Poor Rebekah Revels. The original Miss North Carolina has been booted out of the bimbo competition by a judge's ruling that leaves the decision up to the pageant officials. This clears the way for Misty Clymer (no one could make these names up) to represent the state in the Miss America contest. Revels resigned when a former boyfriend revealed that he had taken semi-nude photos of her. She says she didn't know he was taking the pictures and therefore she is "innocent."

Gag me with a mascara wand. First of all, it is disgusting that there is still a Miss America pageant. Pageant officials can talk until they're blue in the face about the scholarships, but the pageant remains an institution that views women as decorative objects to be put on show and judged by superficial standards that would never be applied to men.

Then there is the matter of Revels' "innocence." Okay, maybe she didn't know her boyfriend (some friend) was taking pictures of her. But who cares if she did? Why, in 2002, does a woman have to swear that she didn't know her partner saw her breasts? And why do young women think it is an honor to be in this pageant?