本月初，“美國(guó)小姐”這個(gè)搞了100多年的選美節(jié)目突然又成了人們熱議的話題，因?yàn)閾?jù)舉辦方通知，本次美國(guó)小姐大賽將不再設(shè)置泳裝和禮服展示環(huán)節(jié)，很多網(wǎng)友也悵然地在社交媒體上發(fā)起了“拜拜比基尼”活動(dòng)，吐槽舉辦方的這一決定。

其實(shí)，美國(guó)小姐這個(gè)百年經(jīng)典節(jié)目，現(xiàn)在早就連生存都成了問題。

在這個(gè)各路真人秀和“網(wǎng)紅”層出不窮的年代，美國(guó)小姐早已非昔日的大紅大紫。此外在1968年，就有女權(quán)主義者在亞特蘭大組織過針對(duì)美國(guó)小姐的大規(guī)模抗議活動(dòng)，抨擊這個(gè)選美節(jié)目“物化女性”。自此之后，隨著越來(lái)越多的女性進(jìn)入商界、學(xué)界、政界，當(dāng)上律師、醫(yī)生、CEO，反對(duì)物化女性的呼聲也越來(lái)越高。

不過美國(guó)小姐也并非不能再搶救一下。筆者作為一名選秀節(jié)目研究專家，也想給美國(guó)小姐開一張藥方。

美國(guó)小姐的王冠上有四個(gè)角，分別代表了時(shí)尚、服務(wù)、學(xué)識(shí)和成功。只要不忘初心，專注在這個(gè)四個(gè)方面，美國(guó)小姐還是有希望重回往日輝煌的。

時(shí)尚

穿一套三點(diǎn)式，再踩一雙6英寸的恨天高，這就是時(shí)尚時(shí)尚最時(shí)尚了嗎？未必。美國(guó)小姐代表的是一種基于健康飲食、積極鍛煉而獲得的健康的生活方式，這一點(diǎn)時(shí)至今日仍然非常重要。美國(guó)小姐不應(yīng)該徹底放棄對(duì)身材的評(píng)判，而是應(yīng)該引入健身元素。很多青少年選美比賽都引入了立臥撐、俯臥撐等比賽項(xiàng)目，像世界小姐這種國(guó)際性選美比賽，其體育環(huán)節(jié)的激烈程度簡(jiǎn)直快跟鐵人三項(xiàng)差不多了。美國(guó)小姐也可以吸取這些經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

服務(wù)

美國(guó)小姐的每名參賽者必須有一個(gè)旨在關(guān)注全國(guó)性問題的個(gè)人平臺(tái)。優(yōu)勝者的平臺(tái)有的關(guān)注艾滋病教育問題，有的關(guān)注反校園霸凌問題，有的成立了許愿基金會(huì)。各州的總冠軍都在她們的平臺(tái)上做了很多工作，甚至在國(guó)會(huì)上宣了誓，為公益事業(yè)拉來(lái)了一大批贊助。在評(píng)分上，選美比賽應(yīng)該更向這種“德育分”偏重。

學(xué)識(shí)

美國(guó)小姐是在美國(guó)拿女性教育基金最多的人，但并非所有參賽者都將她們的教育基金用在了教育上。2014年度的美國(guó)小姐尼娜·達(dá)瓦魯麗曾表示自己想上醫(yī)學(xué)院，但她現(xiàn)在成了一個(gè)電視節(jié)目主持人。2015年度的美國(guó)小姐基拉·卡贊謝夫說(shuō)自己想上法學(xué)院，但她現(xiàn)在卻成了一位成功學(xué)講師。

為了讓參賽者對(duì)他們的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金負(fù)責(zé)，舉辦方應(yīng)該要求參賽者聲明如何使用自己的教育基金。參賽者要想拿著這筆錢走，就應(yīng)該過幾年再回來(lái)，告訴觀眾她們用這筆錢干了什么。這樣才能讓大家相信，美國(guó)小姐對(duì)推動(dòng)教育平權(quán)是認(rèn)真的。

成功

很多人都知道，美國(guó)小姐是輸是贏，要看她們?cè)诓稍L間里的表現(xiàn)。在節(jié)目播出前幾天，每名參賽者都要站在一組評(píng)委面前接受10分鐘的盤問。不過觀眾們?cè)谶@個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)從來(lái)看不到什么有營(yíng)養(yǎng)的內(nèi)容，電視上放的片段都是選手在表演一些尷尬得令人牙疼的才藝。為了告訴大家美國(guó)小姐是怎樣煉成的，在電視節(jié)目播出的時(shí)候，至少應(yīng)該播放三分鐘前五名選手接受評(píng)委訪問的錄像。

正確地做一個(gè)女王

盡管這一屆的美國(guó)小姐號(hào)稱更關(guān)注學(xué)識(shí)和成功，然而很多人打開電視就是為了看大長(zhǎng)腿的，不是聽你來(lái)傳授人生經(jīng)驗(yàn)的。大家就是覺得顏值即正義。美國(guó)小姐要想保持收視率（特別是在網(wǎng)絡(luò)電視，因?yàn)樗鼘?duì)獎(jiǎng)金的多少太重要了），就不要管參賽的小姐姐戴不戴假睫毛這種破事。但它需要更多地關(guān)注它真正的目的——用健康的審美觀慢慢改變世界。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

注：本文作者希拉里·利維·弗里德曼是布朗大學(xué)教育系講師，她目前正在創(chuàng)作一本關(guān)于選美和美國(guó)女性的書，預(yù)計(jì)將于2020年出版。

譯者：樸成奎?

Suddenly Miss America seems relevant again. The nearly 100-year-old program made headlines this week with the announcement, accompanied by the hashtag #byebyebikini, that the swimsuit and evening gown portions of the competition are no more.

But don’t be fooled: Miss America is still very much on life support.

In a world of reality TV and social media celebrities, it’s hard for Miss America to break through the noise. On top of that, since 1968, when one of the foundational protests of the women’s rights movement occurred against the pageant in Atlantic City, Miss America has struggled to prove its relevance in a world where women lead in business, academia, politics, the law, medicine, and more.

Yet all hope is not lost for our patient. As a pageant expert, I have a prescription based on Miss America’s own formula.

The Miss America crown has four points, each with a meaning: style, service, scholarship, and success. Focusing on these offers a path forward for the grande dame of pageantry.

Style

Wearing six-inch heels in a bikini is not the most stylish of choices. But what Miss America evolved to represent—a healthy lifestyle based on eating well and exercising—is still important. Instead of dropping the competition’s focus on physical appearance altogether, Miss America should retain a fitness component. This might look like what many teen pageants (fitness routines with burpees and pushups) or international pageants like Miss World (an intense obstacle course that resembles a Spartan Race) feature.

Service

Each contestant must have a personal platform that focuses on a national issue of concern. Winners’ platforms have ranged from HIV/AIDS education to anti-bullying to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Many state winners have done substantial work on their platforms, testifying before Congress and raising a great deal of money. The pageant should value these achievements more highly in scoring.

Scholarship

Miss America is the largest source of educational funds to women in the U.S. Yet not all contestants use their funds for educational purposes. Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri said she planned to attend medical school, but she now hosts a TV show. Her successor, 2015 winner Kira Kazantsev, said she planned to attend law school, but she is currently a motivational speaker.

To hold contestants accountable for their scholarship money, the organization should have them explain precisely how they will use their funds. And in order to receive their full award, winners should be required to return to the competition in future years to speak about what they are doing with their money. This would help reinforce the perception that the pageant is serious about empowering women.

Success

The popular pageant wisdom is that Miss America is won or lost in the interview room. Each contestant is grilled before a panel of judges for 10 minutes in the days before the televised broadcast. The American public never really sees the substance from those interviews, other than silly clips like a contestant burping the alphabet. To demonstrate how successful contestants have been, and can be, at least three minutes from those interviews should be shown for the top five finalists on the television broadcast.

Staying a queen

Despite its new focus on scholarship and success, Miss America has always been about exaggerated femininity. Many tune in for the rhinestones, the glitz, the glamour. To stay as relevant as possible—especially on network TV, which is essential to keep scholarship awards high—Miss America shouldn’t be afraid to still wear false eyelashes. But it needs to be more mindful of its real purpose—changing the world one point of the crown at a time.

Hilary Levey Friedman teaches in the education department at Brown University. She is currently working on a book about the links between pageantry and American femininity, which will be published in 2020.