Miss America 2.0” and pushing the hashtag #ByeByeBikini.


“We’re experiencing a cultural revolution in our country with women finding the courage to stand up and have their voices heard on many issues,” Carlson said, in response to how the #MeToo movement has helped the organization restructure itself. “Miss America is proud to evolve as an organization and join this empowerment movement.”
The news has sparked a debate online, with people on both sides weighing in:
https://twitter.com/Grummz/status/1003978477798764545


https://twitter.com/MarieNinaAune/status/1003980804459057152

The Most Meaningful Literature, Entertainment and Art of 2016

Posted on by robbie

In a late-night victory speech, President-elect Donald Trump called his base “the forgotten men and women of our country,” and he promised they “will be forgotten no longer.” His line embodied the spirit of 2016: This was the year that nationwide events put a spotlight on plights that can no longer be overlooked. Beyond Trump’s core base of white working-class voters, there was an assortment of marginalized communities making headlines, from the gay Latinos targeted at an Orlando nightclub to the black men confronted by police in Baton Rouge and suburban St. Paul; from indigenous peoples protesting a pipeline in the Dakotas to those fleeing climate change in Alaska and Louisiana; and from hijab-wearing victims of hate crimes to unemployed veterans.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom, because where there is strife there is also powerful art to make sense of it. And 2016’s collection of books, movies, TV, plays, music and other works was no different, helping us see these groups, to understand their grievances and develop a response. After polling our staff, here is the art that most moved us at NationSwell in 2016.
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Watch This Wheel of Fortune Contestant Score a Smashing Success

Posted on by robbie

It takes real guts to make your dreams come true — especially when you haven’t had it easy in life.
Trent Girone, 21, has survived multiple brain and heart surgeries and has both Tourette and Asperger syndromes.
But none of that could keep him from living out a very public life-long dream: competing on the long-running game show “Wheel of Fortune.”
According to his contestant profile, he’s loved the show since he was 2. The show gave him the green light last May. As the Huffington Post notes, after 6,000 episodes, Girone is the first special needs competitor on the show.
Watch the clip below and you’ll see the infectiously bubbly Girone easily solve the puzzles “a smashing success” and “cream cheese coffee cake.” He even charmed host Pat Sajak with his obscure “Wheel of Fortune” knowledge.
MORE: The World’s Most Difficult Job and 4 Other Videos That Inspired Us This Month
In the end, Girone didn’t win the show’s top prize, but he walked away with a cool $2,150. As one commenter wrote on the Huffington Post, “As the Dad of a profoundly handicapped child, I can’t begin to explain the joy I have had from watching this clip. Thank you to the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ for your insight into mainstreaming our handicapped population.”
Another commenter remarked, “Congratulations, Trent, on not only achieving your dream of being a contestant, but opening the door to everybody else who shares that dream with you.”
The gracious young man thanked the contestants, staff and Sajak for their assistance and making sure he was “safe and comfortable.”
Girone called the experience “as awesome and amazing as it could be.” And he shared some pearls of wisdom: “My best advice to future contestants is to relax and have a good time. It is a lot of fun, whether you win big or not. That is my number one guarantee.”