Not "Real American": Miss America 2014

[madelise]

Just wanted to share this: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/a-lot-of-people-are-very-upset-that-an-indian-american-woman

Apparently many people are very upset that the new Miss America doesn't look like a W.A.S.P.
There are some who are calling this American of Indian descent an Arab and a terrorist.
Some are upset that this crowning has occurred just right after the anniversary of 9/11.



Sigh…

 

[chrono]

I thought America is a country whose foundation is built by foreign immigrants of various races? Have some people already forgotten this very basic premise of how the country came to be? It is disappointing how close minded and unknowing of the rest of the world a person is to confuse an Indian with an Arab.

 

[gregchang35]

It is really sad.

that is all i want to say.

 

[monarch64]

Sorry, (seriously) why are pageants still in existence?

Women want equality. We want equal pay. Yet we continue to parade ourselves (or representatives) in pageants, when men do not. Sorry, I can't empathize with "Miss America."

 

[rosetta]

Sorry, (seriously) why are pageants still in existence?

Women want equality. We want equal pay. Yet we continue to parade ourselves (or representatives) in pageants, when men do not. Sorry, I can't empathize with "Miss America."

Neither can I. I think pageants for either gender is an antiquated practice that objectifies bodies and has no place in today's world. Some people justify it by calling it a talent show, but where's the talent in wearing a swimsuit and heels? It mystifies me why we continue with this rubbish.

 

[monarch64]

Thanks, Rosetta, for your eloquent comment.

Madelise...Buzzfeed? Really? There HAS to be a more credible source. If you're going to start the thread, PLEASE bring more than a tabloid.

ETA: My apologies for steering away from the OP's topic.
My bad. Madelise, I'm sorry! And I hope you don't take my comments personally.

 

[AGBF]

I hate racism and xenophobia. Anyone who denigrates a woman for her skin color or ethnicity is beneath contempt. I would not waste sympathy on Miss Davuluri, however. I think she is, herself, beneath contempt. The former Miss America, Mallory Hagan, may have been blonde, but her only crime, to my knowledge, was to put on enough weight to look extremely good in a bikini. Any woman who represented the Miss America Pageant the year that she was Miss America looking as great as she did should have been praised as a role mode for healthy beauty, not derided her for being as "fat as ****" as she was by a jealous Miss Davuluri.

Miss Hagan's weight gain...http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2013/03/miss-america-mallory-hagan-fat-jibes-weight-gain/
Miss Davuluri taped slurring Miss Hagan with racist insults and calling her "fat as s**t"...http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2013/09/miss-new-york-nina-davuluri-calls-miss-america-mallory-hagan-fat.html

Deb/AGBF

 

[monarch64]

Wow. AGBF, thanks for that link. The former looks very fit in her candid outdoor shot! But obviously airbrushed in her runway pageant shot!

20-something's! Pay attention!

ETA: All of this is why I am so against pageantry...why do we pay attention to this craziness?! Pitting women against each other, for WHAT? Let's focus on intelligence. Please. Doesn't ANYONE EVER want to see a female president????

 

[makhro82]

This is easy... Racism is wrong. Objectification of women is wrong. Fat bashing is wrong.
America has a long way to go...

 

[monarch64]

This is easy... Racism is wrong. Objectification of women is wrong. Fat bashing is wrong.
America has a long way to go...

Word!!!

 

[missy]

Count me in with all of the above posters as I loathe beauty pageants (I cannot believe we are still doing them) and I detest any kind of racism, xenophobia, prejudice against anyone really for any reason. It's just all so wrong and it makes me ill when I think of little girls who grow up dreaming of being in one. Hard to believe we still have so far to go in so many areas.

Thanks for that link Deb as I don't follow any of these pageants and that was eye opening. It seems hate exists all around these affairs and not surprising that some of the people who partake in them are superficial and prejudiced themselves. Sad.

 

[TooPatient]

Count me in with all of the above posters as I loathe beauty pageants (I cannot believe we are still doing them) and I detest any kind of racism, xenophobia, prejudice against anyone really for any reason. It's just all so wrong and it makes me ill when I think of little girls who grow up dreaming of being in one. Hard to believe we still have so far to go in so many areas.

Thanks for that link Deb as I don't follow any of these pageants and that was eye opening. It seems hate exists all around these affairs and not surprising that some of the people who partake in them are superficial and prejudiced themselves. Sad.

Yep.

My grandmother and I watched a "making of" sort of thing probably 15-20 years ago. It was awful!
The things these women allow themselves to go through
VERY hateful people all over in that area!

It would not shock me if a comment like the OP was made. BUT -- I do not think that is a common feeling among most people in this country. It may be a view held by those who continue to participate in the demeaning rituals of the "scholarship" or "talent" programs, but they are NOT representative of the rest of us!

 

[Niel]

They were also putting up a stink about one who wouldn't cover up her tatts.

 

[JewelFreak]

Don't blame the whole country for a bunch of superficial snarky people in a superficial vicious field of "endeavor" -- quotation marks intended. There are jerks in every single country on earth. This is a shallow business; what else to expect from participants or watchers?

Buzzfeed hardly represents the vast majority of Americans. With them, who knows if they didn't even make some of those tweets up for extra conflict? Let others be abysmal if they wish to; just don't contribute yourselves. Righteous indignation feels intoxicating; it's fun. But if beauty contests are truly so unimportant, let exclamations by airheads blow away in the wind -- don't give them added publicity.

--- Laurie

 

[justginger]

I like beauty pageants to look at those SPARKLY ball gowns. Other than that, obviously we've moved past that as a society, haven't we? Let's just call it a fashion show, where one of the girls gets a big SPARKLY crown at the end.

The comments regarding the ethnicity of this woman, and her (non-existent) association with terrorists, are revolting.

 

[VRBeauty]

Don't blame the whole country for a bunch of superficial snarky people in a superficial vicious field of "endeavor" -- quotation marks intended. There are jerks in every single country on earth. This is a shallow business; what else to expect from participants or watchers?

Buzzfeed hardly represents the vast majority of Americans. With them, who knows if they didn't even make some of those tweets up for extra conflict? Let others be abysmal if they wish to; just don't contribute yourselves. Righteous indignation feels intoxicating; it's fun. But if beauty contests are truly so unimportant, let exclamations by airheads blow away in the wind -- don't give them added publicity.

--- Laurie

exactly.

 

[madelise]

Okay… so this thread didn't exactly go in the direction I was hoping it would. I'm not trying to discuss whether or not Buzzfeed is a credible source (seriously, I just linked to the first thing I saw. But this reaction to the winner is stated everywhere. I really doubt Buzzfeed faked those screenshots of Twitter feeds) or if pageants are a bad thing. As someone who has done pageants as a child, I'm kind of upset that some of you wish they no longer exist. Who cares? If you don't like it, don't watch it. If you don't want to participate, then don't.

I wanted to talk about the obvious racism and ignorance happening here.

 

[AGBF]

Okay… so this thread didn't exactly go in the direction I was hoping it would.

Well, that's the thing about threads. Other people get to say what they think in them. So they don't always go where you want them to go.

As someone who has done pageants as a child, I'm kind of upset that some of you wish they no longer exist. Who cares?

You appear to be contradicting yourself. You say that you did pageants as a child, so that the topic matters to you, but then when it comes to how others feel about them you write, "who cares?" as if the topic is unimportant. If it matters to you, why shouldn't the topic matter to others?

I wanted to talk about the obvious racism and ignorance happening here.

And no one is stopping you.

Deb

 

[madelise]

As someone who has done pageants as a child, I'm kind of upset that some of you wish they no longer exist. Who cares?

You appear to be contradicting yourself. You say that you did pageants as a child, so that the topic matters to you, but then when it comes to how others feel about them you write, "who cares?" as if the topic is unimportant. If it matters to you, why shouldn't the topic matter to others?

Really? I mean who cares as in, if you don't like it, don't watch it. If I don't like something, I don't watch it or participate in it. Like horror movies or golf. I don't like either, but I don't wish they don't exist.

 

[AGBF]

As someone who has done pageants as a child, I'm kind of upset that some of you wish they no longer exist. Who cares?

You appear to be contradicting yourself. You say that you did pageants as a child, so that the topic matters to you, but then when it comes to how others feel about them you write, "who cares?" as if the topic is unimportant. If it matters to you, why shouldn't the topic matter to others?

Really? I mean who cares as in, if you don't like it, don't watch it. If I don't like something, I don't watch it or participate in it. Like horror movies or golf. I don't like either, but I don't wish they don't exist.

I understand, madelise. But some forms of "entertainment" are not as innocuous as golf. What if I were to substitute televised dog fighting for golf? Would you still take the position that people should just watch it or turn it off?

Deb

 

[ForteKitty]

AGBF, are you really comparing pageants to dog fighting? All these participants are highly educated, and they chose to participate. Take a look at all the finalists and their credentials. You can't compare that to dog fighting. People who participate in dog fights deserve to be electrocuted. I'm not sorry to say that.

Madelise, I get why you were upset, and was surprised that people here chose to focus on the pageant itself, rather than the ignorant and racist reactions online. It's as if they didn't think it was a big deal, or that it doesn't exist.

 

[monarch64]

So, if others don't share your opinion, or have different ideas about your thread topic, they just shouldn't post? OK. Whatever you say.

 

[cygnet]

I wouldn't use Buzzfeed as my first source for world news, but I think it's perfectly fine for viewing twitter screenshots and the like.

I think the racist reaction people have been having to this is absolutely disgusting and disheartening. I can't say anything much about Miss America herself, because I don't follow pageants and know nothing about her, but I find the racism abhorrent regardless of whether or not she was being cruel to the other Miss America regarding her weight.

p.s. any comment preceded by "I'm not racist, but..." is pretty much guaranteed to be racist. I don't understand how people can think that claiming she's not a real American based on her heritage or appearance is anything but racist.

 

[madelise]

So, if others don't share your opinion, or have different ideas about your thread topic, they just shouldn't post? OK. Whatever you say.

You're ignoring what I'm trying to talk about-- the racism. And insinuating that we won't have a female president because of pageants? What? It doesn't even make sense. I just wanted to talk about how appalled I am at how people are still so racist, and you're getting upset because I want to talk about that?

 

[AGBF]

I don't understand how people can think that claiming she's not a real American based on her heritage or appearance is anything but racist.

I don't either.

And I absolutely do not condone racism. It is a blight on society.

I just happen to dislike Miss Davuluri...quite intensely.

Deb

 

[AGBF]

AGBF, are you really comparing pageants to dog fighting?

Ummm...no. It's called a metaphor. You didn't mind when madelise compared the highly intelligent women to golf balls.

Deb

 

[Trekkie]

I thought America is a country whose foundation is built by foreign immigrants of various races? Have some people already forgotten this very basic premise of how the country came to be? It is disappointing how close minded and unknowing of the rest of the world a person is to confuse an Indian with an Arab.

I couldn't agree more with what you said! When I first read about this earlier today (yes, it even made the news in South Africa!) this my initial reaction was, "but aren't nearly all Americans immigrants?!"

Regarding the bolded, even if she is Arab, which she so obviously isn't, so what? When did being Arab become a crime? What do these people want? Arabs to be prohibited from entering beauty pageants? What's next? A yellow star and crescent moon sewn on their clothes?

If so, they're in for a rude awakening - so many Arabs don't match the phenotype these people seem to be carrying in their heads.

 

[madelise]

I understand, madelise. But some forms of "entertainment" are not as innocuous as golf. What if I were to substitute televised dog fighting for golf? Would you still take the position that people should just watch it or turn it off?

Deb

Dog fighting is illegal and violent. The dogs don't choose to participate-- their wretched owners do.
These women are competing for a title and scholarships. Nothing illegal, nothing violent.
And I did not say women are like golf balls. Jesus Christ, you know how to twist my words.



----

Anyway. So it's sad how this new Miss America 2014's whole campaign purpose is to bring cultural competency across America.. and yet, she receives the exact backlash she's trying to rid of.

And ignoring the racism just pisses me off more.

2009 and 2010-- I never saw racism as bad as I did until I met my partner, who is of South Asian/Middle Eastern descent. Here. In Southern CA, in the same neighborhood I grew up in, the same neighborhood that is almost 100% made up of ethnic minorities. I was present when he had been harassed by police, twice. Once because we had been sitting in his car, talking, at night. The police officer, of Asian descent, had no reason to harass us. We weren't doing anything skeevy. We weren't trespassing private property. Nothing. He had no reason, and he ended his conversation to us with, "You should get a room." before he left us alone. We weren't. doing. anything. Not kissing, not cuddling, NOTHING. A few months later, we were pulled over. First, the story was that the car's registered to a person who has a warrant out for their arrest. BS. The car's owner was SO. Even after he provided his ID, the police officer and his partner both shined their bright flashlights into our cars, made us show them the center compartment, our hands, then made us bring all of our windows down, then up, because he was "checking to see if we hid any illegal substances in the windows". He held us for over half an hour "searching" things. He ended it with another made up story about how his license plate has something sprayed over it so that he can't see the license properly. That was BS.

When I got hired at a big, well-known hospital in our area, my supervisor, who is black, asked if I had a boyfriend. I showed her his picture. That spiraled into a conversation that ended with her saying, "You know what? I gotta tell you the truth. Us black people are so glad that 9/11 happened because finally the cops are bugging them instead of us." I had just met her either that day or the day before. It was said so truthfully yet so nonchalantly. I was shocked and didn't even know what to say.

Racism BOTHERS me. And it should. And I'm appalled that others aren't bothered. It's like watching slavery and being fine with it. Or like watching, like AGBF said, dog fighting, and being okay with it.

 

[madelise]

I really really hope that we aren't teaching our children, the future generations, that it is okay to be a racist ignorant jerk.

 

[SB621]

More of a side comment but one of the more infamous Miss USA's was Tara Connor who many thought was the perfect Miss America based on her WASP looks, but apparently her illicit drug use during her reign wasn't enough to loose her title. I don't see how ppl are all for giving her second chances to be a role model to girls but take issue with a woman who has done nothing wrong, but is percieved as unAmerican because of the color of her skin.