Pageant Fever

Well, if I hadn’t watched it live, I really wouldn’t have believed Miss California could have so… eloquently answered a question read by Perez Hilton regarding same-sex marriage. Her response can be likened to our dear Joe Biden, so on the mark to skirt the real issue at hand, so capable of sounding intelligent… and then, unscripted opinion seeps into the mix. The irony of the situation is that Miss California probably would’ve been crowned if not for giving such a… proud answer.

The fact that an auditorium full of seemingly progressive people cheered this answer concerns me. America, as she so aptly pointed out, is about the people’s will. And when the people chose slavery, segregation and discriminatory law, the courts honored the people’s will and watched from the sidelines… Right, Miss California, because the people always make smart decisions in terms of extending rights to smaller groups them themselves, right. Who does Miss California think choreographed all her dance numbers? Who does she think she is insulting her hair and makeup artists like that? Well, she’s not Miss USA, and that’s good enough for me.

I don’t read Perez Hilton’s blog, but nor do I live under a rock. He’s gay. If I knew that going into the pageant, how didn’t Miss California? I know contestants are meant to be educated, opinionated and diplomatic, but if you sacrifice your integrity, your time, and your energy to appear in a beauty pageant, why not go the extra step in securing victory by greasing the judge’s wheel a little? I would have been deeply offended if I were sitting where Hilton was that night.

What I really can’t bring myself to comprehend is how a woman from a progressive state like California buys into the belief that same-sex marriage is a problem. She didn’t get to explain her views in great detail, thankfully, but one can guess her reasoning behind them. I’m not trying to be judgmental or intolerant, that is the opposition’s job, but if Miss USA is meant to represent the whole of America, she can’t do it with blinders on to a corner of society.

So, with that in mind, I’m sure at least Hilton and another judge gave her low marks, because she lost out to Miss North Carolina (whom, it is noteworthy, I had pegged as the winner from her taped introduction). It’s a shame, really, because she seems interesting enough. Intelligent, beautiful… profoundly walled off from tens of thousands of people in her state… It’s self-evident just how she voted on Prop 8 last year.

I don’t mean to insult Miss California. Honestly, I mean to insult the society that allowed her to walk onto the stage. California needs to give back it’s liberal hippie dippy reputation, it now has to be given to Iowa.


Be good,

Will