Miss Montana 2012 Alexis Wineman: first autistic Miss America contender

[SuperMillionaire]

Miss Montana coping with autism - National pageant | Examiner.com (http://www.examiner.com/article/miss-montana-coping-with-autism)

Alexis Wineman, Miss Montana, Is Miss America Pageant's First Contestant With Autism (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/10/alexis-wineman-miss-america-montana-autistic_n_2448848.html)

Alexis Wineman: Miss America hopeful opens up about life with autism as she makes bid for national title | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2259242/Alexis-Wineman-Miss-America-hopeful-opens-life-autism-makes-bid-national-title.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490)

Tonight, at 9pm EST on ABC, the 92nd annual Miss America 2013 competition will take place, and it will have its first ever autistic contender, Miss Montana 2012, 18-year-old Alexis Wineman, who was diagnosed with a high-functioning autistic spectrum disorder when she was 11 years old, which will allow her to be a role model for autistic girls. Autism tends to affect boys more often than girls, but since this is a Miss America contender that we're talking about, I'm pretty sure that it will attract plenty of attention regarding autism in girls.

The pageant will begin in just about half an hour after this post is posted. Will you be watching?

[escobert]

No, the playoffs are on! who the heck would miss Green Bay vs San Fran for a pageant!?

[Pike]

from Cut Bank

People actually live there?

[SuperMillionaire]

The new Miss America 2013 has just been crowned: she is Miss New York, Mallory Hagan.

Also, the autistic Miss Montana, Alexis Wineman, was selected to be America's first choice to be one of the 16 finalists, but did not advance further. A new feature this year was to allow the judges to add one contender to the top 15 to make it a top 16, and they chose to add Miss Washington, Mandy Schendel, who reached the top 10.

[Shorty]

No, the playoffs are on! who the heck would miss Green Bay vs San Fran for a pageant!?

Answer: Nobody.

[Shauna]

I don't understand pageants. ._.

[fire_of_avalon]

HEY I AM REALLY PRETTY AND SEMI-ACCOMPLISHED AT SOME THINGS SO THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

I mean good for her and her struggles and whatnot but Miss America isn't a legitimate podium for any kind of social change.

[Jinx]

SuperMillionaire is obsessed with beauty pageants. First it's the transgendered contesant, now it's the autistic contestant.

[Quindiana Jones]

I heard that some Miss Winners actually have enacted considerable social change, aided by their fancy sash. Like that one from a few years back who did something somewhere.

[SuperMillionaire]

I'm sure that every Miss America has various meaningful duties to fulfill, including charity work. And they're intelligent and talented, too.

[Old Manus]

But pretty girls aren't allowed to be intelligent and talented!

[Freya]

Sandra Bullock as Miss Congeniality told me otherwise!

[nik0tine]

Sandra Bullock is not pretty.

[Quindiana Jones]

Holy shit, nik's right! :eek:

[Freya]

I wasn't saying SHE was, you guys obvs have not seen that movie. :colbert:

[Madame Adequate]

Yeah, nah, Sandy's just about the most gorgeous woman on the planet so...

[Pike]

You guys are weird; Sandra Bullock is great and Miss Congeniality was a fantastic movie.

[blackmage_nuke]

IS a fantastic movie

[SuperMillionaire]

But pretty girls aren't allowed to be intelligent and talented!

Like Freya said, Sandra Bullock and the Miss Congeniality films told us otherwise. In fact, the same goes in real life. All of the girls and women who became Miss America are intelligent and talented, and this is clearly displayed in the interview and talent portions of the pageant. In the interview segment, each contestant is asked a serious question regarding a particularly serious issue, and they must respond in an intelligent manner. And in the talent segment, they showcase various special attributes and abilities, such as singing, dancing, or playing a musical instrument, among various other talents. For Miss America, it is not just about the looks, for it is also a scholarship to further education.

[Old Manus]

You know what, SuperMillionaire, you're right.

[SuperMillionaire]

Furthermore, don't confuse Miss America with Miss USA. They may represent the same country, but they are entirely different pageants. The Miss Universe Organization is currently owned by real-estate mogul and reality TV personality Donald Trump, who is also the host of The Apprentice.

To be Miss America is considerably tougher than to be Miss USA. In addition to outer beauty, Miss America also requires inner beauty, an advanced education, talent, and community service. She also has class, grace, decency, and wholesomeness. She is not a Hollywood celebrity, nor is she a pin-up girl; she is the girl next door, mixed with a Main Street scholar and a Broadway showgirl, as Miss America contestants tend to have Broadway-style talent. The most common talents are singing, dancing, and playing a musical instrument, though there are other talents. The only prizes that a newly-crowned Miss America receives is a $50,000 scholarship and all of her travel expenses paid for, because that comes as part of her duties, which are to travel the country in community service by educating other about certain issues affecting the people of America, and also raising money for charity. After their reigns, they typically live their lives in relative obscurity, because they are not celebrities.

Miss USA, on the other hand, is typically more about outer beauty. They don't require talent (I think they should start requiring talent, though I would imagine them seeking more "Hollywood"-style talent rather than the "Broadway"-style talent that Miss America looks for), nor do they require intelligence or community service. The prizes that a newly-crowned Miss USA receives are $50,000 cash and various materialistic prizes such as jewelry and fashion accessories, in addition to public exposure. After their reigns, many of these contestants go on to become celebrities, or at least reality TV stars. Also, when a Miss USA is crowned, she goes on to represent her country in the international Miss Universe pageant, whereas Miss America stays domestic, and does not go international.

And by the way, I forgot to mention that in addition to autism, Miss Montana 2012 Alexis Wineman also has a slight speech impediment, which sometimes causes her to mis-pronounce certain words. If you watch any of her videos in any of those articles, you will notice her speech impediment, though I'm sure that you'll still be able to clearly understand her.

[Shorty]

Miss America can fool itself into thinking that it only searches for women of the utmost pristine character and that beauty happens to be a secondary asset but I'm not buying it.

I don't see what crowning a beauty queen has to do with raising awareness about specific issues. The people behind the curtain do it so that the public will listen to a pretty face telling them what to do when they could just do it themselves and donate money or time to helping these issues.

It's a dog and pony show that makes women climb over eachother to get into the spotlight. There is nothing great about beauty pageants.

[SuperMillionaire]

Miss America can fool itself into thinking that it only searches for women of the utmost pristine character and that beauty happens to be a secondary asset but I'm not buying it.

I don't see what crowning a beauty queen has to do with raising awareness about specific issues. The people behind the curtain do it so that the public will listen to a pretty face telling them what to do when they could just do it themselves and donate money or time to helping these issues.

It's a dog and pony show that makes women climb over eachother to get into the spotlight. There is nothing great about beauty pageants.

When it comes to objectifying women and girls, the Miss America pageant does so in a way that is more subtle and decent. They acknowledge that not every woman or girl will have that kind of body, but they showcase the swimsuit round as a way to show fitness (and possibly as a way to provide "personal aesthetic fan service" to viewers), though they are not as erotic about it as Miss USA and several other women on television are. The problem with "personal aesthetic fan service" and objectification nowadays is that many tend to over-do it and have these girls and women pose in seductive, erotic poses, while wearing lingerie, akin to what you would see on the magazine covers of Maxim or FHM, or in a Victoria's Secret fashion show or catalog. Miss America, by contrast, is more modest about it. The fact that the Miss USA pageant was created in 1951 after then Miss America winner Yolanda Betbeze refused to pose for publicity in a swimsuit, citing her desire to be taken seriously as an opera singer ("I'm an opera singer, not a pin-up," she stated), says something about both Miss America and Miss USA: the former is decent, modest, and wholesome, while the latter is more erotic. They also do not have fake boobs or any other type of unnecessary plastic surgery, unlike some Miss USA participants.

In addition, some of these women and girls have also been previously overweight before losing that weight, so I'm sure that they can relate other women to that degree, which will possibly give them an inspiration to lose weight like they did. For instance, the current Miss America, Mallory Hagan, revealed that she had previously struggled with her weight at one time in the past.

Another difference that Miss America has with Miss USA is that they intend to stay decent and wholesome as positive role models, rather than all the scandals that Miss USA has had in recent years. Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner entered drug and alcohol rehab, but later came back sober. Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih had previously done pole dancing stints, and was later arrested in 2011 for drunk driving. In addition, many of these Miss USA contestants have appeared on reality TV series that feature them doing various antics such as pole dancing and wrestling, as well as various scary stunts on Fear Factor, and more recently have posed in erotic lingerie photos. Such things would not be tolerated at Miss America, and would get you disqualified if they discovered that you participated in those things. The only recorded case of this happening at Miss America occured in 1985, when it was discovered that Miss America 1984, Vanessa Williams, the first black Miss America, had taken nude photos, which caused her to resign from her reign and give up her crown. Since then, no other scandals have taken place.

Overall, Miss America contestants aspire to be either productive Main Street professionals or Broadway showgirls, while Miss USA contestants aspire to be either Hollywood celebrities or reality TV stars. The following exchange on Fox and Friends between Miss America 1989 Gretchen Carlson (who works as an on-camera news anchor journalist on the Fox News Network) and Miss USA 2004 Shandi Finnessey (who has had various gigs in the entertainment industry, such as hosting game shows) about the erotic Miss USA lingerie photos says it all:

Miss USA vs. Miss America - Entertainment - The Atlantic Wire (http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2010/05/miss-usa-vs-miss-america/19734/)

[Quindiana Jones]

Yeah, fuck Miss USA. Sandra Bullock wouldn't go anywhere near that shit.

[SuperMillionaire]

I also think that Miss America should also add a general knowledge quiz round and an athletic round, similar to Miss England in 2010, after "combat Barbie" Katrina Hodge implemented it in after she became Miss England 2009.