In January, she took to the stage in a black bikini to compete for the Miss America crown. This week, Miss Virginia 2008 Tara Wheeler sat down to shave her hair off to help fight kid’s cancer.
Beauty pageants are never going to get me out there shaking my pom poms, but is it any surprise that the beauty queen willing to shave her shoulder-length hair has been bucking the traditional girly girl trend all along?
In a society where hair is a defining feminine characteristic intertwined with our beauty ideals, I’m going to wager this is an even bigger stereotype buster. And dare I say a better example for little girls?
Let’s start ticking them off, shall we? Beauty comes from within. Check. Give back. Check. It’s just hair. Check. Should we keep going?
Watch it all go down (note the braiding of her hair - the braids were saved to donate to another organization that makes wigs for kids who have lost their hair):
Image: St. Baldrick’s
