New York Woman Challenges Beauty Pageant Rules Excluding Mothers

New York Woman Challenges Beauty Pageant Rules Excluding Mothers

In a bold move, New York woman Danielle Hazel is challenging the longstanding rules of Miss America and Miss World that disqualify mothers from their beauty pageants. Hazel, who has always dreamed of entering these competitions, was devastated to learn that she is no longer eligible because she had a son at the age of 19.

Speaking at the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in New York’s Central Park, Hazel expressed her frustration with the rules, stating that her 6-year-old son, Zion, also finds them unjust and unfair. Hazel’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, has filed a complaint with the city’s Commission on Human Rights, seeking an end to the requirements that exclude mothers from these opportunities.

Allred argues that the exclusion of mothers from beauty pageants is degrading and based on outdated stereotypes that women cannot be both mothers and successful in other areas of their lives. She points to a previous successful challenge in California, where a mother was denied eligibility to compete in the Miss California pageant, prompting the Miss Universe organization to eliminate its rule barring mothers from participating.

Joining Hazel and Allred in their fight is Veronika Didusenko, who was crowned Miss Ukraine in 2018 only to have her title stripped when it was revealed that she had a child. Didusenko, who has since become an advocate for ending beauty pageant bans on mothers, is seeking relief from the European Court of Human Rights.

The Miss America and Miss World organizations have yet to respond to the complaint, but Allred remains steadfast in her belief that being a parent should not exclude individuals from opportunities and that no one should feel ashamed or degraded for having children.