Beauty standards continue to evolve and overturn the status quo, particularly in the United States, as it becomes increasingly multicultural. This reality was underscored during the recent Miss Minnesota USA beauty pageant.
Somali-American Halima Aden, a first-year student at St. Cloud State University, made it to the semifinals, competing in a hijab, and wearing a burkini for the bathing suit competition.
Aden was eventually superseded by Meredith Gould of Minneapolis, who took the crown. Gould will compete in the Miss USA pageant in 2017.
However, as reported by Daily News, pageant executive co-director Denise Wallace told the audience that Aden was “making history.”
Aden was the first Muslim contestant to compete in the Miss Minnesota USA beauty pageant in a hijab and burkini.
[Image credit: Halima Aden, Facebook]