Pageant Cites Complaints : Jr. Miss Now a Young Woman

America’s Junior Miss pageant is changing its name to America’s Young Woman of the Year program.

“America’s Young Woman of the Year is more contemporary and meaningful to today’s life style,” Executive Vice President R. C. (Buddy) Lauten said today.

He said the change was made in response to complaints that beauty pageants are outdated and exploit women, and he said it will help contestants “better serve as role models for the people about them.”

In July the 50-state Junior Miss winners of 1989 will compete for the first America’s Young Woman of the Year title in Mobile.

The pageant, which has attracted 800,000 high school seniors in its 32-year history, was known as Junior Miss America in 1958 and changed to America’s Junior Miss the next year to avoid conflict with the Miss America Pageant.