So the MissUSA delegates are out

March 2, 2001 4:55 PM

So the MissUSA delegates are out and I have to ask, does it feel creepy to anyone else how only their faces are shown? I was surprised there wasn't a 0 through 10 across the top of each bio page so they could be rated "hot" or "not." And what about the site's aesthetic? It looks like they went for glossy glamor magazine, but it looks more like porn mag to me.
posted by mathowie (15 comments total)

Check out the range near the right side, from say, texas to virginia, they look like clones to me.
posted by mathowie at 4:57 PM on March 2, 2001

Take the horizontal scroll bar and move it REALLY FAST back and forth until you get a kinoscopic effect.

Now you don't have to actually watch the the pageant. You've received all the necessary information subliminally.
posted by captaincursor at 6:03 PM on March 2, 2001

If you scroll it just right and focus on their mouths (all those teeth - yeesh), you can animate them, making it look like she (the global she) is actually saying something...(punch line goes here)
posted by kokogiak at 7:49 PM on March 2, 2001

Since the whole point (despite denial) is to rate their appearance, is it fair to say that they look like a bunch of creepy mutants?
posted by anildash at 11:48 PM on March 2, 2001

I've gotta agree with anildash. IMO, only 4 or 5 of them were all that pretty. Of course, I'm a straight woman. Plus most of them appeared to be either psychotic or angry.

Hankins, I lived in TN for 16 years. I'd say she's about the average, yes. (Average meaning that there are ones who are better looking and ones that aren't. I would be one of the former of course. ;))

The design does seem a bit like an high-class porn site. Something like, "On the few occasions our girls are dressed they wear only the finest couture ."

Am I the only one who finds it a bit odd that Miss New Mexico is blonde and blue-eyed? I guess most of them are, though.
posted by crushed at 5:09 AM on March 3, 2001

Nah, it doesn't look like a porn site, no tacky ads all over the place.

My vote goes to Miss Ohio, "'cause she's got Geena Davis eyes."
posted by gdavis at 5:39 AM on March 3, 2001

there are no african american delegates from the confederacy. the most southern black contestant is DC. discuss.
posted by palegirl at 7:07 AM on March 3, 2001

there are no african american delegates from the confederacy.

I will resist the troll...I will resist the troll...I will resist the troll.

I thought the confederacy ended with the Civil War.
posted by crushed at 9:30 AM on March 3, 2001

yeah... that's why you never see the confederate flag anymore.

p.s: i am so not trolling. that was just the first thing i noticed when i looked at the website. i'm a college student who studies the legacy of slavery. it's on my mind.
posted by palegirl at 9:35 AM on March 3, 2001

Okay so I may have taken it wrong. But when you point out the lack of African-Americans and then call the south a Confederacy you're kind of trolling, whether meaning to or not.

Anyway, I noticed a lack of most minorities. As I said before, the New Mexican delegate is a blond white woman, as about half of them are. And most of the delegates that are actually part of a minority don't look all that ethnic. It is rather strange that none of the Southern states feature African-Americans since a fairly good number live there. There are also zero Asian-Americans.

If you ask me a lack of diversity in this is a lot worse than the earlier Bush post. Don't these girls supposedly present the best and brightest as well as prettiest women in the states? So, only white blue-eyed blondes are intelligent and sexy? With the exception of a very few? Ugh.
posted by crushed at 9:54 AM on March 3, 2001

I didn't know the pageant was still around. Do people watch it?
posted by sonofsamiam at 10:12 AM on March 3, 2001

I watch them every year. Oh yes, the entire spectacle from Miss Teen USA, to Miss USA, Miss America and Miss Universe. It's a tradition that started when my brother and I used to curl up in front of the TV (he was 9, I was almost 5) and rate the contestants based on their hair and their evening gowns. I should have known then that my brother would grow up to be "special", but I digress.

As a feminist, I find it hard to defend this practice, but it helps to think of it as a train wreck: you want to look away, you know you should look away, but you...just...can't. Besides, as a woman who will never be viewed as "conventionally attractive" by anyone's standards, it's fun to sit back and relish in catty comments for about two hours.

Regarding the layout of the site, it's an improvement over how it looked just a year or so ago. I think the "porn lite" look went hand in hand with this year's theme of "Miss USA X-Treme".

I just realized how entirely sad it is that the longest post I've made on MeFi to date has to do with a pageant. Someone take me out back and shoot me now.
posted by likorish at 10:53 AM on March 3, 2001

Pageants are cool because it gives vacuous white girls a reason to justify thir bulemia and anorexia and all of that other stuff they whine about all of the time.


No sistahs be on there cause that booty be pokin' peoples' EYES out, man. Those contestants they have best have talent, cause they got no bodies.
posted by Capn_Stuby at 11:48 PM on March 3, 2001

There are also zero Asian-Americans.

If it makes you feel any better, crushed, Angela Perez Baraquio was Miss America 2001 and Rita Ng was second runner-up. Both are Asian-American.
posted by youhas at 3:02 AM on March 4, 2001