I normally despise sophisticated exegesis of sociological phenomena, but I find myself genuinely fascinated by the discussion of conservatives and beauty queens. It’s not just the whole Carrie Prejean/Anita Bryant thing or that beauty pageants, like many things involving conservatives, turn out to be extremely gay, it’s that some right-wing would-be intellectuals like the idea of beauty queens as messengers of conservatism:
However this came to be, what fascinates me is that the Miss USA pageant is becoming a forum where beautiful young women are giving witness to views you, and I know some of them, have. Miss Prejean was victimized in the wake of her honest answer, of course. But the media can’t ignore the reality that Carrie and women like her exist, because of the prominent, popular forum in which she gave her answer.
It’s far from just Sarah Palin, baby.
It’s not so different than the Douthatian anti-Avatar jihad and it’s more or less exactly the same as this:
See those shirtless models in the storefront tossing footballs in the air? There’s a better use of their time and efforts. Tanned, coiffed and seriously cut, these young studs could be tossing free-trade legislation across the halls of the Cannon House Office Building faster than you can Twitter “The Bella Twins.” Just tell these $15-an-hour beefcakes there’s a Democrat standing between them and a $169,300 job.
Right-wing blogs are angry about Muslim beauty pageants not just because they may hate Muslims, but also because they think pop cultural minutiae like beauty pageants are very important in some larger political context.
Daydream believers and homecoming queensPost + Comments (82)