Beauty pageants have fought long and hard to ditch their reputation of vanity and instead be considered scholarship competitions that elevate women in society. Sadly, the interview questions the contestants must answer don’t always support those lofty goals.
Below are five of the worst interview questions ever posed in beauty pageants. These questions aren’t only pointless—they’re insulting to women as a whole, which is probably why these contestants struggled so much with their answers.
- In the Miss America 2016 pageant, Miss Georgia was asked a horrid, shallow question. Instead of being asked to weigh in on world matters, she was asked to weigh in on whether Tom Brady was guilty in the "Deflate Gate" scandal. She was clearly thrown by the question, but she still managed to take home the crown.
- There’s probably nothing more upsetting than a contestant being asked to pass judgment on another woman's choices. Miss Oklahoma 2013 was asked to do just that in the Miss America 2014 pageant when she was asked what she thought of Miley Cyrus’ twerking at the VMAs. Miss Oklahoma was put into an uncomfortable position and did her best to make light of the situation by answering diplomatically. This question set the pageant world back several years.
- In the interview portion of the 2001 Miss Philippines contest, the contestants were required to answer questions in swimsuits, which is absurd enough, but contestant Jeannie Anderson was also asked a question that is insulting to the entire female population: “Would you rather be beautiful or smart?” This phrasing suggests that women can only be one or the other. It’s easy to see that Anderson was uncomfortable from the beginning and didn’t know what to say, but her answer (that she’d rather be beautiful because you can learn to be smart) was drowned out by the sheer absurdity of the whole situation.
- The Miss Universe 2003 competition might just take the cake for worst interview segment of all time. The five finalists had to answer questions they and the previous Miss Universe had provided, and the results were disappointing. Miss Serbia was asked the hard-hitting question, “Would you rather be fire or water?” and she did not know how to answer. She did say she was a human being and therefore couldn’t make a decision. When you ask bad questions, you get bad answers.
- During the same Miss Universe 2003 competition, Miss Japan was asked which of the five senses she would want if she could only have one. As she competes for the title of Miss Universe, Miss Japan has to answer a hypothetical question that has nothing to do with the world or its citizens. Inspiring, isn’t it? The person who came up with this question did an excellent job of showing a competitor's intellect, compassion, and work ethic. (sarcasm)
