Gretchen Carlson is one of a kind. "The bimbo trifecta. Former Miss America. Blonde. Fox News host," she said. "I coined the phrase."

But the author of the revealing memoir "Getting Real" noted that the bimbo slams seem to come more easily against her and Fox than against other TV hosts.

Gretchen Carlson was the 1989 Miss America.

Take former ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer, also a blond, network bigshot and 1963 winner of the Junior Miss pageant.

"Obviously she would be a good role model for me," Carlson said. But unlike the Internet attacks on Carlson's past as the 1989 Miss America winner, "nobody really mentions that side of her life as a negative."

She doesn't get angry, but said, "It's sort of a copout for people who want to criticize you, they take the easy way out by using the dumb blond thing. Jeez, I've been hearing that my whole life. Can't you come up with something more creative if you want to slam me?"

Gretchen Carlson is host of Fox's "The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson," weekdays 2-3 PM/ET.

Over her career, Carlson said she's reacted to initial negative reactions with hard work, a dash of her native "Minnesota Nice," and advice from her dad: "No matter how hard you try, you're never going to get everyone to like you. You work on the ones you think you can change and the others you disregard. It sounds so simplistic, but I think about it every single day."

While she thinks it should be a resume highlight, Carlson finds that some people just don't respect Miss America and all that she went through to get the crown. In fact, in the material provided by her publisher, Viking, she included a Q & A on the pageant:

Q: How do you respond to critics who say that the Miss America pageant sends the wrong message to young girls?

A: I'd ask: Is it better for young girls to watch reality TV shows like Honey Boo Boo and the Kardashians than to watch the Miss America Pageant and see smart, talented, and well-put-together women talk about how they want to be future leaders of America? Miss America gets a lot of flak, but the reality is that it is uplifting and aspirational, as opposed to some of the options on television today. I've never understood why it's a negative to showcase a talented, smart woman who also happens to be attractive. The discipline learned from putting in time and effort as a child is a skill and a talent you carry with you for the rest of your life in trying to achieve goals. Pageants should be for young women able to make their own decisions about whether or not they want to take part in a program that advocates for young women and achievement.

Q: What was your most embarrassing moment being Miss America?

A: It happened the second day. A New York City reporter at my very first press conference rudely asked me if I'd ever had sex and whether or not there was anything about me that wasn't "real." She also quizzed me on current events to test whether I was "smart." I realized she was trying to embarrass me, and it was a really mean thing to do to a twenty-two-year-old girl meeting the press for the first time. There's something about winning Miss America that brings out the snark. Many years later, when I was a national news correspondent, I saw her at an event and decided to approach her and tell her how demoralizing her comments were — but how I'd made it to the national scene anyway. I felt vindicated that I decided to speak up for not only myself but women all across the nation who've been put down.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com.