Time to Leave Carrie Prejean Alone

I try to make it a point not to blog about celebrities as I think their dominance in modern culture is immensely damaging to people, particularly young teenagers. Beauty Pageants like 'Miss America' perpetuate the myth of physical perfection and objectify women as commodities rather than human beings. Parading around a stage in a bikini and reeling off a list of extra curricular school activities isn't exactly beneficial to civilization, and the winners of the competitions shouldn't be revered as saviors of the planet.

However, the recent 'Miss America' scandal has opened a can of worms that is pitting Liberal America vs Conservative America in another chapter of the culture war that is so successfully exploited by politicians.

The unfortunate demise of Carrie Prejean was symbolic of the entire beauty pageant institution. A seemingly innocent Christian girl with a winning smile from small town California is revealed as - shock horror - a rather narrow minded, narcissistic hypocrite. The sheen of the pageant was damaged because, as with everything, nothing is as perfect as it seems.

Prejean's comments on gay marriage shot her into the spot light, and she became the favorite target of liberal Hollywood. It was revealed that Prejean had breast implants and had taken part in a topless underwear shoot. More recently, an ex boyfriend revealed that Prejean had sent him a 'sex tape' of herself. Hardly the behavior of a devout Christian.

But here's the thing. Prejean is a young woman, only 21 when she took part in the Miss America pageant and made the controversial statement on gay marriage. At that age, and given her background, some ignorance and prejudice is probably understandable.

I spent a year of my life in Corvallis, Oregon, going to Oregon State University. I was exposed to a completely different side of American life than I have previously experienced (some background - I was born in London, and have lived in Los Angeles for 7 years). I made friends with many fundamentalist Christians and got an interesting insight into their lives. While they were most certainly anti gay marriage, pro-life and pro (at the time) George Bush, I didn't find any of them hateful or malicious. It was just a different perspective, and in my opinion, one born of lack of experience.

When you live in big cities and are forced to interact with people from all walks of life, you naturally become more accepting of it. It's a common fact that big town Republicans are more liberal the small town Republicans, and small town Democrats are more conservative than big town Democrats. Coming from a city of under 100,000 people in Vista, California, Prejean's experience of different sexual lifestyles was probably limited, and her views on politics shaped by that.

I was often struck at the hypocrisy I witnessed on campus in Oregon, as Christian girls would engage in sexual activity that didn't technically go against the bible, talk blithely about blowing up other people's countries (the Iraq war was extremely popular at the time), and obsess about their body image while criticizing 'liberal' America for having no values.

But then again, most of them were just young and unaware of what they were really saying - and you could probably say the same about me. Many of them have gone on to be more conservative, and many have turned 180 and are now card carrying progressives.

At a certain age, people become responsible for their views, and a level of vitriol is probably warranted against those who are willfully ignorant. As far as I am concerned, people like Sarah Palin deserves everything she gets. She espouses a narrow minded, prejudiced view of the world and uses fear and hate to further her political objectives. She's a mother and a grown woman, and has no excuse for bigoted hate speech.

Prejean, on the other hand, is still a young woman and should be given some leeway. Carrie Prejean's views, while offensive to many Americans, aren't particularly extreme, and she can't be lumped in with people like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.

Prejean isn't running for office, and isn't promoting a political cause. She's just an inexperienced girl who happens to have dived into the vicious culture war she probably didn't realize existed.

It's time to leave her alone and pick on the real enemies of tolerance.

Ben Cohen is the Editor of TheDailyBanter.com and the founder of BanterMediaGroup.com

 

Follow Ben Cohen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thedailybanter

Comments

[EndOfTheWorld77]

(Cont'd) Ms Prejean's coming to the public eye shouldn't be leading to even more negativity and attacks (there has been enough of that!!!), this should open our eyes to the fact that our country is becoming over sexualized in a grusome way. Just as many people claim that their are many people in your life that you don't know are gay, i guarantee you that their are even more young kids in your family that are sending sexual pictures of themselves. Please realize tha when an entire social POV that's being pressed on people is of a sexual nature (the gay rights thing) our minds are not in the right places, instead of pressing for peace and world rights, we are pressing for "sexual freedom". Don't sugarcoat it, because that's exactly what it is. I realize that people are going to do what they will do, but sex shouldn't be in the public eye as it is. Kids minds are sponges, and the more they grow up in a time such as this, we're going to continue to see grusome sexual stories escalate. It's becoming more widely realized that the youth of today are in a terrible place....well lets think, who are they learning from? Kids just reflect what they see, they aren't getting any worse, we are making them worse.

[EndOfTheWorld77]

Man this is pathetic, the author of this article is absolutely right. The way I look at it is, anyone who doesn't realize the difference in a 22 year old mind and a 30 or even 25 year old mind is not a mature person. Even more, if you still find a reason to attack this young girl, your blinded by your own hate. Carrie speaking her views against a more extreme sexual preferences culture, and then her own sexual experiences coming to light shouldn't bring about attacks over her contradictions (being that naivity is still very prevelent in a 22 year old mind, as her adult mind hasn't fully developed), but this should bring forth evidence that our country is becoming over sexualized. Over the past few months alone there have been several stories of sexual scandals, fathers with their daughters, Sunday school teachers and little girls, preachers with young men, actors with young boys, men with horses, men with dogs, politicians having affairs, teens making pacts to get pregnant, a 15 year old baby being raped by a group of young men as many more watched, and a group of teens raping a mother and forcing her to have sex with her 8 year old son (look up Dunbar Village).

[HollywoodHillsCookie]

"the difference in a 22 year old mind and a 30 or even 25 year old mind is not a mature person"

Perhaps, then, those (such as Prejean) with not-fully-formed brains under 30 should not be allowed to speak at rallies that support stripping minorities of their civil rights? Is that your suggestion?

[azizabronze]

re: her not promoting a political cause (which is her right--just saying) *see the Values Voters Summit 2009." http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-26487-Intervention-Examiner~y2009m11d15-Ann-Coulter-defends-Carrie-Prejean-Public-conservative-Christian-women-are-under-attack-Poll

[dream9]

And now they're saying seven more tapes and 30 photos.
I love it.

[DatelessNerd]

You're absolutely right, Ben!

It's a shame that left-wing political prejudice threatens to ruin this young woman's career as a softcore porn star.

[jacobjakeu]

OH PLEASE. She's no innocent young girl being besieged by a hostile public. She put herself out there... beyond the pageant. She's been doing interviews everywhere, writing a book, trying to get money and publicity with a BS lawsuit.... She brought this on herself, and she's perpetuated herself. If she disappeared after the pageant and quietly left, no one would be going after her. But she's continued to seek public attention, so all this is totally fair game.

I am personally looking forward to Vivid releasing her tapes... and to her interviews explaining them when it's obvious she wasn't 17 either.

Further, being young isn't an excuse. There are plenty of mature teenagers just as there are plenty of immature 40-somethings.

An adult is an adult, and the problem with this country is we keep making excuses for the stupid, naive, and weak. Let them take responsibility for their actions and deal with the consequences.

[daloresdollor]

As has been pointed out, Miss USA is a different organization then Miss America and Vista California isn't "small town California". No town that has 90K people should ever be called a small town. She grew up in the San Diego area. A paper thin excuse...

Prejean has a book out and is WILLINGLY putting herself into the spotlight. Perhaps she will be left alone, when she chooses not to be in the spotlight. You can't pick and choose who should be scrutinized. Saying it's okay to be critical of Sarah Palin and not CP because of her age is silly to say the least. Carrie is 22 years old young yest but not an excuse not to challenge her nor should it be a easy out about her ignorance. This column and the excuses are as bad as Meghan McCain's meltdown on Real Time.

Your column just gave her another couple of excuses in the same vein of the wind blew my top off, I was 17..... well maybe I actually 20 etc... etc... etc...

[teanne]

People didn't really seem to be talking about her anymore until this book/press tour came up. Though I would think you are kind of "promoting a political cause" when you are agreeing to be a speaker at anti-gay marriage dinners, speakers at rallies for "values voters" etc. She was the spokesperson for that group that came out with the gay storm is coming ads too, wasn't she?

Though she has sort of become the scapegoat in some ways. I don't buy the whole I was fired for my religious views thing, but she's obviously not the only person against gay marriage yet she seems to get a lot more prying and poking than others with similar viewpoints do. Then again, she also seems to try to lie her way out of scandals which only digs her in a deeper hole. So, I don't know.

I guess if you are a spokesperson of "values" then these scandals are more relevant. But let's face it, that whole values thing is hypocrisy anyway. She's not perfect. None of us are. Some people just like to delude themselves into thinking they are enough to dictate how others live.

[MKSinSA]

Ben Cohen writes: "Prejean isn't... promoting a political cause."

An absolutely false statement for those of us who haven't fallen asleep at the switch.

"Carrie Prejean headlines political all-star cast of speakers at Young Republican Convention" - LA Republican Examiner, Aug. 13, 2009

"Carrie Prejean special guest speaker Drive the Discussion youth event Orlando" - Republican Meetup, Aug. 22, 2009

"Miss California Wows Conservatives" - ABC News, Sept. 18, 2009

"Carrie Prejean to Values Voter Summit: 'God chose me' with the gay-marriage question" - LA Times, Sept. 18, 2009

[Jerry62]

The treatment Carrie received reminds me of two amazing quotes from John Adams;

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other".

"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide".

The attempt to silence Carrie from expressing her opinion seems to support both statements.

[Jason87]

You're so right, Jerry62.

The liberal media should be ashamed of bringing up the masturbation tapes that Ms. Prejean has made to entice her ex-boyfriend.

That's exactly what John Adams had in mind.

[HollywoodHillsCookie]

I don't understand who's allegedly trying to "silence" her. If someone has been, they're not doing a very good job.

[Schmitz Blitz]

She keeps doing this to herself though! She's out there promoting her book, her heroic story of standing up to the homofacists. It's just bound to happen that her ex-boyfriends will dig out all of the hypocritcal smut she did.

I'd be happy to never hear of her again, but she just won't go away!

[janex]

Guts and tenacity?

What makes Carrie Prejean so disturbing is her sense that she can lie about anything and everything. Clearly, she lied to the pageant organizers about what kinds of photos and videos she had agreed to have taken and sent to her boyfriend.

While Carrie Prejean's ignorance is appalling, it is her behavior and her subsequent lies about said behavior that is the problem.

Obviously Pamela Anderson Lee that breast implants and sex tapes need not be an impediment to living a busy life, but Carrie Prejean does not have the ability to be honest that Pamela Anderson Lee does.

[R Foxfire]

Carrie Prejean

It seems odd that news people are still criticizing Carrie for ending an interview with Larry King because he pursued questioning when he was already given a satisfactory answer that the agreements were purely confidential and Carrie was not allowed to speak of them. Mr. King being the interviewer should have “listened”, and being more experienced in interviews, should have clarified the situation and then moved on from there. Also, was Prejean advised that there would be no questions from the audience? And if so, why did King attempt to have an audience question?

I for one am very glad to see that Ms. Prejean had the guts and tenacity to end the interview, and for this, believe that she should be called a hero. Think of all the people that have been interviewed and treated with disrespect, contempt, rudeness, unkindness, and ridicule (and all for ratings). Look at the interviews done by Katie Couric, Joy Bejar on The View, Keith Oberman, and Rachael Maddow. These people are like our congressmen, they believe that the people are Astroturf and do not deserve any respect. For further examples look at the Sarah Palin interviews.

Ms. Prejean has set a good example for other people to follow during interviews; people do not need to be treated rudely or disrespectful. People being interviewed can disconnect the microphone and get up and leave. Hooray for Ms. Prejean. In fact, make that a triple Hooray.

[cloudmaker]

I totally agree with your point of view and have felt that way from the beginning. As a gay man I have not found
her especially hateful or vindictive just naive and completely unsophisticated. I think the attacks and ridicule she
has faced far outweigh anything she has said. Glad to see another liberal feels the same way.

[Mikeybones]

Ben, when she leaves us alone, when she stops writing (200 page, triple spaced) books and appearing on TV to flog them and refuse to answer softball questions and skulks on back to the gym for some "me-time", then we'll leave her alone. Actually, she's doing all the damage herself. Beautifully. And revealing a truly ugly soul beneath.