Miss USA Was a Strip Contestant

So, the headline goes, "Miss USA won 'Stripper 101' competition". Rima Fakih, the first Arab to win the title of Miss USA, had held the title for only one day went somebody dished out the dirt from something that happened a couple of years back. Cor blimey. I don't see what the big deal is myself.

So she entered a pole dancing competition and didn't even remove her clothes. Let's face it, the Miss USA contest states that "The delegates who become part of the Miss Universe Organization display those characteristics in their everyday lives, both as individuals, who compete with hope of advancing their careers, personal and humanitarian goals, and as women who seek to improve the lives of others."

Let's not kid ourselves - it's a beauty contest with a touch of popularity. Do we think that women who enter The Miss USA / Miss Universe contests are beautiful but shy and retiring? No way. They have to be confident and attract your attention. What better way for miss Fakih to obtain some publicity early in her modelling career, if that's what she planned to do, than earn some money in a dancing competition, utilising a pole, that shows off her assets? She'll become more widely known and more people will back her.

The days where people like Claudia Schiffer, who was discovered in a disco, are plucked from obscurity and go on to become world famous are gone. To be a well known beauty these days takes a lot of careful management. Saving yourself and keeping out of the public eye until you plan to enter Miss USA isn't going to win you any popularity. These ladies must raise an enormous amount of money just to win their state contests. How do you do that without a public profile. And how do you enter a beauty contest as large and serious as Miss USA if you haven't done anything to show off your beauty? You wouldn't even get a look in.

It's not as if the competition was illegal. I think people need to get off her case. It's a matter of doing what you have to do to get to where you want to be. And nobody was offended by her behaviour, were they?

Where's the Scandal for Miss California in the Miss USA Pageant?

Scandal at the Miss USA Pageant? Surely not. Miss California answered a question about gay marriage honestly and loses the title because of it. The scandal was her answer, not the loss of the title, unfortunately.

I've taken Dante Thomas' song Miss California and changed some of the lines to suit.



She's Miss California
Hottest thing in West L.A.
Doesn't think that you should marry
If you happen to be gay
If she did then you should know
She'd now be Miss USA
She's Miss California
Coz she doesn't like the gays

I think the controversy is that the first honest answer in the history of the Miss USA Pageant was provided and the entrant was not respected for it. It's not as if it is a given that homosexuals should be allowed to marry. I'm on her side when it comes to my opinion. Marriage should be between a man and a woman. But I also have gay friends and I do not condemn them for it. Call me a bigot but that's my opinion. Anyway, Miss California, I'd be rooting for you.

If you want controversial behaviour I would have to say (ooh, I'm starting to sound like a Miss USA contestant) that the United States not attending the UN Anti-Racism talks, along with Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and New Zealand, is scandalous. It doesn't matter if a crazy guy by the name of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from Iran has something to say that upsets a lot of countries, and lead to an EU walkout from the talks, it was the perfect opportunity to listen and rebut his argument. The fact that they chose not to face a difficult statement, that Israel was rascist, is scandalous. Grow up world! Face the man and stare him down. If you don't agree you tell him so. Wouldn't it have been a great gesture to see some 35-odd countries say that they don't agree with someone's opinion? Isn't that what the forum was for? They should be combatting racism not walking away from it like children.