Miss America vs Miss Afghanistan
On the left is Katie Harmon, Miss America, wearing the swimsuit
she chose for the competition.
On the right is a typical Afghan girl, wearing the heavy, smothering
burqua as required by the oppressive Taliban regime.
Miss America is a junior at University of Washington, hoping
to eventually get a Masters degree in Bioethics.
Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from receiving any education at
all, and cannot read or write.
Miss America has worked as a lab assistant at both the Oregon
Health Sciences University and the University of Washington.
Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from working.
Miss America's father is an engineer. Her mother is a teacher.
Miss Afghanistan's father was shot by a gang of Taliban militants.
Her mother begs for bread scraps since she cannot work or remarry.
Miss America wowed the judges by singing a Puccini aria, "O
Mio Babbino Caro."
Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from singing, or even listening
to music of any kind.
Miss America will be traveling the nation nonstop during her
reign.
Miss Afghanistan cannot leave her house without a male family
member, cannot
drive, and cannot be out after dark.
Miss America is an advocate for breast cancer research.
Miss Afghanistan cannot be treated by a male doctor, and for all
practical purposes has no access to medical treatment of any kind.
Miss America can date, marry, or divorce anyone she chooses.
Miss Afghanistan will be stoned to death if caught in the company
of a male outside of her family. She is likely to be sold into
an arranged marriage to a man who already has two wives.
Miss America wears sunscreen on the beach to keep from burning.
Miss Afghanistan cannot live in a house with windows unless they
are painted black. Since she must wear a burqua outside, her pale
translucent skin has not seen a ray of sunlight in years.
Miss America could have been disqualified if her swimsuit did
not meet pageant standards.
Miss Afghanistan can be flogged if the holes in the mesh covering
her face are too large.
Miss America will decide how many children, if any, she wants
to have.
Miss Afghanistan will be pregnant 3-4 times more often than Miss
America.
Unfortunately, her babies are 25 times more likely to die in the
first year. One out of four will not see their 5th birthday.
Miss America is majoring in speech communications at UW.
Miss Afghanistan is forbidden from speaking in public.
Miss America is 21. Since the U.S. life expectancy for women
is 80, she's still a very young woman.
Miss Afghanistan is also 21. But since the life expectancy for
an Afghan woman is 43, next year she will be "over-the-hill".
(Besides having a shockingly short life expectancy overall, Afghanistan
is one of the only countries in the world in which women have
a shorter life expectancy than men)
Miss America is a beautiful, intelligent woman and everyone
knows it.
Miss Afghanistan is a beautiful, intelligent woman... but nobody
will ever know it.
[Publisher's note: This article is not an endorsement for the bombings.]