No free speech for hot-house pageant contestants

St. Paul Pioneer Press ^ | 05/12/2009 | Joe Soucheray

[rhema]

It used to be that there was one beauty pageant, the Miss America contest. I don't think anybody even owned it or claimed to have its exclusive rights. If I'm not mistaken, it was dreamed up by the Founding Fathers back in their Philadelphia days around the time they were writing the Constitution.

One of the fellows, probably John Adams, said, "Let's throw in a Miss America contest and get Bert Parks to sing.''

And it was ever thus. Only Miss America had Bert Parks.

Today, of course, there are dozens and dozens of beauty pageants. And the gals start competing at younger and younger ages. It is impossible to keep track of all the contests, even though they haven't changed much in form over the years. The girls wear gowns and swimsuits, play some sort of musical instrument or sing, and unfailingly tell the host and the audience that they favor world peace.

Lately, the Miss USA pageant has been getting quite a bit of publicity for an answer to a question given by one of the contestants, Carrie Prejean, Miss California.

Prejean was asked by one of the judges, Perez Hilton, for her position on gay marriage.

Prejean answered — I actually watched her answer this question — with civility and sincerity. Plus, she actually answered the question. She said she believes marriage is between a man and a woman.

The one thing you begin to realize with the expansion of the beauty pageant industry is that we are not exactly getting a lot of gals who have made the gold honor roll. In fact, a lot of the contestants seem to enter a competition with a practiced answer they intend to give no matter what is asked of them.

For example, Miss Kentucky, just to a pick a state and not a girl, might be asked her views on nationalized health care.

"Well, I think health care is an integrity that people have a right to because their own conscience tells them to have on such matters as wellness.''

Hmmmm.

In any event, Prejean said she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Hilton, about whom little needs to be known, is a gossip blogger who followed the show with a tirade on Prejean because she wounded his gay sensibilities.

And then the enemies of her answer really went to work. They found pictures of her that were taken modeling in her undergarments. Imagine that, an aspiring beauty queen modeling lingerie. They also questioned whether she ever made appearances with groups opposed to same-sex marriage. I can't quite force myself to read everything on the topic, but somehow even her parents have been drawn into this and cast in unflattering light regarding their divorce.

Not only was Prejean's answer called controversial, but her Miss California crown also was threatened. Donald Trump, who owns the Miss USA contest, apparently decided she could keep her crown, because, in the end, he really liked those lingerie photos.

It remains that Prejean has been portrayed as anti-gay marriage. That is true only if words don't mean anything, and they don't to the people who quite literally are trying to destroy her. She merely answered what was asked of her, and by actually answering a question, she should have won that round on points.

Mothers, don't let your daughters grow up to be cannon fodder. The moral, of course, is that in order to be a modern beauty pageant winner, at least Trump's Miss USA winner, you will have to subscribe to the views of, in this case, the activist left. She finished as first runner-up.

It's bad enough that these young women look hot-house raised in some mad experimentation with beauty. Now they must all give the same correct answers to questions posed by such notable judges as Perez Hilton.

This isn't what Adams and the fellows had in mind back when they signed Bert Parks to a long-term contract. Freedom of speech ain't what it used to be, is it?

[org.whodat]

Not worth a dime without her uncensored photo’s.

[theDentist]

Actually, the only question worth asking of this whole debacle is: Who the hell picked this effete emasculated jackass Hilton to be a judge in the first place? If the guy went by his real name, no one would have ever heard of him. And I’m sure that his choosing a name that sounds like a real celebutard is a relief to his father, who now prefers to remain anonymous.