The beauty pageant culture is huge in America, with thousands of young women competing every year to win be crowned their state\u2019s beauty queen.<\/p>\n
What you wouldn\u2019t expect to see at these sort of competitions is a young woman who is completely bald, especially one who manages to win a state-wide competition. Breaking down all barriers when it comes to our modern perceptions of beauty, however, is 21-year-old Kayla Martell, who was recently crowned Miss Delaware.<\/p>\n
Kayla has alopecia areata, an auto-immune condition where the immune system attacks the hair follicles and the hair falls out in patches. It does regrow in some sufferers after a year or so, but Kayla lost her hair as a teenager and it has not yet grown back.<\/p>\n
Despite her condition, Kayla has competed in the Miss Delaware beauty pageant four times. She competed without her wig on three of the four occasions. After winning the competition thanks to her striking looks and inspiring attitude, Kayla is now on a mission to send other alopecia sufferers the message that \u201cbald is beautiful\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking on US TV about removing her wig after the competition, Kayla said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that I had to be on Miss America\u2019s stage, and I had to get there somehow. I think I can be a better Miss Delaware and a better Miss America by taking the wig off.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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