Pageant News Bureau - Lillian Mitchell

We all know that some people find hair loss funny, while others find it embarrassing. Certainly when it comes to ordinary male baldness, many people of both sexes see nothing to be alarmed about. (Yul Brynner, for instance, became a Hollywood sex symbol after he shaved his head.) But among women -- especially young, attractive women -- hair loss can be a big blow to self-esteem. It's not a condition that women like to talk about, but it's not as rare as you might think.

That's why Lillian Mitchell's pageant platform is both courageous and beneficial. Ms. Mitchell, who is Mrs. Sun Valley (Calif.) International, has alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition that causes various degrees and types of hair loss. It affects as many as 4 million people in the United States, and it is not limited to any sex or age. But the fact that a beauty queen is willing to talk about this problem may convince other women that they are not alone.

Ms. Mitchell, who's now active with the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, lost 50 percent of her hair a few years ago. Most came back after she found an effective treatment, but not all people respond so well, and the disease can have a very conspicuous effect.

"Adults have lost their jobs because of their appearance," she says, "and children have been moved from mainstream to special education classes and ostracized by their peers."

Lillian Mitchell with UPN-13 anchor Rick Chambers, honorary mayor of Sun Valley.

Ms. Mitchell is working to enlighten people to the fact that alopecia areata is not contagious, and she wants the world to know that treatments are available and research is continuing.

Of course, this queen is more than merely a woman with a cause. She's a mother of four, a systems analyst and consultant and a big booster of Sun Valley, a town in Southern California. But if you are someone who needed to hear her message, you will always remember her as the beauty who spoke to you directly.

Photos courtesy of Lillian Mitchell

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