Watching Miss America.....

Tonight is the night for the Miss America crowning. For 90 years America has been choosing one young lady to represent style, grace, intelligence and beauty for America. A lot of people say that Miss America is degrading to women or that it is all about vanity, but after all these years I still like to watch the Miss America pageant.

When I was a young girl, I thought it would be so cool to be Miss America. Last year in my college English class, we were given a few topics to choose from for a research paper and one of the choices was, “The Miss America Pageant”. We could write from either angle, either you were for it or against it. We had to turn in our topics a week before the paper was due and I decided to write about the positive side of the Miss America pageant.

When I saw a commercial for the pageant a few nights ago, I got excited about it and have been looking forward to it. I thought that as a cosmetologist it would give me some good ideas for hairstyles. If I were honest though, I’d have to say that it’s really because deep down I’m still the little girl wanting to be the pretty Miss America contestant.

The reality of the Miss America contestants is that they work all year long to look good at the pageant. They diet, exercise, practice their talents, and most of the time hire someone that can help them ‘win’ the crown. The reality of regular girls is that they have other things going on in their life and can’t spend all of their time trying to look like Miss America. And that, is what separates us.

So, getting back to the paper. You see, I didn’t start any research until after I turned in my topic. The research that I did was very eye-opening. Miss America is not just a pretty face. She has to have a good head on her shoulders to go with her beauty. Also, she has to choose a cause that will be her ‘platform’ that she will support through-out her reign as Miss America. I believe that is where we see Miss America’s character.

Tonight my daughter and I will watch the Miss America pageant together. We will probably choose a contestant to support and hope that she makes it through each round. Hopefully, I will get a chance to talk with my daughter about the importance of standing up for something that you believe in and the fact that it’s not all about being pretty or having the perfect body. We have something better than a pretty sash and tiara. We have a Heavenly Father and we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” exactly the way He wanted us to be.