Beauty pageants love em or hate em' - they exist.
I'm posting this in this particular section not because of the show, but rather the answers given by those girls who have been successful enough to be in competition with each other for this accolade. I'm hoping that, as an exercise, we can analyse their responses and find subtle nuances of nationalistic pride, apathy or embarrassment. There were three questions posed to the girls the answers to which can be found from the links to those questions.
"Have you, or would you, use an online dating service?" (Yes, it is grammatically incorrect and was televised)
"Should evolution be taught in schools?"
"How do you feel about being in a tasteful nude photo shoot?"
For my point, and ease of use, the question I found most enthralling was the one about evolution and whether or not it should be taught in schools. Here is the video below:
We have a good mix of girls, apparently beautiful ones, between 19 and 27 years of age from different backgrounds personifying regions of the United States of America which voted for them to represent them. In essence we have captured the sentiments which exemplify the beauty pageant voting crowd from across the US (Not sure how representative of the general populous that is though).
Now I'm not sure if the interviewer had to coax long responses from them but they did seem relatively detailed and more than a little knowledgeable of the controversy of creationism being a counter theory with more than half giving it enough value to be presented as an equally weighted idea to be taught within schools.
Before we go any further had I been lucky enough to be the first Scottish mid 30's male with a slight beer gut to represent one of the regions of the USA I'd have responded to the question "Should evolution be taught in schools?" with a simple "Yes". I don't equate people's personal beliefs in existence with government approved curricula and can only imagine the mish-mash of ideas, all without proof, that would belie a system which represented every 'idea' as a legitimate theory. Again I'm not against religion in schools, I think it should be a subject all of it's own and cover the many outlooks people have from across the world - particularly the ones with most followers.
But it's not about creationism and evolution for me here - it's about how the girls responded and us taking an abstract and objective exercise into understanding the underlying, or indeed underpinning, notions which beget the national psyche of the citizens of America only using the footage from the second question about evolution and schools.
I'm hoping it's an interpretative exercise and thusly there are no wrong answers and only amusing anecdotes or extrapolations which help us focus on differences, or indeed similarities, between the concept of talking about evolution on a national stage which you are trying to win and having preconceived ideas as to what you actually think is correct or morally right.
To start the ball rolling: Freedom of speech, expression and belief are given freely within the constitution of the United States of America, do shows like this juxtapose the elephant in the room that is massive ignorance?
For those of you interested Miss Alyssa Campanella, from New Jersey but representing California, was crowned Miss USA 2011 and her answers were (paraphrased and timestamped respectively) she met her current beau via Twitter and so she's not against meeting dates online (1:41), she was taught it and believes it and reckons she's a science geek (1:49) and she's no problem with it as long as it's tastefully done (2:11).