Its so interesting to me how much we as a society base our opinions of people on looks. Even if someone is not particularly nice or intelligent, people will be more likely to want to be friends with them if they are physically attractive than someone who is less physically attractive but has a great personality. Its fascinating to me that our reputations and social status are often viewed as more important than having meaningful and deep relationships. I'll be the first to admit I'm not always the nicest person. I tend to play the devil's advocate in almost any situation, and I don't go out of my way to be friendly to people. Maybe its a bad way of thinking, but I'd rather have a few close friends that accept me for me and with whom I can argue about different concepts and theories than to have a large group of friends who I feel I have to impress. Its so interesting to me that we as a society base so many of our opinions about someone on genetics- something that no one has any control over. Sure there is makeup and plastic surgery, but the fact that people see these as a way to improve their image is sad to me in a way. I myself use makeup because I've noticed on days when I don't wear it, people in general are less friendly. I really enjoyed participating in the Miss Nebraska Teen pageant because the emphasis was on self confidence and self worth, rather than on fitting into a mold for standard beauty. My roommate in the pageant was a rather large girl, and she managed to have more confidence than most of the other girls combined. Because of that, she was well liked. She rocked a one piece with total confidence and grace, and was an example for all of the other girls. Many people scoff at pageants and say the participants are vain and egotistic. Sure, I invested lots of money into the pageant, but that weekend stands out as one of the top three experiences in my life. Everyone was so supportive and friendly, and the focus was on inner beauty and accepting ourselves for who we are. Its odd to think that within a pageant people would be less judgmental of looks than in the rest of society, but it seemed to be the case.