For some reason I've always had an interest in beauty contests, or more specifically, observing the women who participate in them. Not just to lustfully oggle hot babes -- there is an element of that to be sure, but more importantly, these girls are supposed to be the best of the best of the best. It gives an observer a window into what society thinks of as the ideally beautiful woman.

Mississippi, for all its other shortcomings produces -- or at least has produced more than its fair share of strikingly beautiful women. But this year's crop has me wondering what's going on. There's always the token negress or two in the bunch, but I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about only the white girls.

Here we have 42 girls vying for the title of Miss Mississippi:

http://www.wlox.com/slideshow?widgetid=50105

Have you ever seen a plainer looking bunch? Of the 42 girls, only 3 even come close to making the cut.

#10 Miss Mid South

#18 Miss Southern Magnolia:

#37 Miss Itawamba Community College:

Somebody is playing a cruel joke on #27 Miss Southland by encouraging her to enter a beauty contest:

I mean, really? A beauty contest? Who put her up to that? What's up with that gap in the hair? MY hair doesn't go that far back. And the flat head on top.

Then, there's Little Debby. She's all grown up, done dropped to cookies and cakes business and doing the beauty contest circuit:

Well, at least there's 3 in the bunch that would have a chance at winning the Miss America title -- assuming that this is not a year that they have to give it to a negress for affirmative action purposes.