Beauty pageants like Miss America are pretty silly.
That said, people sure do love Miss Kansas, Theresa Vail. She has quite a bit going for her. For starters, she is the second woman from the Armed Forces to compete for Miss America. Secondly, Vail has two big tattoos that she rocked unabashed during the contest, which was a first: One is the insignia for the U.S. Army Dental Corps on her left shoulder and the second is the Serenity Prayer on her right side. In terms of hobbies, she used to race motorcycles until she was forced to quite for breaking her finger. Also, she's an expert M16 marksman. She knows how to skin a deer and has mad archery skills. Oh yeah: She also sings opera and she double majored in chemistry and Chinese at Kansas State.
She's got a very "Most Interesting Woman in the World" vibe. She gave some pretty interesting quotes to People Magazine last week:
“Why am I choosing to bear my tattoos?” Vail says. “My whole platform is empowering women to overcome stereotypes and break barriers. What a hypocrite I would be if I covered my ink. How can I tell other women to be fearless and true to themselves if I can’t do the same? I am who I am, tattoos and all.”
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“I was bullied when I was a kid. It got so bad that I nearly took my own life … My dad [an Army dentist stationed in Germany] took me hunting with him and it saved my life. Ever since then, I’ve been an outdoors girl,” she says. “My passion is empowering girls through male-dominated outdoor sports.”
She adds, “I want to help them develop confidence, to let them know that they have what it takes to accomplish anything they want to accomplish. I know many young girls look at beauty candidates and think, ‘What a perfect life they have.’ But I want them to know that I haven’t led a perfect life. And that beauty comes from the inside.”
