Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumThis year, a 3-year-old girl will be crowned “Coal Princess” in West Virginia. Seriously.
http://grist.org/list/this-year-a-3-year-old-girl-will-be-crowned-coal-princess-in-west-virginia-seriously/?w=470&h=265&crop=1
I dont know about you, but when I think about deforesting a lush mountaintop, blasting the mountain to nothing, grinding the very stones to pulp, and separating out the remains into coal and black slurry, I think beauty. And apparently Im not the only one. In a world where beauty pageants are going the way of the dodo, coal-themed beauty contests are still holding on.
Emily Atkin tells the story for ThinkProgress:
The decline of the U.S. coal industry has been a hot topic lately, especially with the recent unveiling of President Obamas plan to reduce carbon emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired plants. Conservatives and industry players have called the regulations an attempt to carpet bomb and destroy the industry part of a war on coal that will cause debilitating job loss throughout the country.
But people like [Maxine] Cole-Tinnel, part of a subset of Americans who see coal mining as the backbone of their communities, have been watching their beloved industry decline for some time, and are holding tight to the things that keep their culture alive. One of those traditions is West Virginias annual Coal Festival, which has featured Cole-Tinnels beauty pageant for teens, toddlers, and infants, for the last nine years. The participants are dubbed coal queens, coal princes, and coal princesses when they win their crowns.
The pageant is semi-glam light make-up and hair, no huge up-dos and has categories for best personality, prettiest eyes, and most photogenic. Both boys and girls can participate. Crowns are embellished with black rhinestones in the shape of a diamond.
Divernan
(15,480 posts)My ancestors were coal miners in Kentucky and southern Illinois. Fought the Pinkertons with Mother Jones to unionize. This pageant is horrifying to me.
LuvNewcastle
(16,834 posts)sue4e3
(731 posts)If they want to dress up for a day so be it. I don't think that the families are clutching to coal for any other reason than that's what puts food on their table. This is a very human problem. This will become something of a humanitarian problem for more than just coal miners as technology advances and line men and communication workers become obsolete . I would assume that they will want to hold on to their jobs too even if a new more efficient way of doing things is better in the long run.
Nihil
(13,508 posts)... will be thrown onto the ceremonial bonfire at the end of the ceremony
to guarantee prosperity & peace for the community throughout the coming year.