Eye of the Beholder

just a thought:

Beauty pageant contestants couldn't possibly be the best each state or country has to offer.

It's like part of the criteria is that most of them have totally crooked faces, eyes too close together, helmet head hair or impossibly big teeth.
And they look like that 8th grade art project-- you know the one: if you took a picture of one of them, cut it in half right down the noseline, glued each half to a separate piece of paper and then drew the other half, you'd have two completely different people's faces.

And what's with the seductive slink and sexy wink/half smile/chin bob that has replaced the wholesome and hysterical, "From the Lonestar State, I'm Brenda Lou Smith- Miss TEXAS!"?
And Brenda Lou would be wearing a 12 foot tall 10 gallon hat, and sequined chaps?
Now it's become a Victoria's Secret runway show-except with ugly gowns.

I know that this isn't true for all of the contestants.
In fact, my very own breathtakingly beautiful sister-in-law was Miss Oklahoma a number of years ago .
And she deserved to be- that year she was- and still IS - the best Oklahoma had to offer.
And occasionally you get a Vanessa Williams or a maybe even a Lee Meriwether (don't laugh, she's STILL fabulous, admit it). But mostly, the ones who win are the ones you laughed at during the opening of the show. The ones that made you screech, "What was she thinking?" and "Oh my god- what is with her nose?".

And you know what? No matter how liberated we're supposed to be, we don't watch these contests to see who has the best resume or who is the most poised. No, we watch to see how awful the dresses are, how pathetic the talent, and how wrong the judges are. And to cheer on the one who is really the most beautiful, but rarely gets past the first cut.
The secret truth is that it's not about intelligence or achievement;
a beauty pageant is ALL about BEAUTY.

Or, maybe it's not.