In a big move for anti-ageist mindsets, the Miss Universe Pageant will be changing its age limitations for good!
Global (17 September 2023) — In a big announcement for pageantry inclusivity, the Miss Universe Organisation has announced that from 2024, there will no longer be an ‘age deadline’ for pageant participants.
From next year the pagent’s only age limitations will be that the youngest age a participant can be is 18. Previously, the age restrictions forbade participants older than 28 from entering.
As the biggest pageant (that we know of) in the universe, the jury has long been out on which rules and regulations should be revised for all reasons: socially conscious and inclusive.
The Miss Universe pageant has a big role in influencing how national pageants function (as evident in the changes made to marital status regulations and motherhood restrictions in the past) which in turn, sets mental trends for women across the world—like thinking that being older than 28 is less beautiful, which is 1. ludicrous and 2. restricting in more ways than pageantry dreams.
The announcement was made by the reigning Miss Universe, R’Bonney Gabriel, a sustainable fashion designer and advocate based in the USA who is also the ‘oldest’ Miss Universe’ at 29.
The inclusive change was also a case of Gabriel sticking to her stance on anti-ageism during her 2023 campaign, where she had shared that if she could change the pageant, raising the age limit would be on her agenda, as age should be as simple as a number and not a restriction.
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