Your new Miss America might be beautiful — and bald

[davidinalameda]

very nice little story-I think she's much prettier without the wig

Beauty pageants evoke images of flawless women in amazing shape, perfectly made up and coiffed, right?

Yet one beauty queen vying for the Miss America title in Las Vegas this week has barely any hair on her head.

Kayla Martell, Miss Delaware, has been bald for half of her 22 years — she has alopecia areata, a rare condition that results in unexplained hair loss. But that’s not stopping her from competing for her lifelong dream.

Martell, who competed in her first pageant when she was 13, has always competed while wearing a wig, though she prefers to go bare in her personal life.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41021492/ns/today-today_fashion_and_beauty/

[handmade34]

1. no Miss America

but I can tell you that being bald is very freeing... Cut my hair off almost 2 years ago and love it...

Good for her!

[baldguy]

2. As an - interested? - party, I can say that bald works on some women & not on others.

Unfortunately for Miss Delaware, she's among the "not".

[tuvor]

4. This bald guy disagrees with you.

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. I agree with you. Like Sinead O'Connor (sp?) she is striking without hair

I would LOVE to not have to mess with drying my hair every morning. I can't pull that look off like this beautiful young lady can. Who knows - maybe she will start a new trend away from the snookie-superficiality of today?

I feel bad about the alopecia, but from the look on her face in that photo - she has the self-respect and self-esteem to handle it. More power to her.

I am not a pageant fan by any stretch, but will be pulling for this young woman. What a change from the Carrie Whats-her-name from California and Miss "maps are the problem" South Carolina.

:applause:

[reggie the dog]

i am a man

but my hair goes way past my shoulders, i never use a hair drier, i just pass a brush in my hare about twice a week...., you dont have to "do your hair up" to look nice.

[reggie the dog]

7. i am a man

but my hair goes way past my shoulders, i never use a hair drier, i just pass a brush in my hare about twice a week...., you dont have to "do your hair up" to look nice.

[The Doctor.]

5. Gorgeous.

Beautiful, hairless women just seem so elegant to me.

Of course, an understanding of quantum mechanics is pretty hot too.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Good for her

and good luck

[upi402]

8. Why do some women

look so hot bald?