Miss Universe pageant: The climate is changing

MEXICO CITY -- This year's Miss Universe pageant is missing one of its most noted contestants: Miss Sweden, a statuesque blonde whose country is one of the few to win the crown three times.

Isabel Lestapier Winqvist, 20, has dropped out because Swedes say the Miss Universe competition, airing live Monday night from Mexico City, is degrading to women and weighed down by scandals.

"We're taking a big beating by being linked to it," said Panos Papadopoulos, organizer of the Miss Sweden contest, which scrapped its swimsuit competition and allowed women to apply for the position like any other job after heavy criticism from feminists.

Participants in the pageant also are breaking the mold.

Miss Jamaica, 25-year-old Zahra Redwood, is the contest's first Rastafarian and the first to appear in dreadlocks.

Miss Tanzania, Flaviana Matata, an electrical technician whose country is participating for the first time, is also challenging stereotypes with her shaved head.

Donald Trump, who co-owns the contest with NBC, says the Miss Universe Organization has redefined beauty pageants.

But the Miss Universe competition is judged solely on an interview and swimsuit and evening-gown competitions.

Miss Universe is considered a wilder rival to Miss America, which values talent more than its swimsuit competition.