2011 Miss USA: “Huge Science Geek”!

Posted by Jeff on June 20, 2011
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Miss California Alyssa Campanella wins the 2011 Miss USA Pageant. In preliminary judging, Campenella supported teaching evolution in public schools. In the finals, she gave a complex answer on legalizing marijuana.

Photo Credit: By Valerie Macon, AFP/Getty Images

This is my favorite story of the day:

The newly crowned Miss USA, Alyssa Campanella, 21, of Los Angeles said:

I was taught evolution in high school. I do believe in it. I’m a huge science geek…I like to believe in the big bang theory and, you know, the evolution of humans throughout time.


Of course, other contestants did not share Ms. Campanella’s views:

Three were flat out opposed: Miss Kentucky, home state of the Creation Museum; Miss Alaska who assures us “each of us was individually created by God for a purpose;” and Miss Alabama who doesn’t believe in evolution.

Could the newly crowned Miss USA serve as a role model for young girls interested in science, but not wanting to be labeled a geek or a nerd? As a father of a young daughter, I sure hope so.

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  1. #1 skeptifem
    June 20, 2011

    Could the newly crowned Miss USA serve as a role model for young girls interested in science, but not wanting to be labeled a geek or a nerd? As a father of a young daughter, I sure hope so.

    Because lard knows that the labels that go with being a beauty pageant winner are so much better. You are saying that she is a good role model for girls who have to choose from a menu of stereotypes thrust upon them by popular culture. Maybe you should concentrate on raising girls who don’t care what other people think of them, or see the stereotypes for what they are (fake, overly simplistic). Someone who pretends to exist for male approval is not a good role model for any girl, that is for sure.

  2. #2 Jeff
    June 20, 2011

    Excellent point. I agree that all parents should focus on raising children “who don’t care what people think of them” but we cannot deny that all children need external validation and that stereotypes, whether we like them or not, permeate our culture. I note the intriguing new book by Robert Jensen “Getting off: Pornography and the end of masculinity” that you discuss on your blog: http://skeptifem.blogspot.com/

  3. #3 TomS
    June 20, 2011

    each of us was individually created by God for a purpose

    Evolution is concerned with changes in populations. The origins of individuals is the subject matter of reproductive biology. If someone believes that the actions of God cannot have a scientific explanation, then divine creation of individuals presents a problem for reproductive biology, not for evolutionary biology.

  4. #4 rork
    June 20, 2011

    As the father of a young daughter, I sure hope she pays no attention to Miss USA or any other crap remotely like it.

  5. #5 LuckyFella
    June 20, 2011

    You guys who are posting that he should be more concerned with raising his own daughter and concerned that she watches the “Miss USA crap” are missing a greater point.

    I’ll go out on a limb (cause I don’t know the dude or his daughter or his control group) and say that he knows this, and does a good job educating his daughter on what pageants and other negative stuff are all about (by assigning “negative” to the pageant, I’m even giving the benefit of all ya’ll assertions that its not a good thing on the whole – an arguable point).

    However, we live in the world of the pageant. There is nothing wrong with hoping that something that exists that you may even think of as wrong has some good, or perhaps MORE good come out of it than it would otherwise. You can’t control everything. Ultimately his daughter has her own mind
    and could, conceivably, however unlikely, become a pageant contestant one day. As such he has every right to “hope” that there are things in pageants that mitigate any potential negative influences.

    I don’t know if mr. scientist thinks pageants are good or even ok or evil. But short of becoming an activist to remove pageants, they are here for all of us. There’s nothing wrong with being happy that someone in something you perceive as negative is now serving something you believe in as good.

    Put another way, the issue of whether pageants are good or bad or neutral or some other thing has nothing to do with professor dude’s post..

    Peace..

    p.s. bravo for those of you who don’t pay pagaents any attention!

  6. #6 Jeff
    June 20, 2011

    Well said. Thank you for your comment.

  7. #7 ocala florida real estate
    August 9, 2011

    Not to sure about her comments on science and the origin of life.