Are Breasts The Source Of Self-Confidence?
Miss California's pageant-funded boob job.
No, they're not real. That'd be the answer to your question had you been wondering about Miss California's Barbie-doll-like cup size. The runner up to Miss North Carolina for the Miss USA title (who has been no stranger to the headlines lately) was outed Friday when a Miss California pageant official admitted, during an interview on The Early Show, that the pageant paid for Carrie Prejean (Miss California) to receive breast implants, reports HuffPo.
Wacky is one word for this story, disappointing and disturbing are two others. For one thing, stating the obvious, this would give her an unfair advantage over other contestants who had not augmented their natural-born proportions. Then again, who knows how many other top contestants also had a surgical boost? Beyond that, we must consider the very nature of such beauty contests nowadays.
Apparently, after Miss California was crowned, pageant officials sat her down to ask if there was anything she'd change about herself to prepare to compete on the national stage. She mentioned her breast size. How A Breast Reduction Changed My Love Life
When prompted by Maggie Rodriguez, The Early Show co-anchor, to explain why the pageant felt compelled to help fund Prejean's boob job, co-Director of the Miss California Pageant, Keith Lewis responded, "We want to put her in the best possible confidence..."
Hold on a sec. Did he really utter the word confidence, and imply that going under the knife for a bigger bust size gives a woman more confidence? More attention, sure. More cleavage stares, we can't deny that. But real self-confidence, the kind defined by Merriam Webster as "confidence in oneself and one's powers and abilities?"
Don't think so.
Perhaps they should start calling these pageants "manufactured-beauty" contests. This is not role-model behavior. Young women already have to grapple with body image from an early age when they're bombarded with images of rail-thin figures and a culture obsessed with weight loss. We should help bolster their self-esteem and help them build real confidence—in their powers and their abilities.
Readers, are we being too harsh on Miss Cali or do young women deserve better? Tell us what you think! And read the full transcript here.
Discussion
People gain self-confidence from many places. Some people feel more confident when armed with knowledge, so they spend their time getting PHDs. Others feel more confident when they are armed with money, so they spend thier time working hard at their career. And some feel confident when armed with bountiful, bouncing, big boobs, so they spend their time going through procedures.
In all honesty, I feel like getting a breast reduction with lift would give me more confidence, but I'm still about $28K short of being able to afford it, so I put efforts forth in other areas to be confident.
Having small breasts and having a site about small breasts, well, I can tell you that I get many emails from young girls who are so miserable because of their sizes.
Up to certain age, yes, breasts size can matter. When I was a teen, the pressure was so much smaller. I had never thought about implants! I did not even know what those were... Funny, how I started to lack self-confidence when I was a lot older (into my 30s) because this whole nonsense about having big breasts = self-confidence came out . Nowadays, poor young girls are so brainwashed and somebody like "Miss California" is not helping at all. But I think women started to open up their eyes a little more and start to change their opinion but it will take time to see a complete change. The "manufactured-beauty" thing unfortunately will go on as long as it sells...
http://www.living-with-small-a-cup-breasts.com
I agree with the moral of the post too, but I'm not so sure there's any such thing as "real self-confidence" - ie. confidence that's got nothing to do with the way people see you.
People who get braces or have their ears pinned back say that it improves the way people see them. Why can't Carrie Prejean feel the same way?
http://www.rowlandmanthorpe.com/blog/2009/05/storm-in-a-d-cup/
Not to burst anyone's bubble, but it's actually really uncommon for women in that high a level of pageantry to NOT have plastic surgery of some sort. I would be shocked if there was one woman at the Miss USA competition who hadn't had surgery done. I'm not trying to cast dispersions or promote stereotypes, it's just that I used to do pageants so I know how common it is.
However, I do strongly agree with the moral of the post!
