Beauty queen Katherine Webb, girlfriend of quarterback A.J. McCarron, wanted to clarify that she is running for the Miss USA crown and not Miss America's. Is there a difference between the two beauty pageants?
According to Miss USA 2004, Shandi Finnessey, Miss USA girls want to grow up to be Victoria's Secret models, while Miss America girls want to be doctors and lawyers.
As reported on the Las Vegas Sun, one of the 2013 Miss America Pageant staff explained: "They only go to the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants when they find out they can't do what it takes to be Miss America. It's the truth; it is tough to be Miss America. These young women have to have their community service platforms, they have to work on their talent, and they have to be in school."
"The Miss USA program doesn't require any of that. Miss America is more relevant today because it's not about pretend glamour, made-up glamour, but finding women who can help lead this country into a better place."
In its January issue, a Marie Claire report spells out the differences before Miss America contestants arrive to Las Vegas mentioning a list of state winners who have entered politics and have even participated in congressional and senate races. "They are the doers, the planners and big picture thinkers who will define America's tomorrow," reads the article.
"We give young people the role models who their parents want them to follow as opposed to a lot of Hollywood starlets who go off the tracks and get caught up in sex and drug scandals," said an informant of Las Vegas Sun. "Many of Hollywood's young girls in the headlines are exactly the people parents don't want their daughters to have as role models."
"They look at the young women in our program, and they say now that is a young woman who I would like my daughter to follow."
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