Miss Nevada is giving rape victims a voice

It's a cliched, but not-undeserved, joke that beauty pageants support such simplistic and crowd-pleasing aims as "world peace."

But when Christina Keegan takes the stage Saturday in Las Vegas to represent Nevada in the 2010 Miss America competition, she will be there to address an issue that's as far from world peace as it gets.

Sexual assault.

Keegan's platform, "Strength Over Silence: Rape Education and Recovery," is an intensely personal issue because, five years ago, while studying in Spain, Keegan was, herself, assaulted.

Since then, advocating on behalf of sexual violence victims has become "my passion," says Keegan, a Gardnerville resident who has completed her first year of medical school at the University of Utah.

"Many people have this conception that Miss America is this ceremonial, beautiful girl who wants to believe in world peace," Keegan says. "Well, that's not true."

Nothing against world peace, Keegan adds with a laugh. But, she continues, sexual assault is "not a convenient issue, it's not a pretty issue, (and) it needs to be addressed."

Imagine, Keegan says, what it would mean "to have someone like Miss America say, 'I'm a survivor of sexual assault, and I'm not ashamed.' "

Judges willing, it will be that sense of passion, leavened with humor and a generous helping of girl-next-door charm, that will win Keegan the crown on Saturday when the 2010 Miss America Pageant Finale takes place at Planet Hollywood Resort.

The event will be televised nationally on the TLC cable channel. For Keegan, the competition is the culmination of a long-held dream and plenty of hard work.

"It actually took me six years to become Miss Nevada," she explains. "I was first runner-up to last year's Miss Nevada. So, it took me some time this past year to decide, 'Do I want to come back?' "

At 24, this is her last chance at the crown, because she has reached the competition's age limit.

Giving it one more shot also means taking a year off from medical school and, as Keegan describes it, "putting the rest of my life on hold."

But, Keegan says, "I've dreamed of becoming Miss America for as long as I remember."

Keegan was born in Long Beach, Calif., but has lived in Gardnerville since the age of 7 and considers it "my hometown."

Since her selection as Miss Nevada last June, it has been one very happy hometown. "The Carson Valley is just so excited. In the 61 years we've had Miss Nevada, I'm only the second one from the Carson Valley. The first was in 1991, Malia Winn (from Minden)," Keegan says.

Keegan hopes to beat the odds next weekend, too. For instance, she notes that no Miss Nevada has won the Miss America crown, "and I'd love to bring that honor to our state."

She laughs. "And only two redheads have become Miss America," she continues. "So I want to improve those numbers."

From a more utilitarian standpoint, winning the Miss America crown would offer Keegan scholarship money. Keegan -- whose undergraduate degree is in molecular biology with a minor in psychology -- has completed her first year of medical school and, while she has not decided on a specialty, she says she's intrigued with pediatrics and pediatric neurology and oncology.

But, she also admits with a laugh, her "fantasy" career would be to "go into sports medicine and work as team physician for an NHL team."

Winning the scholarship money that comes with the Miss America crown -- she already has earned almost $20,000 in scholarships through the Miss America program -- would be "huge for me, as a medical student," Keegan admits. "Every dollar I win is a dollar I don't have to take out in loans and don't have to pay back."

But the most important thing being Miss Nevada offers -- and that becoming Miss America would increase -- is the opportunity for Keegan to speak out about sexual assault.

For months after her own assault, "I did not tell my family or my friends, because I was ashamed," Keegan says. For similar reasons, Keegan didn't report the assault to authorities.

But, in the years since, as Keegan worked as a volunteer with other sexual assault victims, she learned that they, too, "put the blame on themselves: They did something wrong, they said something, they wore something.

"That was how I felt. But I learned that, as a victim, you're never at fault, and you're also not alone."

While the scholarship-related benefits of competing are "wonderful," Keegan says, the real reward for her is being "able to see the look in people's eyes when I speak out about my story.

"When they see someone else tell them: 'It's OK. You don't have to be ashamed, and you're not all alone in this,' that's what makes my job worthwhile."

Keegan has a realistic perspective on what being Miss Nevada, and competing for Miss America, is all about.

"I love that, in the Miss America organization, the scholarship aspect of the program is what's emphasized," she says.

It's even worth noting that Keegan has had to spend time over the past seven months correcting some Nevadans' confusion of Miss America with the rival Miss USA beauty pageant, which has been embroiled in public controversies in recent years.

Keegan -- a classically trained dancer who, during the talent competition, will dance en pointe to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" -- doesn't think of herself as a "beauty contestant" or "beauty winner." Rather, Keegan says, perhaps half-jokingly, that she thinks of herself mostly as a medical student who happens to dress up occasionally.

"This is part of my job," she explains. "The high heels, the hair spray, the makeup is part of my uniform."

Win or lose, Keegan figures she's better off for having gotten to know Nevada and its people. In seven months as Miss Nevada, Keegan has seen more of the Silver State than have most Nevadans who've lived here for decades.

Take one recent afternoon, when Keegan visited with some Reno sixth-graders.

What questions did the young Nevadans ask? "Do I live in a mansion and am I rich," Keegan answers, laughing. "Are the stones in my crown diamonds? I get that all the time. How do I keep the crown on my head? That's the most-asked question. Even adults, I see them looking, and I say, 'Yeah, I stapled it on.' "

(The answer, by the way: An elastic strap pinned to her hair with clips.)

"A lot of people think I balance it on my head," Keegan adds with a laugh. "No."

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.