A New York mother is taking legal action against the Miss America and Miss World beauty pageants, claiming their rules are discriminatory towards mothers. Danielle Hazel, along with her famous women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred, filed a discrimination complaint against the pageants with the city’s Commission on Human Rights.
Hazel is a 25-year-old mother from Brooklyn who wishes to compete in major beauty pageants like Miss America and Miss World. However, she claims that the rules for both contests exclude mothers. The Miss America competition only allows women with “no legal dependents” while Miss World participants must be “unmarried, have no children, and are not pregnant.
Stuart Moskovitz, a lawyer for the Miss America pageant, denied any ban on mothers but instead argued that there is a ban on those who have legal custodianship of their children. He said that the only ban is where it’s necessary to protect the welfare of the child. In contrast, single moms are allowed to serve and deploy in the US military as long as they have a “family care plan.
Danielle Hazel was devastated when she learned her son would disqualify her from competing in these major pageants. She said, “I do not want myself and other women to be held back by these discriminatory entry rules.” Both Hazel and Allred are seeking an end to the discriminatory requirements of both pageants which deny mothers the opportunity to participate.
This legal action follows a similar rule that was challenged by Allred on behalf of a California mother, Andrea Quiroga, who was blocked from entering the Miss California pageant because of her motherhood. A settlement led to the elimination of the pageant’s 70-year ban on mothers.
In taking legal action against the remaining major beauty pageants, Hazel and Allred hope for a similar outcome that would help future generations of mothers avoid discrimination in these competitions. As Gloria Allred said, “None of these things change unless we challenge them.
