In a commanding step forward for the objectification of women, odds makers have put Miss Florida USA Lissette Garcia at 40-1 to win the Miss USA Pageant this Sunday. Miss California is the favorite at 3-1, and Garcia currently sits tied for 24th in the rankings.
It's hard to believe Garcia didn't pull away in the betting after she won the preliminary hula-hoop contest over the weekend. Florida competitors just can't catch a break these days.
But the 26-year-old Cuban American is still doing better than Miss North Dakota USA and Miss Montana USA, who are carrying 100-1 odds into the "competition." That neither state has ever won the title is probably not helping.
The great state of Florida, however, did win, back in 1967. Well, Miami Beach's Cheryl Patton was technically the second runner-up, but when the original Miss USA was crowned Miss Universe and the first runner-up said she didn't want it, Patton got the Miss USA crown. A win is a win.
Though unlike the Miss America Pageant, which at least goes through the trouble of offering $45 million in scholarships to women, Miss USA is unabashedly a "'bathing beauty' competition" blown up to ridiculous proportions -- ridiculous enough that Donald Trump's name is at the top of their website. And the Miss Florida USA site proudly trumpets, in bold capital letters, that "no performing talent is required.
The pageant, in all its vapid glory, will air on NBC Sunday at 9 p.m.
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