Miss Teen South Carolina, part of the 1/5 of America that can't locate the US on a map.

[originalpckelly]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qQdhMSEqhfg

Oh my, what's in the water down there?

Are we certain that she isn't from Saint Olaf?

[rocktivity]

1. I'd be surprised if she could locate the nose on her face.

:eyes:
rocknation

[VP505]

2. ?

:wtf: I wouldn't be too embarassed by her. Cause we all know Americans are NOT stupid? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE&mode=related&search=

[originalpckelly]

3. OMFG!

No wonder this country is fucked.

[treestar]

28. LOL.

Where is the Berlin Wall?

:rofl: :rofl:

[stop the bleeding]

34. jeebuz

I am really at a loss for words on this one, we are hurting.

[calimary]

42. No kidding. Words fail.

I HOPE it was stagefright. I HOPE, for her sake, that's all it was. I dunno...

There's tap-dancing and then there's tap-dancing.

[sniffa]

55. fucking embarrassing

:puke:

this is america. these are the peopLe who eLect repubLicans.

[Deja Q]

4. St Olaf; is she a rabid fan of "The Golden Girls" and thinks Rose Nylund is a goddess?

.

[originalpckelly]

8. I want to know why she started talking about Iraq and South Africa...

I mean, if she'd just left it at the whole "they don't have maps thing" then it might have been a cop-out, but it might make some sense.

[youngdem]

5. When I first watched it, I thought she might be having a stroke.

Then I saw the sash, and knew she was just an airhead.

Sad this tradition of appearance over substance continues. A true disservice to women and girls everywhere to be given such a 'role model'.

I went to school many moons ago with a beauty pageant contestant who once said in physics class, upon learning that heat rises "So that's why fire burns UP and when you pour a pitcher of cold water out, it goes DOWN?" Swear to jebus.

[originalpckelly]

7. I think they had to weigh her down so she wouldn't take flight...

all that air in her head.

[RB TexLa]

6. Some people are stupid, so what?

[Hardrada]

9. I think she did go to St. Olaf.

I know she didn't go to Luther, my alma mater dolorosa.

[melody]

10. 1/5th of Sweden thinks Mexico is in South America

Ignorance is a human phenomenon.

[Warren Stupidity]

13. That is not surprising.

The precise demarkation between North and South America is hardly of much relevance to Swedes.

[melody]

15. And yet Americans are constantly criticized for not knowing X thing about Europe

What one considers "relevant information" is directly related to where one is standing, demarcations aside.

[Warren Stupidity]

60. I think the complaint is that we can't find Europe on a map.

Not that we don't know what the Hanseatic League was.

[melody]

67. I can find Europe on a map ... I can find China on a map

My whole family can.

I don't like prejudices being formed around any group, even my own people.
Generalizations are dangerous.

[Bucky]

82. Hell, I can't even find St Olaf on a map.

Unless I use the index, of course.

[originalpckelly]

16. True, but can they find their own country on a map?

:shrug:

[melody]

17. That was the available percentage I could think of -- the point is every nation has its dull edge

And at that, I'm sure there's stuff Miss Teen South Carolina knows that I don't know.

[Control-Z]

37. The date she had her last wax? n/t

[melody]

51. She no doubt knows much more about teen culture than we do. lol n/t

[treestar]

26. Is there any proof of that?

They probably know more about US geography than Americans do.

I would be surprised if this were true.

[melody]

30. So you think Americans are inherently stupid but no one else is?

"They" are superior?

Sorry, it isn't true. There is a variant but equal amount of ignorance in all societies. I'm afraid Europeans are as ignorant about us (the REAL us, not the Hollywood/Disney us) as we are about them.

Check out the SoCal IO studies, for one example.

[Heidi]

83. You'd be wrong about that. Europeans probably know more about us than we know about ourselves.

1. We Americans often come up short on the objectivity thing.
2. There's at least a semblance of a free press still existing in the rest of the world.

[melody]

85. No, that's logically and perceptually incorrect

(1) Americans and Europeans (and all nationals of all nations) will always stand on equal ground in relative knowledge about each other.

(2) That is irrelevant in terms of the information we're discussing.

(3) The EU press is as distorted about reality when it comes to Americans as the corporate US press is about Europe.

I know that we liberals tend to have a longing affection for Europe, but they're every bit as human
as we are and every bit as ignorant in their own way.

[Heidi]

84. In my case, anyway, you're right.

My Swiss husband had a much better education about US geography than I did. Learning the US state capitals by rote in sixth grade didn't serve me very well after I moved to Europe and was often called upon to discuss my country and its geography.

[yardwork]

49. I fear that way more than 1/5 of the U.S. thinks that Mexico is in South America

[melody]

50. Actually, no, 1/8th

But that's bad enough.

In the sampling, they said to the participants, is Mexico in "North, Central or South America". 7/8ths of US college freshmen answered it correctly.

[yardwork]

54. With that phrasing, the correct answer should have been a gimme.

But it's a start in the right direction, I guess.

[goodgd_yall]

69. That's not quite as egregious

A lot of people in the U.S. think the same. I think it's a common mistake.

[TahitiNut]

80. How many Americans think Alabama is in South America?

:dunce:

[bumblebee1]

11. Stupid?

Make that too lazy to keep informed about what's going on in the world beyond their front lawns. Miss Teen South Carolina was doing more skating around than the cast of Stars on Ice.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. That is too painful to watch.

Yikes. I'm just hoping it was a massive case of stage fright.

[Control-Z]

38. It was painful

I clicked out before she finished.

[Rex]

14. Just gotta have a pretty face to make it in America.

Fucking sad.

[bluestateguy]

18. I think we are being a little hard on this young women

She obviously flubbed a question (who here has not?), that's not in doubt, but I don't think that by itself is enough evidence to suggest that she is stupid.

I know some people who are brilliant, but poor communicators, and vice versa.

Nor should people here assume that she is a right-wing Republican. We don't know that yet.

[goodgd_yall]

70. oh, no

It's more than flubbing a question. :crazy:

[hobbit709]

19. Zero ohms between the headsets!

[unhappycamper]

20. Hmmmm.

I picked the "she's one of us" category. :shrug:

[Wcross]

21. She went to the G.W. Bush school of public speaking!

She sounded a LOT like old George answering a question from the press corps......

[Captain Hilts]

22. SC had the 48th 'best' schools in the country when I lived there. Only AR&MS were worse. nt

[Sherman A1]

23. Apparently she has benefited from the education system

that she was attempting to offer as her answer to the question.


:banghead:

[NYC]

24. That was astounding.

Truly.

[DawgHouse]

25. I can't help but feel sorry for her.

It looked to me like she went totally blank and random words kept coming out of her mouth. :(

[China_cat]

27. Savannah River nuclear plant.

Where they make enriched uranium for bombs. And have regular leaks.

[Buzz Clik]

29. Bush wanted to know: "Is our children learning?" Question answered.

[crim son]

32. That's the phrase I used when forwarding the clip to friends with teenage daughters.

I don't know anybody that dumb. I don't.

[Buzz Clik]

36. I'm hoping that she simply wigged out from nerves.

Please don't let her be that stupid.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

31. "Beauty Pagents"

to my mind emphasize looks over everything else. This example backs up my contention.

I hate watching them, because they remind me of what I heard as a young person--"Act dumb, honey. Boys won't date smart girls. Boys only care about physical beauty, and so you'll never get a man."

Luckily I found out these were lies--but it took a long time and took a huge toll on my self-esteem. Luckily my young niece, who like me is not physically beautiful, was raised by an enlightened family who taught her that brains and inner beauty were the qualities that are to be valued--and that last.

[BlooInBloo]

33. Unfortunately, she's only marginally dumber than average - that's what's scary.

[whoneedstickets]

35. I'd have some sympathy for her and cut her some slack....

...If I wasn't convinced that she's probably the queen-of-her-high-school, cheerleader type who dated the quarterback and who expended what little brainpower she had lording over her clique, looking down her nose and crafting bitchy put downs for <insert 'unpopular subgroup' here>...

Of course this my stereotype of tall pretty southern blond girls.

Clearly she must know she's all over the internet now and perhaps, if she is this way, this dose of humility will help her gains some perspective.

If she wasn't that way, then I'm so sorry it had to happen to such a decent girl.

EDITED TO DEFEND the OLE's

What's with the St. Olaf dig?! That's actually a decent school. I'm pretty sure she's headed to Clemson or some other southern school with a big sorority scene and not much homework.

[Clark2008]

56. Vanderbilt's a Southern school.

Just saying... they're all not big on the scene and short on the homework.

-->Graduate of a Southern university<--

[whoneedstickets]

72. Vandy is...

..the exception that proves the rule.

Actually there are a few others Duke of course, NC, Davidson...etc.

[whoneedstickets]

86. She's headed to Appalachian State...

..http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070828/ap_en_ot/odd_miss_teen_south_carolina

I guess when I suggested Clemson I forgot it was too rigorous.

[iverglas]

39. oddly enough

she actually seemed to be trying to make a point about international solidarity and using the educational system to enhance knowledge about the world ...

Anyhow, she gets kudos from me because she said "U.S. Americans". That doesn't strike me as a random phrasing; it is commonly used (in English, and equivalents in French and Spanish) by people with a consciousness of the existence of the rest of the Americas and the people in them.

An unusual combination of not half bad thoughts one wouldn't expect to hear and a dreadful inability to express them, I thought.

[Superman Returns]

40. it's not just America

I saw a video clip from the French version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and the contestant along with the audience said the wrong answer for what the body the Earth rotates around.

[BlooInBloo]

44. Yah - making a point like I do when I'm high.... Except she lives her whole life like that.

[yardwork]

53. I had the exact same reaction as yours. I too noticed the "U.S. Americans" phrase

and really appreciated it. I think that she got stage fright and lost the thread of her response. I did wince when she said Eye-rak.

[entanglement]

41. I feel more sympathetic - lack of knowledge hardly equals 'dumbness' or an inability to learn

What's more worrying is the culture that drives people to value the superficial above everything else and suppresses intellectual curiosity and learning. She is merely a product of that culture.

[Individualist]

43. Lack of knowledge = ignorance

Lack of knowledge due to disinterest in learning = willful ignorance.

[Bluebear]

45. And South Africa. And Asia and Iraq. And such as.

:silly:

[Siyahamba]

46. She was Saved By The Bell

;)

[Control-Z]

47. All kidding aside

Who could have answered that question, on the spot, at the age of what, 16, 17, in front of television cameras?

Without forethought my answer would probably have been along the lines of, "Really? "No shit?" "I had no idea it had gotten that bad."

It's a difficult one to conceive. I assume all schools have at least some books, a map or two, and a teacher in every classroom (even if they are over-sized). I assume all kids have seen a TV broadcast, ad or billboard with a global map - America highlighted.

But we, as a society, obviously haven't figured out how to educate our youth. So how can we expect a teen age beauty pageant contestant to answer something we haven't been able to? Poor kid. That she even attempted an answer is admirable.

[sniffa]

58. yeah, it's society's fauLt

fuck that. i wasn't dumb as a box of hammers, and most peopLe shouLdn't be.

my answer at that age, wouLd have been, "peopLe are stupid."

[Control-Z]

62. Well, yeah

sounds as good as my answer. Would have lost you the contest.

[sniffa]

64. yeah, weLL

i'd stiLL have my dignity (what was Left of it after entering the horse show). and i'm pretty sure her answer didn't win her the sash and roses.

[Control-Z]

66. yeah, yeah, well...

who said anything about dignity :rofl:

[book_worm]

48. don't worry all she probably wants is some rich guy to support her

and I'm sure she'll find him.

[sniffa]

52. that was painfuL

teLL me again that beauty pageants actuaLLy have some sort of substance.

[Bluebear]

57. Actual pageant answer: "What is your idea of a perfect date?"

"Well, I would say April 20, because it's not too hot yet, but winter's over...yes I would say that April 20 would be my perfect date." :silly:

[sniffa]

59. ..

:rofl:

and it's 4:20. :smoke:

[BlooInBloo]

68. get OUT!!!!

[Bluebear]

75. True!

I remember it from some pageant documentary a few years ago and a judge recounted the story.

[Mutineer]

61. since when is it news that teenage beauty queens are dense?

If they were smart, they wouldn't be competing in these "scholarship pagents".

[Bluebear]

63. This is not a "scholarship pageant"

Pure body ogling. No talent.

[sniffa]

65. no taLent, my ass!

do you how hard it is to stand stiLL and smiLe? and occasionaLLy wave? and Let's not forget the horrendous dietary regiment they go through to get that barbie figure.

[goodgd_yall]

71. The very forgiving responses here

I find very puzzling. Do you really think the contestant's response was something not to be dismayed by?

Geesh.

[Stinky The Clown]

73. Our girl, in an earlier publicity photo

[Bluebear]

76. :)

[flying_monkeys]

74. Hee haw, we can laugh at her FOREVER now!

Gotta love youtube and be thankful it wasn't around to immortalize *our* stupid comments as teens...


Oh yes, lets laugh at her! ALL IN FUN!


(blech)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

77. Well, she is in a beauty pageant.

I wouldn't expect everybody at the Math Olympics to be lookers.

[JHB]

78. This is the danger of memorizing talking points instead of knowledge

I'll cut the kid some slack and write part of it off to nervousness plus expecting a different question...

But even so, it takes a rather tenuous grasp on the facts (or factoids) for them to swirl around so much under pressure.

[xxqqqzme]

79. and she won?!?!

[Bluebear]

81. No lol