Miss World dropping swimsuit competition from pageant

Miss World 2014 Rolene Strauss of South Africa will be the last winner of the pageant to walk on the stage in a bikini as the swim suit segment is set to be removed from the competition starting next year.

 

"I don’t need to see women just walking up and down in bikinis. It doesn't do anything for the woman. And it doesn’t do anything for any of us," Miss World chairwoman Julia Morley told Elle in an interview.

 

During its inception in 1951, Miss World started as a publicity stunt and a fund raising project of Morley's husband Eric in order to lift the Britain's morale following World War II.

 

Sixty-three years later, however, Morley is daring to pioneer a change in values of beauty pageants, which receive criticism from feminist groups. Rather than looking at a woman's body in a state of undress, the chairwoman envisions to see beauty beyond the physical.

 

"I don’t care if someone has a bottom two inches bigger than someone else's. We are really not looking at her bottom," she said. "We are really listening to her speak."

 

Miss World has evolved from its bare beginnings to a pageant placing emphasis on advocacy, judging the candidates through a service project and in-depth interview aside from the optional talent, swimwear, fashion runway, and athletics segments.

 

Strauss dedicated her "Beauty with a Purpose" project to a campaign encouraging South African girls to keep going to school and finish their studies so they can achieve their dreams.

 

 

Philippine candidate Valerie Weigmann, meanwhile, presented the rehabilitation of the Philippine General Hospital cancer ward for children.

 

 

"We don't want to just make them feel like they are walking bodies, you know?" Morley said.

 

In contrast, the Miss Universe pageant owned by Donald Trump highlights the swimwear segment as one of the most important parts of the competition.

 

"They are not little girls," she added. "This is what I want to get away from. This sort of 'cute' image. No offense to Mr. Trump." — Marisse Panaligan/JST, GMA News