Now we have an Indian American Miss America, which on the one hadn is great. The pageant is reflecting diversity at last. And the nastiness that goes with it. Of coiurse maybe that's because a lot of the fans of this type of beauty pageant are the same people who like to ogle scantily clad girls on the beach or catcall women from their perches on concstruction sites and big trucks with booming basses.
But to me, it's a mixed bag. Contestants still have to parade around in swimsuits (now "only" 15% of the points are awarded for the swimsuit competition, according tohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_America Wikipedia ) ball gowns (20%), and answer generally insipid questions on current events (5%; the other 60% divided between talent and personal interviews. Obviously this Miss America, Nina Davuluri, is no bimbo whose breathless goal in life is "world peace," (not that that's a bad goal, but it's also a stock answer to the predictable questions). She's aiming to be a cardiologist, which the scholarship money winners receive will surely help with.
But, must we continue to stereotype women, of any nationality, with the need for Barbie type good looks and toothpaste ad smiles to make them acceptable? To be fair, there's a Mr. America contest too, for bodybuilders who sport overdeveloped muscles and are just as stereotyped, if not worse.
Real men, real women, should not need to enter body-centric contests to prove themselves or attain higher education.
Maybe it's time for a "Real American" contest. Would the winner be an overweight, undereducated non-voting fast food eating TV watching individual symbolizing the worst of middle-America, or a member of one of the fast growing minority populations who so many of the haters of an Indian American Miss America consider too outside the mainstream to even consider?
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