INFphoto.com; Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImageMiss America does not redneckonize the merits of glitzing up little girls and entering them in beauty contests.
Laura Kaeppeler, the 24-year-old Wisconsin native crowned in January, isn't a fan of the whole Toddlers & Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo culture.
"There's a misconception that pageants are beauty pageants, and Miss America is a scholarship provider," she told E! News Wednesday night at the Style Awards kicking off New York Fashion Week. "We compete in talent and community service, so there's a lot more to it."
Laura, who only started competing in pageants two years ago, said the Miss America pageant is "more about being a well-rounded young woman and an empowered female" than the child beauty pageants are.
"I don't agree with those sort of programs," she said. "Because I don't think it's the child's want to do that necessarily and the child engaging in that. I think it may come from an outside source. I think if you're going to do something like [competing in pageants], you should do it because you want to."
Eloquently put, Miss America. That said, ain't nobody gonna beat Alana Honey Boo Boo Child!