说到选美比赛，你的眼前一定已经浮现起一些固定环节，比如泳装秀、晚礼服秀和才智问答。可以说，穿着泳装踩着高跟鞋走秀是大多数人心目中选美的代名词。

不过，美利坚小姐选美比赛主办方正打算对这套成熟的范式做出突破性的变革。

The nearly century-old Miss America competition will drop its well-known swimsuit competition this year and will no longer judge contestants based on their physical appearance.

拥有近百年历史的美利坚小姐大赛今年将取消其著名的泳装比赛环节，不再以外貌评判选手。

"We are no longer a pageant, we are a competition. We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance. That's huge," Gretchen Carlson, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Miss America Organization said Tuesday on ABC News' "Good Morning America."

6月5日，大赛董事会主席格雷琴•卡尔森在ABC新闻台《早安美国》节目中表示：“美利坚小姐不再是一场选美，而是一场比赛。我们将不再以貌取人。这个改变具有重要意义。”

当天，美利坚小姐官方推特也做出回应。他们发布了一段白色比基尼的视频，然后加上了#byebyebikini 的标签。

The swimsuit competition will be replaced by a panel interview of contestants.

美利坚小姐的泳装比赛环节将被分组问答环节取代。

参赛选手可以介绍自己的成就和目标，并阐述倘若当选美利坚小姐，会如何运用自己的才华与热忱“不辱使命”。

The evening-wear portion of the competition will also be changed to allow women to wear something other than a gown if they want.

晚装环节也有所改变，除晚礼服外，将允许选手根据个人意愿穿着其他服饰。

主办方将改制后的比赛称为“美利坚小姐2.0”。卡尔森称，大赛将多多关注选手的才华、智慧和想法，对不同身材、不同体型的女性也将持开放态度。

美利坚小姐与泳装的渊源

第一届美利坚小姐诞生于1921年，参选佳丽由美国各州选出。当时主办方的初衷不过是为了多吸引几个游客到海滩游玩，延长暑假气氛。这一尝试立竿见影，比赛当天有10万余观众来到现场观看。

Miss America and swimsuits have been synonymous since its first contest on the Atlantic City boardwalk. But what started as contestants wearing one-piece bathing suits, conservative by today's standards, became women in revealing bikinis and high heels parading around for a leering television audience.

自在大西洋城木板人行道上举行第一场比赛以来，美利坚小姐和泳装一直是同义词。起初，参赛者穿的是连体泳衣，但按今天的标准来看颇为保守，后来变成了穿着暴露的比基尼和高跟鞋走来走去，吸引电视机前色眯眯的观众。

【科普】

这里需要说明的是，美国有两个“美国小姐”选美比赛。一个叫做Miss USA，一个叫做Miss America。选美界一般把Miss USA称之为美国小姐，而Miss America称作美利坚小姐。

Miss America and Miss USA have long positioned themselves as different pageants. Miss USA is a for-profit show-business enterprise focused on beauty and whose contestants typically reveal more skin and do not have to perform a talent. Miss America is a noNPRofit, volunteer-run organization with affiliates in 50 states and in the District of Columbia.

这两个选美比赛的定位一直是不同的。美国小姐是一个专注于外在美的盈利性商业表演活动，参赛者通常衣着更加暴露，且无需展现才艺。而美利坚小姐是一个非营利性志愿组织，在美国50个州以及哥伦比亚都有分支机构。

美利坚小姐更注重内在美，设有才艺展示环节，参赛者大多为学生。

#MeToo运动中选美比赛迎来新时代

近年来随着女性平权意识的觉醒，美利坚小姐比赛一直备受争议。一方面，他们鼓励女性积极向上有所追求，还给优胜者发放奖学金；一方面又规定参赛选手一定要穿着暴露展示自己。

The organization's leaders have said for more than 20 years they had thought about altering the swimsuit competition. Until recently, though, they continued to defend it, asserting that the competition is about poise in uncomfortable situations and fitness, not thinness.

20多年来，该组织的领导者一直声称要对泳装比赛做出改变。然而，直到最近他们还在继续为此辩护，称该比赛的目的是在不舒适的情况下能够保持优雅，强调健康而非苗条。

美利坚小姐比赛在2017年各州的评委指导手册中指出：

"Regardless of what we may each believe about the role of the Miss America Organization's titleholders, the American public has an expectation that she will be beautiful and physically fit."

“不论我们每个人对美利坚小姐获奖者的角色可能会有何种想法，美国大众都期望她是漂亮且身体健康的。”

但一些曾经参加比赛的选手公开表达了对泳装比赛的反对，称其会导致严重的身体和心理问题。

2008年美利坚小姐冠军克里斯滕•哈格伦德（Kirsten Haglund）5日在脸书上写道，泳装比赛环节“延续了对女性的物化，而非赋予她们更多力量（perpetuated the objectification of women more than it empowered them）”。

事实上，主办方也曾考虑去掉泳装比赛，还想过让观众投票决定是否保留这个环节。1993 年，美利坚小姐比赛时任 CEO 伦纳德•霍恩（Leonard Horn）曾表示：

"We are not stupid. We are very sensitive to the fact that the swimsuit competition has always been our Achilles' heel. The swimsuit competition has been controversial since the early 1920s, but it's been retained because the majority of the people like it."

“我们并不愚蠢，我们深知泳装比赛是我们的致命弱点。自从上世纪20年代初以来，这个环节就一直备受争议。但因为很多人喜欢看，所以它才一直保留了下来。”

据《纽约时报》报道，1995 年的一项民意调查显示，2/3 的观众都希望保留这个环节。

不少人猜测，美利坚小姐比赛此次下定决心进行改革，是为了应对内部的性骚扰丑闻，并重新定义自己在#MeToo时代的位置。

The Miss America Organization has undergone a rapid change in the past six months. Carlson was named chairwoman in January, and several women were appointed to the organization's highest ranks.

过去六个月里，美利坚小姐比赛组织经历了一场迅速的变革。今年1月，卡尔森被任命为大赛主席，多位女性进入组织高层。

卡尔森曾是美国知名电视评论员，代表明尼苏达州获得1989年美利坚小姐桂冠。近年来，她为职场女性权益高调发声，2016年还对福克斯前主席罗杰•艾尔斯（Roger Ailes）提起性骚扰诉讼。

Those changes came after emails surfaced in December showing that Sam Haskell, the former chief executive, had made disrespectful and misogynistic comments about former pageant winners.

在美利坚小姐发生这些变化之前，去年12月，多封电子邮件显示，该组织的前首席执行官萨姆•哈斯凯尔对以前的比赛冠军发表过不敬和歧视女性的言论。

各方反应

美利坚小姐的州竞赛负责人们在两天前得知了改革消息，他们对该公告的反应不一。一些人表示支持，另一些人则表达了失望。

佐治亚州小姐选美比赛主办方在推特上向粉丝们承诺，将于下周进行的比赛依然包含泳装比赛环节。

北卡罗来纳小姐选美比赛的执行董事贝斯•诺克斯（Beth Knox）说，她为这一发展感到激动：女性的目标和志向远比她穿泳装的模样重要得多（A woman's goals and aspirations were far more important than how she looked in a swimsuit.）。

诺克斯在邮件中写道：

"If people really listen with an open mind to the reason this change is being implemented, I just do not see how anyone could not support this improvement."

“如果人们能以开放的心态倾听做出这个改变的原因，我想不会有人反对这个决定。”

目前还不清楚广告商们对这一变化的态度。但《纽约时报》认为，广告行业应该比较乐见这种改变。报道称：

“The industry has been working in recent years to improve how women are portrayed on TV both in commercials and in programming. The Association of National Advertisers has led an effort called #SeeHer that has been assigning scores to ads and some shows based on whether women are depicted respectfully and as good role models for other women and young girls. ”

“近年来广告业一直在努力改进广告和电视节目对女性形象的描绘。全美广告商协会还专门发起了名为#SeeHer 的活动，根据广告或节目内容是否尊重女性，塑造的女性形象是否为其他女性和年轻女孩树立良好榜样对其进行打分。”

#SeeHer活动主席史蒂芬•奎因（ Stephen Quinn）对该报表示，他们坚决支持美利坚小姐做出的改变