"Substance" Abuse

 I just finished watching The Miss America Pageant.... I am very disappointed. Granted I did not watch it from the beginning. However, I watched the swimsuit, evening dress, talent and the Q&A sections. I don't know what to say. I think the show was made to encourage young women to not just be pretty faces but to have something of substance to say, be aware of their surroundings, be creative and develop a talent, stand up tall and have self esteem.

 I saw a lot of .... the same. Same hairstyles, some with bad weave and extensions to make the Stepford Wife connect. Where is the girl with jet black or short and edgy hair? Or a red head? What about a girl with natural curls or twists? Or even neat and tidy locks? Where is the diversity on stage that real girls see every day at school and on the street. Are we sending a message that these women are not considered intelligent, talented or beautiful?

  The talent portion, Oy Vey. What to say? Well, how about this? The definition of the word talent is: natural abilities or qualities; a person who possesses unusual innate ability in some field or activity. Is that what was displayed tonight? Not by everyone. I can count four that made me say, 'Wow! That was good!' It is a huge challenge to perform in front of thousands of people. I applaud them for even getting that far. Maybe the talent showcase should be prefaced by the word ammature. What if your talent is writing? There was a contestant who had an interest blurb pop up on screen that read, she wrote her first poem at the age of four. Yet, she was singing a song by Nina Simone that was way too big for her. Maybe, her true talent is poetry! Another contestant's interests flashed on the screen while she too was trying to sing. It read, 'I secretly wish I was a rapper.' Why didn't she do it? Is it that she isn't good at it or that she felt that it was taboo? Or maybe it wasn't allowed? If it wasn't allowed maybe the talent guidelines need to be re thought or updated. Shouldn't we encourage our young women to strive for something even if it goes against the norm?

 I never fit in the box when I was younger and I still don't to this day. I am thankful to have had a mother that helped me dream and dream BIG! She brings me to reality on occasion but she has never discouraged me from being myself... whatever that happened to be at the time. I don't want to discredit the positive things these women achieve. I just wish the platform embraced more individuality.

 Maybe there should be a pageant called: Real Girls, The Anti Cookie Cutters.