Beauty queens with rings at the Mrs. Nevada Pageant

By April Corbin

Wednesday, March 2, 2011 | 4:15 p.m.

Of all the things to hate about the Miss America Pageant, the rule excluding mommies and married women from participating is at least in the Top 5. Physical beauty has nothing to do with whether or not you have ever given birth or put a ring on it. And outside of that, if you believe that judges actually care about what’s going on upstairs, one could argue having a spouse or a child actually makes you more thoughtful, compassionate and full of those quality traits for which they supposedly look.

Regardless, the antiquated rules are rules, so for married women looking to don evening wear and swimsuits in the same hour, there’s Mrs. America. The Nevada preliminary of this premiere pageant for married women was held Sunday at the Suncoast Showroom and brought together a group of women whose careers and hobbies ranged from “director of household operations” and mechanical contractor to classically trained pianist and obituary collector.

The night’s eventual winner was Mrs. Red Rock, Amanda Kouretas—a wife of 10 years, mother of three and homemaker involved in charity work. The waif-thin blonde (last year’s second runner-up) beat out 14 other women and vowed to continue her charity work throughout her year as Mrs. Nevada-America. Kouretas has big shoes to fill, as the state’s outgoing queen, Susie Monahan, made a record 91 appearances during her seven-month stint.

The pageant highlight, however, may have come in the interview session, when emcee Chet Buchanan asked one contestant what advice she would give to young women who were considering marriage.

“Wait.”