Last week, the Miss America pageant announced that it is going to drop the swimsuit portion of the competition.

As Gretchen Carlson, chairwoman of the Miss America board of directors, said, “We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance. That’s huge.”

I agree with Gretchen Carlson. That is a huge move for an organization that has been around since 1921. Along with scrapping the swimsuit competition, the pageant will also focus more on interviews and allowing the contestants to discuss their social-impact initiatives and how they will make a difference if they are crowned Miss America.

It appears that Miss America is transitioning away from an appearance-based competition to one that will empower women and, therefore, better their communities.

This is good news for women, and this is good news for our daughters. The more our daughters see examples of women who are praised for their strength and intelligence, the more our daughters will want to be strong and intelligent. And the more they strive for these internal characteristics, the less they will internalize the belief that they are only as valuable as their bodies.

The more our daughters see examples of women who are praised for…