Posts Tagged ‘Miss USA’
Miss California won’t lose her crown because she opposes gay marriage.
If you want to know the best way to put your Miss California crown up for grabs, just follow Carrie Prejean’s example.
Although the Miss USA runner-up and – possibly – ex-Miss California believes her opposition to gay marriage caused her detractors to dig up the dirt on her scantily clad and augmented past, the facts seem to point to a less-sinister reason it’s coming back to haunt her now: Prejean didn’t own up to it.
Shanna Moakler, a former Miss USA and co-executive director of the Miss California pageant told “Access Hollywood“‘s low-budget-porn-monikered titan of journalism Billy Bush the group paid for Prejean’s breast implants before Miss USA.
“Pshaw,” you say, and with good reason. Moakler also told Bush implants are commonplace among pageant contestants. Well, then how about a topless photo? OK, we’ll make it two topless photos, just for emphasis.
Two topless photos plus some unsanctioned television appearances for her church and the National Organization for Marriage have the Miss California pageant officials debating whether Prejean should keep her crown.
For me, the issue isn’t about Prejean’s stance on gay marriage or “Pantygate,” as it’s been dubbed by the people who think varying levels of scandal can be ascribed a combination of an associated noun and the suffix -gate. (Note to those people: Watergate was an actual place. You’re just annoying and need to stop it.)
The real issue is Prejean seeming to think the clauses in her Miss California contract don’t apply to her. Topless photos? Models pose for all kinds of stuff, “including lingerie and swimwear photos.” Go ahead and work with organizations that support your views, but don’t pretend everyone is attacking them when you’re in trouble for doing it on TV when your contract forbids it.
Although I don’t agree with Prejean, I appreciate her unwillingness to be a pushover when the situation clearly warranted it. Anyone who thinks Perez Hilton asked Prejean her view on gay marriage without having an idea of what she would say is living with his or her head in the sand. (And his reaction was classless.)
Prejean is being praised as a “public figure for conservative Christians to love” (even though NOM felt it necessary to issue a statement saying she’s not a spokesperson). That’s fine. She can voice her opinion without apologizing to anyone, something that seems to be lost on many supporters of gay marriage.
On the other hand, growing evidence Prejean ran roughshod over the provisions of her Miss California contract and pageant officials saying she lied about being forced to apologize doesn’t do anything to help her. Whatever her position on gay marriage, global warming, crises in the Middle East, nuclear proliferation or steroids in baseball, Prejean’s real problem isn’t being outspoken. It’s lacking the maturity to do what she agreed to do.
