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Article: Beauties cling to swimsuits to keep the American dream alive
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- September 20, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1995 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Pumpkin masks at Hallowe'en, daily junk-mail offers of "charge-
free" credit cards and the best breakfasts on earth. Some features
of American life are sacrosanct. To the above list may now be added
the swimsuit competition at the annual Miss America beauty contest.
Now, you ask, what is a beauty contest without swimsuits? But
you ignore at your peril that other constant of American life: the
political correctness police. Faced with complaints of sexism and
male chauvinism, the organisers arranged a call-in vote by
television viewers before Saturday evening's festivities. The
result was a 79-per-cent majority in favour of keeping the swimsuit
segment.
There, however, most similarities end ...