Beauty Must Be In The Eyes Of The Beholders

One trend in most places on earth is fewer female beauty pageant contests, those favorites of we men where giggling of various body parts equals excellence. But where beauty pageants are still held there seems to be a degradation of the contests. Want an example?  The famed Miss America pageant, always the number one beauty contest in this country had a contestant this year, Theresa Vail from Kansas, who just walked across the stage and showed her tattoos. Tattoos! Yep, tats are now in beauty contests
"Why did I choose to bare my tattoos?", said Theresa. "My whole platform is empowering women to overcome stereotypes and break barriers. What a hypocrite I would be if I covered my ink. How can I tell other women to be fearless and true to themselves if I can't do the same? I am who I am, tattoos and all." Hmmm I wonder if she would cover other marks on her skin if they showed.....varicose veins or scars, for example.

Tattooed Theresa is University student at Kansas U who plans on being a dentist. She did not win the contest or even finish among the top ten. Theresa is also in the army (where she got her tats). I am not in agreement with her that she is "empowering women" by showing her tattoos, but I am certain her body writing and pictures won't win her any beauty contests. Perhaps she is desperate for attention of any sort. Wearing a bikini with script tattooed across her body should do that.

I am not a fan of mutilating the human body with ink. And whole ink think has become a bit of a hackneyed expression of one's identity. Nothing is original anymore, which is why there is a waiting period till what was old and outed becomes new again.  Tattoos are popular today but the novelty is rapidly wearing off, meaning many tattooed people may eventually want to wear off their tats. I wish her well, but think she would probably be better suited for a Tattoo beauty contest than a standard one.

There is a definite division in our society. The younger generation loves tattoos or 'body art.' It's almost a style thing, but to some a message statement. The problem is that styles change as do preferences. Look at photos of how people dressed in the 1960s. I ask myself how could we have ever worn that pair of pants or shirt. And those glasses! But those things are easily replaced. It costs a lot of money, time, and perhaps discomfort to remove tattoos. But I guess the young have to learn lessons on their own just as everyone in the past had to.