That kid is kinda fat to be in a beauty pageant.

I didn't want to argue about this in the comment stream, so I have moved it over here. I have left it public if anyone wants to peek, but I didn't want to hijack the very funny Evolution vid with an off-topic.

Well, we're going to have to disagree about this, Gallow. As a woman, I watched the Evolution vid all the way to the end. I saw 50 pretty and maybe 15 (I didn't count) intelligent women answering a politically loaded question that should never have been asked. See vid "should math be taught" -- Miss Vermont got the answer right.

I couldn't watch the shower one. I tried. I got about 1/3 of the way in.

It may have been really funny according to your "precious white male view of the world", but let me assure you, it wasn't funny to me. It was tedious and stupid and a perfect example of a woman being reduced to her body parts.

I could wrong about that, of course, since I gave us so quickly. Did she ever speak? Did she have a line? Was she accorded a point of view, even if it was steeped in the idiocy that is American public thought (I am referencing the stupid evolution answers, if that isn't clear)?

Also... objectification "substantiated" by comedy? That is just plain old objectification, sweetpea, with extra syllables. And.... you think you know which is worse? Don't you think you might ask a woman who is the target of the objectification, rather than checking in with yourself? After all, you are not the potentially offended one, are you? Shouldn't you be asking a bunch of women if THEY are offended?

I'm not defending beauty pageants, I hope you have realized. Rottenseed called me to that vid for the sole purpose of baiting me about the women's movement (a phrase that feels outdated after all these decades.) I was doing what I always do when rotten attempts to get my goat -- I answer the substance of the comment, pretend he isn't a dickhead trying to make me mad, and take the opportunity to rephrase whatever it is he is saying in a gender-neutral or woman-positive way. (Hi rotten. I didn't plan on mentioning you, I just ended up here. Hope you don't instaban me for calling you a dickhead -- snarf.)

I get that you have a different point of view. I also get that there is nothing I can say that will shift your perspective, so why bother "debating"? Having said that, I LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THIS SHIT. If you want to continue, I'm up for it.

I know that I am one lonely voice here in a sea of white men who have their own struggles with cultural expectations (I mean that sincerely, not snarkily.) That's okay. I have gotten very very VERY good at skipping over shinyblurry's lectures -- I assume that I am skipped over also. I can live with it.

In reply to this comment by Gallowflak:m

I can't not say that - according to my precious white male view of the world - whatever objectification there is in the CollegeHumour video you mentioned is substantiated by the comedy. It's not about the objectification of women. It's using a very common experience as a foundation from which to express wit and humour and crack a good joke or two.

Miss USA, by comparison, is pretty much exclusively about the objectification of women. That's all there is. There's no gag, no punchline, no purpose other than determining whose features are the most shapely and symmetrical and who looks nicest in a dress.

I know which one I think is worse.

"The highest level"?

I beg to differ.

How about the sex in the shower, currently in the Top 15? That, my friend, is objectification.

Let's agree to disagree. I don't want to argue about this.

>> ^rottenseed:

They don't have a Mr. USA competition...at least a mainstream one. This is objectification at the highest level and what makes it worse is that they're opening their mouths to either safely pander to the lowest common denominator or to vomit the contents of their professional-beauty-pageant-contestant sized brains.>> ^bareboards2:
Thanks for pointing this out to me, rottenseed.
My mind is just churning now -- I would LOVE to see a map of the US colored in the different "beliefs." The sense I got was the deep South women were the most heavily invested in teaching "the other side."
These were also the women who were chosen to represent their state -- as @NetRunner said, these women gave "safe" answers. I loved the honesty of the one who said "wow, I just made someone mad." Extra points for honesty.
Although I don't see what this has to do with the women's movement, rotty baby. Give me a good looking man from each of these states, I'm betting you would get the same range of answers.
Anybody else reminded of the Scopes "monkey trial"? Why the hell did the pageant officials even ask this question? WHY THE HOLY HECK IS THIS QUESTION EVEN BEING ASKED???

>> ^rottenseed:
I call on @bareboards2
She needs to see the real enemies of the women's movement...

They don't have a Mr. USA competition...at least a mainstream one. This is objectification at the highest level and what makes it worse is that they're opening their mouths to either safely pander to the lowest common denominator or to vomit the contents of their professional-beauty-pageant-contestant sized brains.>> ^bareboards2:

Thanks for pointing this out to me, rottenseed.
My mind is just churning now -- I would LOVE to see a map of the US colored in the different "beliefs." The sense I got was the deep South women were the most heavily invested in teaching "the other side."
These were also the women who were chosen to represent their state -- as @NetRunner said, these women gave "safe" answers. I loved the honesty of the one who said "wow, I just made someone mad." Extra points for honesty.
Although I don't see what this has to do with the women's movement, rotty baby. Give me a good looking man from each of these states, I'm betting you would get the same range of answers.
Anybody else reminded of the Scopes "monkey trial"? Why the hell did the pageant officials even ask this question? WHY THE HOLY HECK IS THIS QUESTION EVEN BEING ASKED???

>> ^rottenseed:
I call on @bareboards2
She needs to see the real enemies of the women's movement...

Ya know I'm very against the government going after small groups that can't defend themselves and stripping away rights left and right that should be fundamental.

With that said everyone in favor of banning Beauty Pageants for anyone under the age of 16? Anyone think that this pseudo-sexualization of children should continue? Huh anyone? Yeah lets ban this shit right the fuck now, we're done shut it down.

Hate to break it to you mom, but your kid won't be winning any beauty pageants in the first place.

I agree. I find it hard to believe that they know anything about the topic which they are discussing. Like beauty pageant contestants talking about world politics. They probably cry when they break a nail, but feel no empathy when a bomb drops on a family's home in the name of "democracy".>> ^acidSpine:

So sick of these moronic meatsacks interrupting their guests to twist their words whenever something is said that contradicts the fantasy version of the world they're trying to sell.

Honestly, what did these idiots expect when they put a hyper-educated home-schooled kid with probably very little social life on the air

It's just a bad mix when you combine someone who doesn't give a crap about facts (modern journalist) with someone who probably doesn't care for anything other than facts.

Is there anything of relevant value to a spelling bee in the modern age? I mean back in the good ole days, it was a nice way to encourage education, but now it's one of those contests where you don't have a chance in hell of winning unless you dedicate yourself completely to it.

It's hard to see a difference between beauty pageant parents and spelling bee parents in this case.

Normal people saw this and thought:
"What kind of mother would force a 5 year old to wax?"
"That girl is a person, not a barbie doll. Hmph."
"Omg.. the crazy mom is gonna traumatize and torture that girl like this for years. For something as superficial as beauty pageants no less. What a shame."

You saw that and thought:
"Psh. Fuckin' pansies. I hated getting a haircut when I was little too. Stupid false outrage. rabble rable."

And that.. is why you're a troll. [or just naturally a clueless jackass]
= P

>> ^joedirt:

Mother shaves 5 year old boys head! CHILD ABUSE!
Mother puts daughters hair in dreadlocks! CHILD ABUSE!
GTFO this is such fictional outrage.

She acts like a kid that thinks she's the first person ever to say "I'm rubber and you're glue...".
It seems like all the arguments from these people are like those from a child questioning established knowledge in some blindingly literal way. It doesn't literally say "separation of church and state" anywhere but in the minds of the people they accuse "think they know better than the rest of us". So the political system turns into a high school popularity contest, with the intelligent nerds being trounced by the half-wit jocks and beauty pageant winners.

Having both girls, 10 and 4 respectively, I can't say I'd be comfortable with them performing something like this at all, although my oldest would undoubtedly love to. I didn't think the song was inappropriate, however. It really boiled down to the clothing was rather skimpy and the gyrating a bit too provocatively...and with the combination of both...yeah, it was a bit weird.

Yes, they did an outstanding job and the effort needed to perform that probably took many hours to pull off. Kudos there, but still...it was questionably inappropriate for a child (which is what 7 is...again, we're not talking pre-teen).

Now, having said all that...I'm also the type of guy thats not too keen on child beauty pageants (i.e Jon Benet Ramsey) and think that the parents who funnel their children through these things need some serious self reflection time for what they are doing to their kids. For the parents that ok'd this particular routine, I'm sure they signed over a bit of that self reflection in the hopes of winning said competition.

I upvoted Bleach's comment because although I don't think "dancing" is inherently meant to draw in the opposite sex, it certainly can be used to conjure up said imagery and I do think there was some of that happening during this routine. Again, such actions are inappropriate for a seven year old, IMO.

I'll take a constitutional law professor over a washed-up Alaskan beauty pageant contestant any day.

It's not going to win a beauty pageant, but I am actually extremely pleased with the brick-like design because it *really* makes it easier to hold. (You can apply just a little pressure to any edge to keep a good grip.) This is starkly contrasting to the pretty look of the iPhone which is completely slick and rounded and arguably designed to make you drop (and replace) it as frequently as possible.

Just discovered a couple of other interesting things. Tried some m4v video playback and it's extremely crisp and beautiful. After a bit of actual use, I'm finding I really love the keyboard. It's very smartly laid out and even has a dedicated question mark key which I love (no more alt-period, alt-period, alt-periods for me).

One thing worth noting is that the touch screen fails to work under certain strange conditions like when the plugged-in USB cable is wrapped around it and/or it's laying on a leather sofa. Must have something to do with how the magical touch sensitive glass works.

No more iTunes or being forced to carry a phone *and* an iPod Touch in each pocket.

This seems like the male version of the beauty pageants obsession. I can't imagine a kid wanting to do all that out of his own free will.

Fascinating indeed. I really think Rachel has it wrong about Carrie Prejean though. There is no way that the would-be Miss USA ever has a chance of holding office IMO. But...Well we did get pretty damned close to electing a moron beauty pageant winner in 2008.

It's frightening to watch people so openly and publicly celebrate intolerance. The people I really feel for are the kids in situations like this. I wonder what dinner table discussions are like at the home of the person who wrote "Why Should God Bless America?" are like for example.