I would like to know who came up with the idea to have women parade around in bathing suits, gowns, perform mediocre “talent” and attempt to answer questions on social issues. Who? Whose idea? I’m guessing it’s someone who has a strong male-gaze and who enjoys objectifying women.

I had never actually watched Miss America before but it was mentioned in my women’s studies class last year. In class, we discussed how demeaning the entire show is toward women. And then today, I was scrolling through the New York Times opinion page and one of my favorite feminists wrote an article on why she likes to watch the show, and I was taken aback by her opinion.

So this year I decided to see what it was all about.

Well, it’s about creating a picture-perfect American woman, who loves helping people and also happens to look like a barbie–definitely no coincidence there.

Can we start with how painful it was to watch the them dance? I muted the intro for a bit because frankly, I just don’t care about your state and what percentage of the world’s potatoes you grow there. And the dancing, oh my gosh, the dancing.

The first competition was the bathing suit pageant. They literally have these girls parading around in bikinis. It should be noted that they used to wear one piece bathing suits.

I want to know exactly what the judges are looking for while they analyze these women. Are you looking at how skinny, how blonde, how well their hair bounces, how they strut their “stuff” in heels? I know they’re not looking at muscles because God forbid those chicks have actual abs.

That’s the thing with this competition: You are telling women that to be Miss America, you have to be a size 0-2, decently tall, have long hair and be able to have some mediocre stage talent.

America has these women represent each of our states and our country. I wonder what other countries would say if they saw this.

Did you know that in 1969, 400 feminists protested the contest by going to the Miss America venue in Atlantic City? They threw fake eyelashes and tore down banners. Did it work? Not really, but it says something. Where is our form of protest? I personally took to social media as did many others, but is it enough? Will there be change?

My favorite part was the women’s answers to the social questions. First of all, how is it fair to ask someone who they want on the $10 bill and then ask another woman how she feels about Planned Parenthood? And their answers, oh, their answers. This is how you know these women were chosen to be in the pageant because of their looks.

You could tell that none of them have any sort of brain cells, probably from inhaling too much spray tan. During the question round, they asked Miss Georgia, the winner, about deflategate. The judge asked her if she thought New England Patriot’s quarterback, Tom Brady, cheated. ARE YOU KIDDING?

Because her answer, whether yes or no, is going to help the judges determine if she deserves to win a $50,000 scholarship…what has the world of entertainment come to?

And the woman who said presidential candidate Donald Trump is just entertainment, couldn’t back up her answer for the life of her, considering she repeated herself about five times.

Josh Randle, chief operating officer of the Miss America Organization, said in a Mashable.com article that they try to empower young women to be whatever they want. Well I hate to tell ya, Josh, but you can empower women in hundreds of other ways that doesn’t involve them parading around in a swimsuits and asking them how they feel about deflated footballs.