I recently caught up with Miss Oregon 2012 Nichole Mead after her daily workout. Nichole competed in the program for seven years before she captured the Miss Oregon crown and went on to Miss America. She is an experienced dancer and has won the swimsuit competition at the state level.
Q: Do you think the swimsuit competition is still relevant in the Miss America program?
A: Yes, I completely think it’s relevant because it’s not so much what you look like at the time and what you look like in a bikini but it’s how dedicated you are to your health. The program shows women and people in general that they need to be aware of their health and aware of what they need to do to stay physically active. It isn’t so much about having a bikini body; it’s about showing a healthy lifestyle.
Q: Do you think that the level of fitness expected of contestants is putting too much pressure on them to be skinny?
A: I’m sure that for some girls it was about the weight, how skinny they could get, and what weight they thought they needed to be at to compete on the Miss America stage. For me, I didn’t focus on my weight at all; I actually focused on my body fat percentage. I wanted to be toned and athletic looking and I wanted to make sure that I represented Oregon in that way. Every girl was completely different but look who they crowned Miss America; she was so comfortable in her own body. She was a real woman and I think that’s who Miss America is.
Q: How do you feel about the contestants using body modifications and cosmetic surgery?
A: I am a firm believer in women doing what they want to make them feel beautiful. If it’s going to make you feel better to get a nose job because you’ve always been uncomfortable with the way it looks then that’s totally fine with me. I don’t agree with body modifications when it’s someone pressuring you to do it because they say you can’t win Miss America otherwise.
Q: Did the pressure of the competition significantly affect your body image positively or negatively?
A: I think it affected me positively because I showed that if I put the hard work in I could get the results I wanted. When I first started competing for Miss Oregon I couldn’t do one pushup and when I went to Miss America I could bust out like one hundred and fifty in my workouts. So that’s what was so cool: pushing my body in ways that I didn’t think that I ever could.