beauty pageant

Bald is beautiful, according to Miss Virginia Tara Wheeler. The pageant queen is trying to raise $500,000 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, a nonprofit that raises funds for childrens' cancer research. Troubled by how little girls were teased about losing their hair due to chemotherapy treatments, she hopes that visiting children with a shaved head will provide support and solidarity. If she reaches her goal by April 11, she'll bust out the buzz cut. (If she doesn't reach the goal, and she doesn't shave her head, I call foul.)

Twenty-five percent of the money raised will go to the Children's Miracle Network and the Miss Virginia Scholarship Fund, but the rest goes to St. Baldrick's. As of yesterday afternoon, she had raised only 3% of her fundraising goal. So if you like the idea of seeing a beauty queen shave her hair off, donate online.

There was a good amount of discussion when I asked for your thoughts on beauty pageants. Most of you find them outdated, dippy, or sexist, but a few readers piped up to show support for them. No matter what you think about pageantry, you'll probably be fascinated by Toddlers and Tiaras, a documentary series debuting tonight on TLC.

The show follows a handful of young girls as they prepare for and compete in beauty pageants, and it is in-sane. Dads seem out of the picture, and the moms are pushy — no surprise there, but there's plenty to surprise. It's bizarre to see a 7-year-old be fitted for fake teeth, for instance, or to watch a terrified, spindly-legged girl sob as she gets her first spray tan. There's more random goodness, too: A lesbian couple turns pageant stereotypes on their heads (Heather has two stage moms!) and one girl confesses that her love of farm animals drives her to compete. For a preview of the show, check out these clips from the first episode — and let me know if you're as gripped by it as I am.

Photo courtesy of TLC

Not only does the United States have a new president this week, it will also have a new Miss America. If that tidbit doesn't excite you, you're not the only one. Back in the '60s, the pageant was repeatedly a top-rated program, but the women's movement (and feminist protests) made many viewers lose interest. By 2004, a mere 9.8 million people watched the show; last year, only 3.63 million did. Perhaps people got tired of seeing women judged by how they look in swimsuits?

Then again, there are pageant fans such as Miss Rhode Island, Francesca Simone, who talks about how important Miss America is to her in this video. And speaking from experience, a lot of women break the pageant stereotype. (My regional pageant queen went on to join the Army.) Still, I've never been a fan of beauty pageants, and I'm curious to hear your opinion of them. Do you think they help young women build character, or are they sexist relics of the past?

This just might be the best bad idea I've heard in a while. The CW is casting for a new show called "Crowned" that will pit mother-daughter pairs of beauty contestants against each other. Sort of "America's Next Top Model" meets "The Amazing Race," but almost guaranteed to be more screwed up than either of those.

They're looking for both pageant veterans and first-timers, and the prize is $100,000 — plus, no kidding, a pair of tiaras. The CW promises that while physical beauty counts in the selection process, so does inner beauty. Well, I feel all warm and fuzzy now, so read more