Miss Colorado Makes Pageant More Than Beauty

Almost without fail, accompanying the annual Miss America Pageant comes the unrelenting feedback of bloggers, twitter users, and talk show hosts. Whether it’s the talents, the girls or the interviews (let us not forget the infamous Miss Teen USA South Carolina response in 2007), something about glitz, glamour and mysterious judging methods of beauty pageants never seizes to get America talking.

 

The Miss America competition of 2016 didn’t disappoint. Congratulations to Miss Georgia and newly named Miss America, Betty Cantrell for taking the crown. But it’s not just Betty whose name is making headlines. Miss Colorado, Kelley Johnson made waves when she chose to perform an original monologue about nursing as her talent. She traded sparkly leotards and tap shoes for a nurse’s outfit and stethoscope. She spoke about a patient, Joe, and the lessons she learned from him about the importance of her role. She concluded with, “I am a lifesaver. I am never going to be just a nurse.” Her monologue quickly went viral and was shared around social media by fellow nurses and fans alike. While many people applauded her heart warming speech, others were less enthused. 

 

On the morning talk show “The View,” Johnson’s showcase was criticized.  Comedian, Michelle Collins stated, “She came in in a nurse’s uniform and basically read her emails out loud.” Co-host Joy Behar later questioned why she had a doctor’s stethoscope on. The hosts of the show all shared a laugh over her presentation. Whether intentional or not, the unfiltered comments on the live show were not taken lightly. People were outraged at the host’s lack of respect for her career and portrayal of it. While the thoughts behind her comments may not have been intentionally malicious, unfiltered comments on live TV can be unsettling to some. While she could have said the comments thoughtlessly, they could be taken a number of ways. Asking why Johnson was wearing a stethoscope could be taken as “why she would dare to wear anything other than a glitzy dress in a beauty pageant?” or “why would she try to impress us with her real life self?”

 

Jessica Dueño, FSU nursing student, in regards to the talent portion of the pageant said, “when I saw Miss Colorado’s monologue, I saw a woman with substance and I could relate to her because she was a real working woman not just a beauty queen. As a nursing student, the remarks she made in her dialogue really resonated with me.” Dueño also explained that there’s no real difference between a doctor’s and nurse’s stethoscope. So for hosts of The View to question why she would wear a doctor’s stethoscope as a nurse was comical to her. 

 

Though some people might not have truly appreciated Miss Colorado’s talent in the Miss America Pageant 2016, many people are reaching out to applaud her for her boldness and for approaching the pageant in a down-to-earth way. Dueño concluded our interview by saying, “I just hope that this whole situation brings awareness to the public at large that a nurse’s job is far more important and significant than how it was portrayed on The View.”