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The Daily OrangeLetters | Beauty pageant challenge
By Jessica Martin
Posted: 9/17/07, 9:31 PM EST Section: Opinion
In response to the article "Miss South Carolina is a beauty, not a brain," (Sept. 4) by Caroline Mojonnier.
Mojonnier was correct when she stated that the Miss Teen USA pageant is "first and foremost a beauty pageant," but I ask that she and the readers of The Daily Orange to please not hold all pageants and their contestants to the stereotype and negative connotation that the Miss Teen USA pageant and Miss Teen South Carolina may bring to mind, one in which pageants value beauty rather than substance.
I am the reigning Miss Teenager of New York. I know firsthand that pageants are neither "outdated" nor "demeaning" as SU Women's Studies Chair Linda Alcoff said.
She stated that the interview is not of importance in the pageant system, but for most pageants, the public speaking and interview portions are of utmost importance and are usually where the pageant is won.
Ms. Mojonnier, I didn't expect you to realize that not all pageants and not all contestants are the same. As for providing your readers and myself with "intellectual insights into the state of education when asked off the cuff, under the spotlight and in front of millions of viewers," I don't expect that from you, either.
I challenge you and Linda Alcoff to enter a pageant for yourselves and see what they are like before publicly criticizing them. I can guarantee you will be surprised by how intelligent and well-spoken the young women are.
So please, readers and columnists alike, don't rely on ill-informed stereotypes when forming your opinions. Maybe then we can "celebrate beauty for beauty's sake."
Jessica Martin
Sophomore public relations major
Mojonnier was correct when she stated that the Miss Teen USA pageant is "first and foremost a beauty pageant," but I ask that she and the readers of The Daily Orange to please not hold all pageants and their contestants to the stereotype and negative connotation that the Miss Teen USA pageant and Miss Teen South Carolina may bring to mind, one in which pageants value beauty rather than substance.
I am the reigning Miss Teenager of New York. I know firsthand that pageants are neither "outdated" nor "demeaning" as SU Women's Studies Chair Linda Alcoff said.
She stated that the interview is not of importance in the pageant system, but for most pageants, the public speaking and interview portions are of utmost importance and are usually where the pageant is won.
Ms. Mojonnier, I didn't expect you to realize that not all pageants and not all contestants are the same. As for providing your readers and myself with "intellectual insights into the state of education when asked off the cuff, under the spotlight and in front of millions of viewers," I don't expect that from you, either.
I challenge you and Linda Alcoff to enter a pageant for yourselves and see what they are like before publicly criticizing them. I can guarantee you will be surprised by how intelligent and well-spoken the young women are.
So please, readers and columnists alike, don't rely on ill-informed stereotypes when forming your opinions. Maybe then we can "celebrate beauty for beauty's sake."
Jessica Martin
Sophomore public relations major
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