She said what?!

America seems to be obsessed with beauty pageants. With the recent outburst of toddler and teen beauty pageant reality shows that have hit the airwaves (i.e. Toddlers and Tiaras on TCL and Little Miss Perfect on WE), I think its safe to say that our attention has been on beauty, not brains. And it is not just the US, it's the universe!

On Jezebel, I saw their recap of Sunday's Miss Universe pageant and found myself saying "did she just say that" out loud in my office. During the question portion of the pageant, Miss Venezuela was asked what women can do to overcome sexism in the workplace. She answered that women need to realize that "there are no longer any barriers against us." Turns out, the judges liked her answer, and she won!

We no longer have any barriers? What about the still ever present wage gap, sexual harassment and encroaching glass ceiling that many women feel constantly in the jobs? Those sound like barriers to me.

I know Miss Venezuela might be talking from personal experience, and if she is, I'm glad that she has not experienced these limitations that many other women feel in their jobs. But it doesn't negate that these are very real issues that women still face today.

Now that Miss Venezuela has been crowned Miss Universe, maybe her new position will allow her to use this influence and celebrity for positive impact on the behave of women. I also hope that people who were watching the Miss Universe pageant Sunday night know that there really still are many barriers for women in the workplace. Usually, the Miss Universe pageant is not where you turn to get good information. Remember the Miss American pageant 2009?

Photo courtesy of stevendamron on flikr.com