Maps Will Save Our Children!!!

Thanks to the Miss Teen USA Pageant this past weekend, I found out that a recent study shows that 1/5 of Americans cannot locate the United States on a world map. Is this possible? This question was posed to Miss South Carolina… “why do you think that is?” My initial reaction was that education in our country is jacked up, and we need to do something about the level of academia we’re putting out there… maybe even expect more from our kids!!! But I was so wrong!!! Miss South Carolina’s answer absolutely rocked my world. You can watch for yourself here…

If this is what we can expect from pageants in the future, you can be sure I’ll be tuning in! This pretty much quiets all the critics who say pageants are superficial… all about judging the outward appearance… etc. I mean seriously… put that one in your pipe!!! You critics might say, “You’re proving our point! You saw the interview and she still came in 4th!!! It’s clearly about looks!” to which I would respond, “No, you saw the interview and she came in 4th. Just think about how amazing the other 3 interviews must have been. She gave us the remedy for our education woes and was still beat out by 3 brilliant women.”

Here’s the sad part: is anyone out there really surprised that this display of “intelligence” occurred at a beauty pageant? What’s wrong with this picture? Why have pageants gotten this rap? I’ll tell you why… because it is a contest to see who is the prettiest… NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS! Over the years they have added talent and interview portions to ease our consciences because judging people on their outward appearances would be shallow!

So, let’s give the girl a break. She’s there to be judged on her looks. She’s being forced to answer these difficult questions so that our culture feels better about holding such contests. This is just a bridge to greater things for her… speaking engagements with the Girl Scouts, photo ops at golf outings… and then later on even greater opportunities… college scholarship, Playboy centerfolds, etc.

Here’s the deal… I have no issues with girls entering pageants. If that’s something you really like to do… go for it! There are definitely some great benefits of winning. I just think we’re kidding ourselves if we think it’s based on anything but outward appearance. If you have a different point of view, I’d love to hear it!

Regardless of your opinion on beauty pageants… you have to admit that Miss South Carolina has struck a nerve and we are now obligated to get world maps into every home in this country in order to be able to educate South Africa, Iraq and Asian countries! What?