GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- On Saturday, October 14, 51 American women representing each U.S. state and the District of Columbia will compete in the Miss America pageant. This year's winner will be Miss America 2001, becoming the 80th woman to carry the title of Miss America. But for all of this tradition, the American public says it is generally not very interested in the event: in a Gallup poll conducted October 6-9, the vast majority of Americans (73%) say they are "not very interested" in watching the pageant this year. Another 19% say they are "somewhat interested" in watching, while just 7% say they are "very" or "extremely" interested in watching the Miss America pageant.
The highest levels of interest are among both younger and older Americans, with less interest among those in the middle groups. Among those over age 65, 67% say they are not very interested in watching the pageant, while 72% of 50- to 64-year-olds and 79% of 30- to 49-year-olds say they are not very interested. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, 64% say they are not very interested in watching the pageant.
How Should the Pageant Be Judged?
Contests like the Miss America pageant are often referred to as
"beauty pageants," but key portions of the program are based on the
talent of the contestant and how astutely each contestant can
answer questions. This emphasis on the talent and intelligence
portions of the contest seems appropriate to the American public.
The majority of Americans (67%) believe that the Miss America
pageant should be judged primarily on "talent and intelligence,"
while just 16% say it should be based primarily on the "looks" of
the contestants.
Perhaps not surprisingly, men are more likely than women to say the pageant should primarily be based on looks -- by a 26% to 6% margin. A slight difference in judging priorities also exists by age. Twenty-one percent of those aged 18-29 think the pageant should be judged primarily on looks, compared to 18% for 30- to 49-year-olds and 11% for those aged 50 and older.
The percentage who say that looks should be the primary determinant of victory in the contest has gone up slightly from 1990, when this question was last asked.
Would You Want Your Daughter To Be Miss
America?
Gallup also asked Americans, hypothetically, if they would be proud
and encourage their daughter if she wanted to enter the Miss
America pageant. Among the general population, 67% of Americans say
"yes," they would encourage their daughter and be proud, while 31%
say they would not -- almost identical to the responses to the same
question in 1990. There is no major difference in responses between
men and women, but age does play a factor. Among 18- to
29-year-olds, 82% say they would encourage a daughter -- if they
had one -- to enter. This percentage drops to 70% among 30- to
49-year-olds and 56% among those 50 and older.
Interestingly, education level also affects how a person answers this question. Seventy percent of those with a high school education or less would encourage their daughter if she wanted to be Miss America, while 59% of college graduates say they would do the same thing.
Survey Methods
The results reported here are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,052 adults, 18 years and older, conducted October 6-9, 2000. For results based on the whole sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
As you may know, the 80th Miss America pageant will be held on Saturday October 14th in Atlantic City. How interested are you, personally, in watching the Miss America pageant telecast this year -- extremely interested, very interested, somewhat interested, or not very interested?
|
Extremely interested |
Very interested |
Somewhat interested |
Not very interested |
No |
|
|
2000 Oct 6-9 |
2% |
5 |
19 |
73 |
1 |
Some people think that the Miss America pageant should be a contest that judges contestants primarily on their looks. Others think that the Miss America pageant should judge contestants primarily on their talent and intelligence. Which comes closer to your opinion?
|
Base it on looks primarily |
Base it on talent and intelligent |
BOTH |
No |
|
|
2000 Oct 6-9 |
16% |
67 |
10 |
7 |
|
1990 Sep 14-16 |
11% |
70 |
16 |
3 |
If you had a daughter, would you be proud and encourage her if she wanted to enter the Miss America pageant, or not?
|
Yes |
No |
No opinion |
|
|
2000 Oct 6-9 |
67% |
31 |
2 |
|
1990 Sep 14-16 |
65% |
30 |
5 |
(vol.) Volunteered response