Miss Utah bombs while answering question about gender wage gap

A rambling response about how to "create education better" from Marissa Powell is making the Internet rounds

Published June 17, 2013 3:52PM (EDT)

  (YouTube)
(YouTube)

Sunday night was the 2013 Miss USA pageant, and while Miss Utah Marissa Powell did not take home the title, she did win the Internet's scorn after failing quite spectacularly to answer a question about paying men and women equal wages for equal work.

"A recent report shows that in 40 percent of American families with children, women are the primary earners, yet they continue to earn less than men. What does this say about society?," asked pageant judge and "Real Housewives of Atlanta" alum during the question and answer segment.

The 21-year-old Salt Lake City native proceeded to answer the question with a rambling assessment of education and job creation in the United States, finally landing on: "I think, especially the men are ... seen as the leaders of this, and so we need to see how to … create education better. So that we can solve this problem. Thank you.”

She came in third place.


By Katie McDonough

Katie McDonough is Salon's politics writer, focusing on gender, sexuality and reproductive justice. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com.

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Equal Pay Female Breadwinners Gender Gender Wage Gap Labor Miss Usa Video Women Workers Women's Rights