I'm not even sure I believe the premise of this question...that a fifth of Americans cannot locate their own country on a map. I might believe they couldn't find Canada or Mexico but surely we are self-absorbed enough that we can all find our own country?
Secondly, although I am not a fan of beauty pageants, I do have to give credit to the girls up there. Not for their ability to participate in the question/answer segment but for their presence during the bathing suit segment. It takes a special person to strut around, simultaneously on stage and on television, in a bathing suit and live to tell about it.
I, for one, would sooner toss my body into the lion exhibit at the zoo before I squeezed it into a bathing suit in front of thousands of people.
And the worst part of the bathing suit segment is that a huge amount of girls are eliminated following it! Can you imagine putting yourself through that only to be told, 'Sorry! You just aren't as good at walking in a bathing suit as the other girls.'
But the question and answer segment? Come on, that is sooo easy. You can always fall back on the whole 'world peace' bit. For instance:
Question: Why can't a fifth of our population find our country on a map?
Answer: Because we don't have world peace. We've spent so much money on war that we don't have enough left over for education.
With that answer, not only could she have used the world peace phrase but her answer would have been accurate! The answer would have been so short that she could have spent the rest of the time looking pretty for the cameras...which, let's face it, is the point of the whole pageant anyway.
Plus, her answer would have had a personal connection since obviously her parents spent so much money on her pageant career that they didn't have enough left over for her education.
Instead, this girl takes a pretty basic question and runs with it!
She starts off saying that maybe they don't know where our country is located because they don't have maps. Okay, perhaps she meant to comment on the pathetic state of our education system particularly where the extremely poor are concerned.
But from there it just gets muddled. Education in South Africa and Iraq? Isn't Oprah doing something in South Africa? And maybe the Peace Corps?
But Iraq? I was under the impression we were there strictly to kill people, not educate them.
But I feel sorry for this girl. Afterall, she's up there putting herself on the line so that her mom can live vicariously through her. Not all of us have the guts to do that. And, in the end, she has been failed like all those people in the supposed fifth of our population who can't find the United States on a map.
And while I am hesitant to put the blame on any one institution, like a beauty pageant, I feel perfectly fine blaming our government for this problem. Because, when it comes down to it, our government doesn't put a high value on education.
Despite what the politicians say, they always seem to drop education reform (along with health care reform and environmental protection) in the proverbial political landfill when a war is on the smoggy horizon.
And why isn't education valued in this country?
Because we don't have world peace.
And that's my final answer. (Smile. Wave. Pose.)
Secondly, although I am not a fan of beauty pageants, I do have to give credit to the girls up there. Not for their ability to participate in the question/answer segment but for their presence during the bathing suit segment. It takes a special person to strut around, simultaneously on stage and on television, in a bathing suit and live to tell about it.
I, for one, would sooner toss my body into the lion exhibit at the zoo before I squeezed it into a bathing suit in front of thousands of people.
And the worst part of the bathing suit segment is that a huge amount of girls are eliminated following it! Can you imagine putting yourself through that only to be told, 'Sorry! You just aren't as good at walking in a bathing suit as the other girls.'
But the question and answer segment? Come on, that is sooo easy. You can always fall back on the whole 'world peace' bit. For instance:
Question: Why can't a fifth of our population find our country on a map?
Answer: Because we don't have world peace. We've spent so much money on war that we don't have enough left over for education.
With that answer, not only could she have used the world peace phrase but her answer would have been accurate! The answer would have been so short that she could have spent the rest of the time looking pretty for the cameras...which, let's face it, is the point of the whole pageant anyway.
Plus, her answer would have had a personal connection since obviously her parents spent so much money on her pageant career that they didn't have enough left over for her education.
Instead, this girl takes a pretty basic question and runs with it!
She starts off saying that maybe they don't know where our country is located because they don't have maps. Okay, perhaps she meant to comment on the pathetic state of our education system particularly where the extremely poor are concerned.
But from there it just gets muddled. Education in South Africa and Iraq? Isn't Oprah doing something in South Africa? And maybe the Peace Corps?
But Iraq? I was under the impression we were there strictly to kill people, not educate them.
But I feel sorry for this girl. Afterall, she's up there putting herself on the line so that her mom can live vicariously through her. Not all of us have the guts to do that. And, in the end, she has been failed like all those people in the supposed fifth of our population who can't find the United States on a map.
And while I am hesitant to put the blame on any one institution, like a beauty pageant, I feel perfectly fine blaming our government for this problem. Because, when it comes down to it, our government doesn't put a high value on education.
Despite what the politicians say, they always seem to drop education reform (along with health care reform and environmental protection) in the proverbial political landfill when a war is on the smoggy horizon.
And why isn't education valued in this country?
Because we don't have world peace.
And that's my final answer. (Smile. Wave. Pose.)
3 comments:
I originally had a hard time believing that a fifth of our population can not find the US on a map when I heard the question.... then I heard that answer and am not entirely sure Ms. South Carolina could find South Carolina on a map let alone the US.
Its a shame these pageants aren't based more on intelligence than beauty. Then we might really pay attention to our education system.
Amen, sista' friend. (Oh yeah, I said sista')
Here is her rebuttal- even with a chance to script an answer she doesn't sound that great!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pnv0FTQiVIQ
Post a Comment