Miss California Pageant Takes Off The Swimsuits

Beauty queens in next month’s Miss California Pageant (where everyone’s favorite homophobe, Carrie Prejean, got her start!) won’t strut down the runway in bikinis, but will instead model individual outfits. Sashes will also be eliminated and two winners will be crowned, instead of the usual one. ““This year’s event will be bigger and reflect the progressive attitudes of the contestants as well as our forward-looking state,” said Keith Lewis, executive director of the Miss California Organization. “It will change the essence of Miss California USA from a bathing suit beauty contest to the style of a runway show during fashion week.” Well, that’s not quite the same as ditching the high-heels-and-bikinis parade because it objectifies women’s bodies and applauds an ideal woman’s shape that most of us can never achieve. But, hey, we’ll take what we can get! You can probably still count on false eyelashes, clouds of hairspray and fake boobies, though. [NY Daily News, L.A. Times]