You are the most optimistic person on the planet, but I hope you're right.

Is best left to amatures with unclouded minds and precepts about what is and is not beautiful.

While certainly cultural faux pas and moments of confusion and ugly americanism will be central for entertainment value, I doubt the producers of the show would set up such a lofty premise without it leading to a deeper examination of social ideals.

Just so long as we don't have to see Jessica in Fat Face (like Tyra Banks) or Poor Face (Like Tyra or Paris Hilton), and god help us Black Face (I don't know if that's been done, but there might have been a white face bit on Tyra), I'll be content to let he show unfold.

Is it feminist to applaud a body size that fluctuates because of a raging alcohol habit?

Over the last few years I have seen dozens of tabloid photos that show a disheveled Simpson being escorted from clubs, quite obviously too drunk to walk by herself.

Family members and friends apparently have also been planting stories in the tabloids urging her to deal with her drinking problem and claiming that her boyfriend isn't going to marry her until she gets her drinking under control.

Is alcoholic bloat something feminists should defend as just another kind of beauty?

Simpson has never done anything but capitalize on her assets and commoditize her body. Exhibit A: the Dukes of Hazzard music video in which she shamelessly acts out the male fantasy of washing a car, bikini clad and writhing, subservient and objectified. I might give that performance a pass if it were the least bit self-aware or satirical, or had aesthetic value. It is not. It's just trite and offensive.

And let's not kid ourselves: her new show will be about self-promotion, end of story. She's a self-involved D-list actress with zero talent and no career prospects, doing what she does best, clinging to fame. Isn't that obvious????

But knowing VH1, the camera will just follow Jessica Simpson around in her skimpy short shorts adnd we'll see her crossing her legs and showing her cleavage at every turn.

As to the 'beauty around the world' part- they will all look surprisingly alike, given the widespred reach of cosmetic surgery.

Totally optimistic that Jessica Simpson and her handlers will do just that.

she got famous for being gorgeous, skinny, and a little bit better than average singer.

now that she's "overweight" (whether by 5 pounds or 500 pounds) and no longer in the public eye due to the fact that she is no longer physically attractive as she once was, she goes on a sojourn across the world to discover what "real" beauty is?

this sounds like an Onion article. what a joke. and the joke's on journalists who take it seriously. if you think she's going to get into an intellectual conversation with nebraskan girls about burquas, you haven't been paying attention.

How about watching the show?

I think it is interesting that Jessican Simpson is going to cover this and if she does it even a little bit right she can have a far greater effect in the world and on young women than the whole "lady-blogosphere".

If she has learned a little something from her rise and fall as a tabloid darling she may be able to bring some actual insight to the discussion and approach it in a way that people talk and think in the world and not in all of the realm of the theoretical.

But see: here I'm just guessing and conjecturing just like everyone else. For the first time in as long as I can remember I'm curious to watch something on VHI1.

But I don't have much faith in Jessica or the people who will make money off her.

I would love to see a show that explores the level of stupidty that so many cultures go to to achieve "beauty". I would love to compare and contrast, oh, say, the westernizing of oriental eyes and the ethnisizing of american lips.

Jessica could use her own experiences.

But somehow I just doubt the show will take that track.

I don't know that they could speak specifically to France's debate, but in this part of Central Nebraska, we have a growing Sudanese population that has a significant number of Muslim women who wear the traditional dress. I can't say that I've seen any chadri's, but at my dentist the other day, there were three women in burqas over the course of an hour.

So I would imagine that young girls in this part of Central Nebraska certainly could (and probably would) talk about burqas. Are they enthnographers? no. Would they be as culturally sensitive as most Salon readers would like? most assuredly not. But they would be familiar with the concept. As Judy points out, a show that actually talked with these people about their views and compared them with their international contemporaries would be great. But I have little to no faith that VH1 or Jessica Simpson's handlers are going to be the ones to create that show.

How about not watching the show? There are hundreds of cable channels, and there's no more reason to give Ms. Simpson a fair shot than anyone else. We could all get off our butts and get some exercise instead, and maybe become slightly more beautiful (or at least feel better).

In terms of reality shows, this is actually a brilliant proposal (even though I get the impression that BBC has covered similar topics?). Simpson doesn't register on my care radar, but if she can pull it off, good for her.

Regardless of the outcome, I would give my proverbial left nut to work on the location crew!

She's like a big dumb Labrador Retriever puppy.

Papa Joe Simpson has controlled every aspect of his daughters' life. He doesn't seem the most enlightened of fellows - hell, he's downright creepy. He commented on Jessica's "double-D"s once. Don't think he's particularly interested in multicultural beauty ideals.

(I always thought Jessica's "weight gain" was fake. The picture of her in mom-jeans and a wide belt just screamed set-up.)