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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Someone wrote:
"It's an enormous understatement to dismiss the misogyny and prejudice as just what a 'bunch’ of people on YouTube think.'"
Misogyny? More likely gleefulness born of other things. Like bubbaphobia. Or thinking that all rednecks be dumm. Or blondes not having brains. And so on.
I suspect there's some jealousy/anger, too. Girls like Ms. Upton have the world-- at least the male half-- wrapped around their fingers. They have the power of youth, sexuality, and beauty. Feminists, basing their you-owe-us politics on men having "all the power" are loathe to admit that women have equal power, albeit in other areas. What pecuniary penance could fembots extract from guys if it were better known that gals have haf-the-power?
Nancy Friday's THE POWER OF BEAUTY shows that female sexual power is as real as-- and equal to-- the monetary power men have.
Upton is Paris Hilton Lite. Both use sexuality to get what they want. Few men, I’ll wager, would decline a night in bed with either. Caitlin being no great orator is no hindrance. Guys would settle for great oral-- and other-- sex.
Long term, things might be different. Guys might tire of being unable to talk with airheads. Hilton, of course, will always have money. But both women will lose their looks. Then what?
Look at Germaine Greer. She went from coquette to cougar to crone, souring along the way:
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(http://www.salon.com/weekly/books960715.html)
SALON: "In your book, you [Nancy Friday] seem dismayed by Germaine Greer's evolution. I'm wondering where you think her current angry, crone-like persona came from. Because as you say in the book, she was once a symbol of a very open and free and powerful female sexuality.
FRIDAY: She feels invisible. It seems to me that when you are a woman and you are out there and you write brilliantly and get on the stage and perform brilliantly as Germaine did, nonetheless, you realize the power of your beauty, and all these other things feed into it. And when you lose that youthful sexual beauty... I think we're all a little bit terrified of the witch of the nursery.
SALON; And Germaine Greer, as you write, has embraced it in that recent photo session for Harper's Bazaar.
FRIDAY: Sitting with these saggy breasts hanging down to her knees, holding her cat, naked in her kitchen on a wooden chair. I was sorry to see that witchy picture of Germaine....The old Germaine...was to me such a hero. I mean, if anybody could take on [Norman] Mailer, it was Germaine, and she was twitching her ass and flashing those long legs and swinging those breasts and she loved all that! You see, I think that's what she misses. She's got a voice that's strong as ever, but she hasn't got the sexual beauty.
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Ah, yes. Strange what happens to beautiful women who toy with men. They age. Karma catches up. Male peers bed their daughters (and maybe grand-daughters!). Women who didn’t give men the time of day go begging for attention.
That’s not universally true, of course. Some women age well. Others have so much class it doesn’t matter how old they are. But bimbos who lived only by looks, who thought their flatulence perfumed, often wake up to a stark twilight. They never developed character or intellect and now have little to offer.
If Upton had acted nervous or self-deprecating or girl-next-doorish or "human" her flub would have created sympathy. We'd have cheered her on, not jeered. But she acted Hilton-like, as if anything she said or did was gold. That got people rolling on the floor.
Everyone likes to see arrogance knocked off pedestals.
Owen Wilson comes across as a humble, nice guy. People have reacted to his suicide attempt with great concern, care, and well-wishes. Compare that to how they responded when Martha Stewart was jailed.
Let's not be too harsh on the kid. I remember when I was auditioning for a Jeopardy-type game show based on the pop entertainment industry. Piece of cake, I thought: movies, books, and music, stuff I knew. The tryouts were in a local bar, and the pressure level was almost nil. There were no cameras, no prizes, and no guarantee that if you won in the bar, you'd end up as a contestant. To cut to the chase, when I got up there to answer a question about pop music, it was about the classic song, Wild Thing. I'd heard it a million times before, but suddenly, standing up there in front of everyone, with a competitor across the podium from me, I blanked out completely and so never made it past round one. (As it turns out, the show itself never made it past the pre-production stage).
So, I'm sympathetic to this young woman. True, she may be a dope after all, but it's unfair to judge her based on her performance in a very stressful situation. That said, 'tis true, Americans of all ages are nitwits regarding geography, world events, etc. Just look at the guy who we chose to run the country not once, but twice. 'Nuff said.
BEAUTY PAGEANTS are sexist, absurd, dated, elitist, you name it. thus this video is an easy target. this poor kid's answer to a question confirms all our assumptions about these sham events. pick the pretty girl!!! but give her a scholorship and make sure she is against being mean to kids and puppies!
pagaents support the patriarchy. that's why they exist.
I think Salon is missing a point here. Of course beauty pageants aren't presidential elections. And yes, beauty pageants demean women. But Salon staffers who assert that a simple geography question was inappropriate devalue young Ms Caitlin and her fellow contestants even more.
It was a perfectly valid question for an 18-year-old honor student participating in a contest that supposedly stresses beauty And brains.
Her answer could have included obvious comments on American Education: We need more teachers and better schools. People should stay in school. American schools should stress more geography. People spend too much time online or watching TV and not enough time learning.
When the Today Show gave her a do-over, Caitlin did in fact touch on several of those themes. But even after a three-day prep she still sounded like a mindless Valley Girl who could not, I'm convinced, herself find the US on a map.
A friend's 16-year-old daughter spent the summer building schools in Africa as a result of what he calls "the Angelina Jolie effect." I'm guessing that's the only reason Miss South Carolina included Iraq in her ramblings -- Ms Jolie is currently visiting our soldiers there.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
