60 岁以上的选美：Ms. Senior America 让「被忽视的年纪」重新被看见
At the Ms. Senior America Pageant, Beauty Is Forever
在大西洋城的 Tropicana 酒店，2026 年 Ms. Senior America 落下帷幕：参赛者须年满 60 岁，赛程包括才艺秀、礼服展示和一轮「人生哲学」现场问答。这项赛事由神学家 Al Mott 在 1970 年代创立，初衷是表彰那些「在人生这个阶段感到被社会忽视」的女性——新泽西小姐 Jacqueline Jetter 说得很直接：「50 岁对女性来说可能是可怕的年纪，因为感觉社会不再看你。」她 50 岁返校读书、拿到南加大硕士，还创立了帮助女性开启「第二幕」的非营利组织。78 岁的 Debbie Miller 时隔十年再战夺冠，她的获奖感言是：「如果你觉得被忽视、被遗忘，你还是你自己——你是那个小女孩、新娘、快乐的母亲，你把她们都带在身上，向前活。」这不是一场比谁更年轻的比赛，而是一次关于「年龄可见度」的集体表态：美和存在感不该有保质期。署名：颜如玉编辑台。
Inside Atlantic City’s Tropicana Hotel, site of the 2026 Ms. Senior America Pageant, sisterhood is alive and well.
“All the friends you make through this pageant are so amazing,” says Rosemary Bennett, representing Texas. In the touch-up room, she and the other contenders are zipping up each other’s dresses and fixing their necklines, laughing all the way. “And you learn some amazing things, like how to lift your you-knows,” she adds, playfully gesturing to her chest. “It’s called chicken cutlets.” By the end of the day, Bennett will be named the third runner-up.
There are a few rules to competing for the title of Ms. Senior America. You must be over the age of 60. You must be a legal resident of the state you represent. The final competition involves a week of interviews, culminating in three events in a single day: a talent show, a gown presentation, and the “Philosophy of Life” segment, based on the questions posed onstage during the Ms. America pageant.
Ms. Senior America was created in the 1970s by theologian Al Mott to honor women in his community who felt unseen during that stage of their lives. “Fifty can be a scary age for women because it feels like society dismisses us,” says Ms. New Jersey Jacqueline Jetter. She chose to go back to school at 50, eventually graduating with a master’s degree from the University of Southern California and founding the nonprofit Timeless Opulence, which supports women in their second act with professional resources. “I want to remind other women that we should be living, not existing.”
And this weekend, Ms. Senior America’s contestants really lived—doing themselves up in glitter eyeshadow and clouds of hairspray, and showing off talents like singing and belly dancing. Debbie Miller enjoyed the experience so much in her late 60s that she came back to do it again. “I did the competition 10 years ago, when I had just moved to Florida,” she says. “I might be 78, but I thought I should do it one more time.”
Her return to the Tropicana stage proved a great success: At the end of the night, a giant sparkling crown was placed upon her ruby red bob. “I would say to anyone who feels overlooked or forgotten, you are still you,” Miller said moments later. “You are the little girl, you are the blushing bride, you are the happy mother, you are all of those things. You carry them within you. Live forward with that.”
来源：颜如玉编辑台 · vogue.com