Beauty pageants are a controversial subject amongst militant feminists; to many it's a parade of unhealthy, image-obsessed airheads who preach about veganism and world peace but really have no political standing whatsoever. The Miss USA Pageant has just turned all that around with their latest winner Deshauna Barber.

Deshauna BarberDeshauna Barber is the perfect winner of Miss USA

Of all the women who could represent the United States, the Miss USA crown has gone to a 26-year-old army officer who happens to be just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside, not to mention an incredible public speaker. Deshauna Barber was Miss District of Columbia when she seized the big crown at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday (June 5th 2016), after an empowering speech about body confidence and women in the military. 

'As a woman in the United States Army, I think it is an amazing job by our government to allow women to integrate into every branch of the military', said Barber, an Army Reserve logistics commander and IT analyst for the Department of Commerce. 'We are just as tough as men. As a commander of my unit I am powerful, I am dedicated and it's important to recognize that gender does not limit us in the United States Army.'

More: See more pictures of Miss USA Deshauna Barber

Before she took the crown from Miss USA 2015 Olivia Jordan, she also took a moment to talk about beauty. 'Serving in the military has taught me that being confidently beautiful is about being able to earn respect from people regardless of what you look like', she said. 'As a woman in the military, people associate beauty with weakness and they learn very quickly that I'm extremely strong, and though I'm small, I'm powerful. Confidently beautiful is being myself and being very happy with who I've become.'

Losing the crown to Barber were runners up Miss Hawaii (Chelsea Hardin) and Miss Georgia (Emanii Davis) who, quite frankly, didn't stand a chance after that speech.