Bikinis for Breasts

So today I get the news that one of my friends is competing in a contest to secure a place in a bikini calendar featuring college girls. The contest/calendar sales are also benefiting breast cancer, hence the title of this post. (I don't want to see the google keywords for this blog tomorrow!)

I think it's a good cause, and I'm glad that she's proud of her body, but I really didn't expect this of her. She's a good student, ambitious, dedicated. She does all sorts of activities and is trying for law school next year. The contest asks viewers to grade the girls on 3 factors: beauty (via a picture of them in a bikini), brains (via a written statement about themselves), and personality (via a short video). Yeah, there's a category for smarts, but that's like saying the Miss America pageant is a scholarship contest.

I don't know what to think. Of course, I support her, and really she's not that close a friend that I know why she's doing it, but still. Maybe I'm just not as post-feminist as I thought.

OK, and maybe I secretly wish that I could be as proud of my own shape in a bikini as she is, and this jealousy is making me look down on the contest.

Who knows?