It’s a new day for the Miss America pageant. The 97-year-old entity recently announced plans to nix the swimsuit competition, a move widely viewed as a pivot toward modernization in a post-#MeToo world.

Still, one person’s progress may be another person’s skepticism. Following the big announcement, responses were predictably mixed: Some said scrapping the swimsuits is unnecessary, while others argued that change is long overdue.

This shift is a clear departure from the pageant’s lengthy history of judging women by their physical appearance. (Miss America’s own website details how the event began as “photographic popularity contests” in the 1920s.) Whether it was determining who sashayed most gracefully in formal wear or who strutted most confidently in a bikini, Miss America—like many other pageants at the national, regional, and local levels—dutifully employed a rigorous system of graded performances to determine who would take home that glittery crown.

But now that’s all changing. Several former and current beauty queens opened up to Glamour about what makes Miss America’s announcement significant, their time on the pageant circuit, and how they really feel about slinking around in those swimsuits.

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