"Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza is appearing topless in the September issue of Maxim magazine, on stands August 18, with the full support of her pageant (they gave Maxim the photos!), "
Ya know, it cant be just me that finds this to be something of a sad comedy. Has Donald Trump, aka ' The Don' really taken the 'classy' and 'prestigious' pageant industry into the smut tank? ( tongue plowed into cheek with the last statement) Has the beautiful and pristine pageantry of the pageant been tarnished forever? Can we ever watch this epic struggle performed by these tough and classy ladies and not have the thought, ' I wonder if she's the trashy one' pop into our heads. I thinketh not. Dayana Mendoza asked permission from The Don to do this topless ad and not only did he give his almighty permission, ("One day I will call on you to do me some service" Uttered in my best Brando persona) but he also provided the photo shoot and the pictures to Maxim for the ad. (Thanks Don, how selfless of you)
I know some of you out there might be fans of the pageant circuit. Some of you might like the Miss Universe, Miss Teen, Miss County, Miss state and even the Miss and Mrs. America stuff. Some of you no doubt have entered you daughters and babies in local affairs called Beauty contests. To you I say that it is your right as an American to have your opinion and I encourage you to do so. If you enjoy this sort of thing, more power to you. If you like to watch, participate, or put your kids in these things, I have no problem with that, its a free country (for now) and this is socially acceptable to most people.
As you may have guessed by my opening commentary, I am not a fan of pageant anythings or beauty contests of any sort. I personally think they are too lame to be entertaining. I find them to be just a wee bit demeaning towards women. I find them a little prehistoric in their nature and think they foster negative things like vanity. (hoping off soapbox now) Now, having said that, I dont think should be be censored or disallowed or anything Puritanical like that, but I do think that if enough people step into modern culture they will fade away due to lack of interest and viewership.
The only purpose I had in posting about this was the comedic irony I found in the fact that what has always billed itself to be the wholesome family values applied pageant has come out of the closet and shown their true colors. This pageant has de-crowned a few winners when it is later discovered that they posed nude, topless, or behaved in some other demeaning manner. But, oh, but now we have The Don as a co-owner, not only giving permission, but providing the pictures. Delicious irony.
The second irony is the American Culture. We as Americans are all but unique in that we sexualize the female breast to begin with. Most other cultures do not view this in such a way. This goes back to our Puritanical roots. ( Hey, I used Puritan references twice in one post, woot!) When you look at this through that lens, it becomes even more ironic. I dont think anyone can look at these photos however and not view them as the classic "sex sells" advertisement scheme. These pictures are sexy and are meant to be sexual.
As far as I am concerned, if these ladies want to strut their stuff to the masses, let them. I wont be watching, but thats just me. Also, they should be aware that in today's market place the pageants target audience is 14 year old pimple faced boys alone in their rooms with the lights out eating Cheetos!!!
As for me, I prefer a strong woman who is happy with who she is and the rest of the world just needs to stay out of her way. I dont much care for the prim and proper kittens who feel the need to overdue the vanity and allow themselves to be used and objectified in such a way.
2 comments:
Aha! I can leave a message now :)
Anyway, my take on it is that no matter if someone is "topless" or not, in my mind it isn't "another level" of vanity, superficiallity, female degradation, etc. It's all the same shit that has always been there; the level of nudity is just following the trend of the time.
The people that do this pageant crap - parading their little girls around in makeup like so much pedophilic bait on a hook - value beauty as a tool and are prepping their little princess to use it, so they can live vicariously through them and strut around, bragging about the brainless prized horse they've created with their pathetic gene pool.
I'm sorry, but it makes me sick to see little baby girls with fake teeth and spray-on tans. Really? Is this what we want to emphasize during the most critical years that everyone eventually winds up lining outside the psychiatrist's office over?
When I was little, I noticed that the only thing that diverted Yosemite Sam or whomever else on a cartoon from their murderous rage was the prospect of a piece of ass walking by. Even Bugs Bunny knew that, which is why I understand that he's not really a transvestite - but I realized that for women, this was power - but only a certain KIND of power - a very passive one. To wield this brand of power, one must be invaded as well; it is a mutual weakness in the man falling for her, and the sad seduction she's producing for a price, which does not leave a woman in a position of control that REAL power gives you.
Examples of real power are knowledge, wisdom, prestige, experience... these things give you an edge, respect, they allow you to feel good about something that most people may not take the time to earn. You have the advantage, and the other person is at a loss. Traditionally this culture sees this as
a male-dominated privelage, and these practices aren't helping our (intelligent, capable women's) cause in the least.
But beauty? No, beauty isn't real. All of the women/girls i've ever met that make a living solely off of being beautiful are neurotic, uptight, insecure whack-jobs that can't live with themselves if they eat one-too-many strawberries because they are obsessed with their selling point. Their bottom line. They are a product, not a manufacturer, and they may as well call the person signing their check their "pimp" (Trump).
We use beauty up and spit it out into plastic surgeon offices to be mutilated. Popular culture in this country rejects female signs of aging, of maturation - of wisdom. It's pathetic, and it makes me sick that people start their kids off so young. At least give them a decade before they discover that full-length mirrors can be cruel, and let them discover it on their own.
As for ms. what's-her-face? Fuck her, let her get her pennies on the dollar that "The Don" is getting for her franken-titties. I'm sure she'll wind up putting the money back into the economy after she buys all the surgery and meth to stay awake for all of the jet setting and photo shoots she'll be doing -and her dealer will go buy a new hummer with blingin' rims. Everyone wins, right?
Sorry for the bad words :)
Kuddos for the multiple "puritan" references! =)
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