Jessica

Vozel

Read Jessica's bio and previous columns here

May 11, 2009

Micro-Managing Carrie Prejean’s Sexuality

Every time I see a news item about the ubiquitous Miss California, Carrie Prejean – who answered a pageant question about gay marriage indicating her opposition to it, and was accused of hypocrisy because of some recently-released topless photos – I am jarred out of my feminist, liberal world.  In the world I inhabit, beauty pageants are considered archaic and women aspire to more than prettiness. And so, when I see the extensive media coverage of Prejean, I think – these things still exist? And people take them seriously? 

And we wonder if feminism is still necessary.   

Back in 2007, I outlined the reasons pageants are bad for women – particularly young women. It was not a groundbreaking opinion then, and it isn’t now either. But it is one that has to exist given how much beauty pageantry still permeates our culture. 

But I don’t want to rehash the anti-pageant argument. Rather, I want to talk about the implications of this Prejean scandal beyond the ickiness factor of the pageants themselves.

Lately, it seems it’s not so much the contest but what happens after the crown is bestowed that gets the attention. The actual television ratings for these things are pretty dismal, but when a winner gets caught taking drugs, or drinking underage, or smooching with another woman, or any other behavior society deems electrifyingly “bad,” she suddenly skyrockets into mainstream news.

We love to see women behaving badly, and it seems the best way to achieve overnight celebrity is to win a crown and then pose for nude or semi-nude photos (or allow old photos to surface). It’s not the nude photos that bother me, even. Or the myriad of other bad behaviors in which women – even beautiful women! – choose to participate. Sure, there are problems that arise from women choosing to commodify their bodies, but I’m all for freedom of choice in the end. And feminism aims to give women agency in their lives, regardless of where that agency leads them. 

It’s society’s ambivalent reaction to such transgressions that bothers me. We love to see it – but are quick to shame the women for their misbehavior. One can argue that Prejean makes news because of her hypocrisy – she espouses conservative Christian values (including heterosexual marriage) and highlights the importance of “living biblically” while not-so-biblically disrobing for photographs. But, come on – her photos would be all over the place, even leaving the Bible-thumping context aside. 

In fact, Prejean’s Christianity coupled with her nudity (and breast enlargement) perfectly encapsulates the schizophrenic attitude of America toward sexuality. Prejean’s fake breasts were paid for by California pageant officials, but when she bares those gifts (or even suggests at such, as the photos in question show only her nude back), she is punished by the very same officials who endowed her.

There’s also talk of whether the photos were taken long before the breast enhancement surgery, but that’s not entirely relevant. The crux of the issue is that Prejean is told to flaunt her sexuality, but only in pageant-sanctioned events. Her sexuality must be micro-managed, reined in and punished when she transgresses. We lambast Prejean for attempting to legislate the moral behavior of homosexuals, while having no qualms at dictating the way she – or any woman in the public eye, really – conducts herself sexually.

Prejean herself obviously has some inner-exploration to do – including a long hard look at her flawed ideas of morality and Christian behavior. There are definite inconsistencies (and yes, hypocrisies) in her thinking. But, it would be helpful if those who criticized her decision to pose semi-nude while ogling her bikini-clad body on the pageant stage recognize their own hypocrisy, too.

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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