Miss America Scrapping Swimsuit Competition Has Twitter Sounding Off

Miss America is scrapping swimsuits — and the rest of America has opinions.

Gretchen Carlson, the chairwoman of the Miss America board of directors, announced Tuesday on Good Morning America that the event will no longer feature its iconic swimsuit or evening gown portions and will be inclusive of women of all sizes — and that it will be a competition, not a pageant.

“We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance. That’s huge,” Carlson said.

The official Miss America Twitter account shared a short video of a white bikini going up in a puff of smoke with the hashtag #byebyebikini and the words “Miss America 2.0.”

As one might imagine, nixing the swimsuit portion of the competition has caused quite a stir on social media, with opinions falling on all ends of the spectrum.

Many met the news with a cynical reaction, suggesting that the competition may be straying too far from its roots.

“Miss America getting rid of its swimsuit competition is like Playboy no longer doing nudes. And we know how that turned out,” one person wrote.

“Miss America to ditch the swimsuit & evening gown competitions & will no longer judge based on appearance. Why not just break down all the barriers and let men compete, too?” came a tweet from radio host Todd Starnes.

“Miss America announces they will no longer have a swimsuit portion to the competition and cease calling it a ‘pageant.’ Call me when they decide to up their game for the Interview part,” someone else said, pointing out a portion of the competition they deem more problematic.

“Miss America is ending its swimsuit competition, saying it will no longer judge candidates on their outward physical appearance. Yes! Finally we can judge women on what really matters: baton twirling,” someone wrote, poking fun at the concept that women should be judged at all.

But others met the news with happiness and acceptance, ready to turn a new leaf on beauty pageants.

“Miss America is ending the swimsuit part of the competition this year and judging not on outward appearance but on talent and what the contestants have to say. This is amazing,” one person said.

“If you’re upset about Miss America dropping it’s swimsuit completion: Maybe you should respect women for who they are on the inside, beauty is truly skin deep and in the eyes of the beholder,” someone said.

“The people acting like someone murdered their dog because Miss America is getting rid of the swimsuit portion are exactly why it needs to be gotten rid of. Women are more than their physical appearance. You’re just mad you can’t gawk at them like meat anymore,” another wrote.

Along with getting rid of the swimsuit portion of the competition, Miss America is also making some other big changes, calling it a “new era” for the organization. For the first time in its 97-year history, it’s now being led entirely by women for the first time, and Carlson said contestants can wear “whatever they choose.”

Instead of strutting their stuff in a swimsuit or evening gown, hopeful winners will be asked to wear what makes them feel confident, expresses their personal style and shows how they hope to advance the role of Miss America, ABC News reports.

“We’re no longer judging women when they come out in their chosen attire, their evening wear, whatever they chose to do it’s going to be what comes out of their mouth that we’re interested in when they talk about their social impact initiative,” Carlson said.