We need to...... 'create education better'

Everyone is talking about Miss Utah. And not just because she is so hot. Although she is (naturally) and they are (naturally). It's because she managed to majorly fuck up her answer to the question she was lucky enough to be given at random. In case you are not up on pageant protocol (like me) or haven't seen Miss Congeniality (not like me, seen it a million times and still love it), each contestant is  asked a question which is deemed to be relevant to society at the time and has to answer it immediately in front of everyone. While we contemplate how doomed for failure most of us would be in this situation, I will fill you in on both her question and answer. She was asked: 'A recent report shows that in 40% of American families with children women are the the primary earners, yet they continue to earn less than men. What does this say about society?'. Ignoring the fact that it's a pretty stupid question and not really easy to answer in 30 seconds she could have said 'that it's fucked up', 'that it is dominated by men' or 'that it's not fair'', none of which would have won her the crown I think but then neither did what she actually chose which was this gem: 'I think we can relate this back to education and how we are continuing to strive to.....(long pause, beauteous smile)...figure out how to create jobs right now. This is the biggest problem and, I think, especially the men are seen as the leaders of this, so we need to...(short pause)...create education better so we can solve this problem'.

She is very beautiful though....

Well. I'm stumped. I'm not sure that would make sense as an answer to any question and most certainly not the one it was in response to. Of course, whilst the clip is cringingly painful to watch, the answer is good to have a little laugh over. But as I said earlier, who amongst us could do much better? Aside from my joking provocative answers, who could put together on the spot an answer that is relevant, makes sense and addresses an important topic sufficiently in 30 seconds? Few I would assume. I have seen enough presentations both at university and in my work to know we all stumble occasionally when confronted with a judging crowd. Surely the issue at hand is why the hell these pageants still exist? And why they put in a gratuitous question and answer section in so they can pretend they are judging these women on something more than the way they look? Miss Utah came third by the way. So they obviously were not handing out the most points for brains. 

Without wanting to sound like a raging, bra burning (never) feminist, these pageants are outdated and I can't see what place they have in society. Everything I seem to see lately suggests that girls/women in society increasingly feel that all they have to offer is the way they look. Is it the rise of the internet and sites such as Instagram where we all (I am not immune) compete to get a selfie where we look as hot (and as least like how we actually look on an everyday basis) as possible and have it as our profile picture to show the world just how beautiful we can be. Don't get me wrong I can be a shameless narcissist and see nothing wrong with everyone wanting to look and feel the best they can, but this is something more. It is the feeling that our looks are the most important thing we have to contribute to the world. That's where the key word comes in: JUDGING. These women in pageants are judged by men and by other women, who decide who is superior based on how good they look in a swimming costume and evening dress. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? In everyday life SOME women judge others for the exact same thing. They do it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, internet forums, or newspaper and magazine articles and write disgusting comments about them based on their body, their hair or their outfits. Just what did this stranger do to incite their vitriol? Nothing it would seem, apart from look the way they do. Sad but true. It goes deeper than the old bitchy comment we are all partial to, no one is saint but this is another level of bitchy. Of course most of the time the women behind this vile web bullying are deeply unhappy themselves and so take it out on others in the only way they know best. And that is where Miss Utah's answer comes in: 'we need to create education better'. Switch it around to 'we need to create better education' and it's actually coherent (we will ignore the fact it is irrelevant to her question because it is answering mine). Until we educate young girls that they are worth more than their reflection in the mirror this cycle will not stop. 

It's not just young girls, although they are the future. Maybe we all need a reality check. When we die, people are not going to remember and talk about us because of how beautiful we were on the outside. They will remember how we treated them and how we made people feel. I have some physically beautiful friends, but that is not why I love them. I love them because they have a good heart. So come on, let's 'create education better' and leave the world something to remember us by other than our super hot Facebook profile pictures.