Miss America Laura Kaeppeler Rips Toddlers & Tiaras, Child Pageant Culture
Miss America 2012, Laura Kaeppeler
Miss America Laura Kaeppeler knows a thing or two about beauty contests. The 24-year-old Wisconsin native, who was crowned in January, isn’t a big fan of the Toddlers & Tiaras / Here Comes Honey Boo Boo culture, however. “There’s a misconception that pageants are beauty pageants, but Miss America is a scholarship provider,” Kaeppeler told E! News Wednesday night. “We compete in talent and community service, so there’s a lot more to it.”
Laura says she only started competing in pageants two years ago, at age 22. She said Miss America is “about being a well-rounded young woman and an empowered female” and that child beauty pageants are pure exploitation. “I don’t agree with those sort of programs,” Kaeppeler said. “Because I don’t think it’s the child’s want to do that necessarily and the child engaging in that.” “I think it may come from an outside source. I think if you’re going to do something like [competing in pageants], you should do it because you want to.”
Courtesy of Hollywood Gossip
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