Modesty is Sexier…
There has been a lot on controversy over the newly released Miss USA Pageant promotional pictures that showcase all 51 contestants in a salutary photo series entitled “Waking Up in Las Vegas.” You can see the pics here on the Miss USA official page. To be honest, after gazing upon the photos I wasn’t outraged or even shocked. I wasn’t disgusted nor was I offended. If anything, I found myself somewhat ambivalent trying to make sense of the newfound creative direction. After all half naked, over-sexualized women strategically arranged in sexually suggestive positions have become basic building block in constructing any successful advertising campaign. In my opinion, the salacious pictures are but further evidence of the seemingly inexorable march toward a hyper-sexualized female persona.
I‘ve never been a huge advocate of the Miss USA Pageant or any form of beauty contest for that matter; they just seem to be incredibly frivolous and portray the women as nothing more than beautifully constructed vacuous drones. Yet, I have always held the winner in high esteem for their yearlong commitment to humanitarian and community service efforts. It was the 364 days Miss America spent aside from the actual pageant itself that made amends for the “physical-beauty-is everything- for- young-women” display of that one night.
Regardless of the fact that I think beauty pageants send the wrong message to our young women and men; I do think that Miss USA in the 364 days aside from the pageant serves as the quintessential female role model that our society so desperately needs. I base that not upon her appearance but rather on her actions as reigning Miss USA. There is a peculiar dichotomy in the Miss USA Pageant when you examine what the winner stands for as opposed to how she gets there. On one hand you have a young women who is crowned Miss USA and heralded as a national treasure for her yearlong efforts in assisting those in need, encouraging and empowering young women, and bringing awareness to humanitarian efforts. She is not only held to the highest ethical and moral standards but ironically is also required to maintain a demure appearance. Now, on the other hand we’re using a beauty pageant primarily based on physical appearance to choose who that ideal role model should be. It’s no wonder so many of our young girls feel like if they don’t have perfectly straight hair, perky breast, a flawless smile, and immaculate skin, then they don’t measure up.
I had the pleasure of attending one of my frat brother’s wedding a couple of weeks ago in Opelousas, Louisiana. On our drive we saw a billboard advertising a local computer repair shop. On one side of the billboard it had a busted monitor on the other side was the smoking computer. What was in the middle? Well of course, it was a blonde haired, perky breast, swimsuit model. Even the small town do-it-yourself advertisers have no reservations in using an unwarranted hyper-sexualized female image.
And if you been online at all this week you have probably stumbled upon this ridiculousness.
Really? How has this become what we aspire for our young daughters? In the age of hyper-sexualized female celebrities like Beyonce, Brittany Spears, Hannah Montana and Ciara, the image of Miss USA has the ability to challenge the traditional notion of how women are to be portrayed. By all means, women should be proud to own their sexuality but when you have a nation of tween and teen girls watching it should be done with a bit of demureness. These promo pics are simply a step in the wrong direction.
