Serious Question.
I broke down and started reading the details of the Miss Delaware Teen USA “scandal” this morning. I had been purposefully avoiding it because I don’t consider such things actual news. Who the hell cares that a stupid teenager was stupid enough to allegedly engage in sexual activity on camera? Who the hell cares about a Miss Delaware Teen USA? What the hell is a Miss Delaware Teen USA, and for that matter the winner of any of the other beauty pagents out there? Why do we even hold them up as some kind of paragons of virtue? I guess I can understand holding a contest to determine which of the contestants is the most beautiful and well rounded person in that year’s competition. But why then do we act like the winner of that meaningless contest is somehow given royal duties and then acts like a Head of State for a year?
I have not watched one second of any of the Kardashian crap. Do you want to know why? Because no one of those Kardashian offspring, or even the widow Kardashian, have done one damn thing on their own to earn their notoriety. Their father was a successful lawyer. And his represenatation of OJ Simpson some twenty years ago made him a brief and minor household name. How that makes his children and his widow celebrities worthy of a reality show and our devotion is beyond me. I feel the same way about Melissa King. Why this is a front page story on the News Journal must be for reasons passing all logic and understanding.
Thus, I find it fitting that Melissa King quoted one of the Kardashian leeches’ tweets in the News Journal Article. Because that is the path she, and we, want her to take.
This is an old and tired story by now, right? Of a bright kid who aspires to celebrity the cheap and tawdry way. Unfortunately, there is an awfully large segment of our society who seem to think that becoming a celebrity for no other reason than just capturing the attention of cameras and gossip sites and reality TV shows is a life ambition worth honoring.
This is one of Donald ‘Best Sex I Ever Had’ Trump’s pageants.
What could possibly have gone wrong?
I’m not 100% convinced this about aspiration to celebrity. She is currently charged with stealing some money in MD at about the same time she made the movie. There may be some financial difficulty or other story here that we might be sorry about mischaracterizing. Or not.
If you’re saying that beauty pageants are a cheap and tawdry way to achieve recognition, I agree.
The only difference between a beauty pageant and porn is that porn pays better.
And the talent competitions are more interesting.
An earlier NJ column mentioned that she spent a major part of her teen years in foster care. The personal level of poverty usually involved in those cases might be the cause of her theft charges. As far as the sex tape is concerned, here again, we have a means of acquiring some income by someone not yet qualified to obtain a job. I’m in my late 70’s. I recognize that there are times when practicing in the sex trade is the only means of income. I don’t really approve but recognize that that is the only recourse for some period of time. Just remember, in the newspaper sex sells.
I just wish this 18 year old girl didn’t have to learn her lessons in the public eye. I think the News Journal is disgusting for printing this and I think people who are so quick to judge an 18 year old girl are disgusting!
Off topic: For the past 10 minutes I have been hearing audio that sounds like some kind of gathering with low levels of conversation, like in a room full of people. This as background to reading these posts. Then a voice proclaimed:
Announcer: “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your two minute warning.”
The announcer introduced Pres. Obama who is now giving an address. Obama is introducing new Cabinet choices.
Checked, this audio is currently being broadcast on CSPAN. I can’t find a link on this site. What gives?
While I’m not a pageant person myself, I don’t see the innate harm in them. Like most things involving young people, the problems usually start once the grownups get involved. To me a beauty pageant is really no different than a martial arts competition, battle of the bands, soccer tournament, etc. Some kids are good at sports, some at music, and some at dressing up and walking across a stage.
You could take a TV show like “Dance Moms” and replace it with “Soccer Moms” or “Hockey Dads” and see much of the same over-the-top parental behavior. Some pageants, like this one, just have a higher public profile.
The video feed is autoplaying on the Obama sequester press conference post below, every time you refresh.
Fixed
The Kardashians – I have no answer for you. They, like Paris Hilton are simply famous for being famous, and idealize vapid beauty (and the beauty piece is highly subjective).
On the Melissa King thing, I get it a little bit more. Pageants (at their best – I’ll leave aside whether the reality of anything Trump does is ‘at its best’) are about recognizing female role models, who present beauty, talent, ability, service to community, etc. It’s hard to make the argument with Ms. King, but perhaps as a role model for a ‘modern woman’. IE ‘Brains, Beauty, Talent, and she reads to the blind every Tuesday. The article points out her recognition and achievement in athletics, community service and academics, and her sexual choices do not dimish that in the slightest. The News Urinal coverage is pandering to the prurient interest, and IMO, is slut shaming. What she chooses to do, as a consenting adult of legal age, is not relevant, and is using her legal sexual choices to shame her. In this day and age, a woman can be smart, beautiful, talented, serve her community, and make legal choices with her sexuality.
What I find interesting is who first billed her video as Miss Teen Delaware. If it was her, THAT choice may be cause for her to give up the title. If it was some adult site operator, THEY were in the wrong.
I also find it ironic that this flap has led to income opportunities far greater than the scholarship available to a Miss Teen Delaware winner. In this day of (legally consenting adults) ownership of their sexuality, could this have been brilliant marketing on her part? I might begrudgingly respect that…
What the girl did is irrelevant, although it does reflect our changing times. Actresses used to sleep with men to get on camera. All that’s happened is that the intermediate step has been eliminated.
What I have long found striking is the pretense on the part of pageant organizers that somehow all the Barbie Dolls in the contests are chaste and virginal, while, as part of the contests, the contestants spend a great part of the competitions half-naked.
It’s an old boys’ club prurient hypocrisy sandwich from any angle.
“It’s an old boys’ club prurient hypocrisy sandwich from any angle.”
*golf clap*
I seem to remember a time when Miss Teens were chosen for academic or volunteer achievements or talent, and not necessarily chosen for their beauty. I recall seeing some not-hot but absolutely happy, radiant, and well-adjusted Miss Teens. Then Trump got involved.
to Geezer @ 9:56 and no expense in wardrobe.
@geezer “The only difference between a beauty pageant and porn is that porn pays better.”
Someone is going to find a way to combine them. “And after the evening gown competition…”