08/13/08 Scholarship Pageants

Scholarship Pageant; do those two words actually have anything whatsoever to do with each other? Not really, it's just a P.C. way of still being able to parade young women across a stage in order to "judge" them on how they look in an evening gown or swimsuit while managing not to twist an ankle on those absurd high heels in the process. Hey, that should deserve an award all in itself! It is hard to believe in this day and age that, (call them what they are people), "Beauty Pageants" still exist. One learned Beauty Pageant supporter recently stated that, "The swimsuit is the tradition of Miss America", and should therefore not go away. Well excuse me, but if women had decided to stick with tradition we would all still be staying home in "our place" to dust, cook and clean while wearing high heels and pearls. Yes, these contests have evolved into slightly more than the prettiest/shapeliest body contests of the past, but they are still not scholarship competitions. Otherwise that old swimsuit routine would give way to actually engaging the contestant's minds.