February is the month of "Best in Show".
Grammy. Oscar. Westminster. Everyone is out there preening, primping and strutting to win the prize.
With each passing year the pageantry and politics around these spectacles seem to escalate. While I have no issue with the entertainment value (Kanye vs. Taylor Swift) or small talk value (Social Network vs. King's Speech) or breed value (hounds vs. terriers), I want to remind you to take it all with a grain of salt.
I read an article today about the re-introduction to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show of the Mexican Xolo and while the bald pooch is pretty darned cute, I got to thinking about fashion, beauty contests and following the pack. At one time the Xoloitzcuintli (I dare you to pronounce it) was on the stud books at Westminster, but fell out of fashion and was dropped from the competition roster. This year, they're back as a registered breed. Unlike most dogs that are bred for their attributes, Xolo's hairless coat and personality traits evolved in the wild. Could they become the new 'in' dog among the glammy, Grammy, Oscar crowd, not for their personality and hypo-allergenic value, but for their seemingly cool-and-crunchy-naturally-descended-from-the-Aztecs-value?
Not that long ago a manic surge in Chihuahua buying, which some have attributed to Taco Bell ads and others to Paris Hilton, led to an airlift rescue out of California of abandoned Chihuahuas. (I couldn't make this stuff up.) In either instance, think about it -- why would anyone buy a pet because of a meatless taco or a meatless starlet?
Fashions come and go and a bitch on a budget needs to stay in control of herself and her purse. Just because Katy Perry wears wings or Lady Gaga hatches from an egg (did I just write that? Wait, did I just see that?) or the hairless Mexican Xolo is back in -- well, you get the point. Watch. Enjoy. Laugh. Gossip. Get a load of the new trends.
Just don't bite.
Read more from Rosalyn Hoffman at Bitches on a Budget.
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