Miss America cheers pageant diversity
Source: AP
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.
Moments after winning the 2014 Miss America crown, Nina Davuluri described how delighted she is that the nearly century-old pageant sees beauty and talent of all kinds.
The 24-year-old Miss New York is the first contestant of Indian heritage to become Miss America; her talent routine was a Bollywood fusion dance.
"I'm so happy this organization has embraced diversity," she said in her first press conference after winning the crown in Atlantic City, N.J.'s Boardwalk Hall. "I'm thankful there are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America."
Her pageant platform was "celebrating diversity through cultural competency."
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/texas/new-miss-america-to-be-crowned-sunday-night/nZxhr/
Miss New York Nina Davuluri, front, is crowned as Miss America 2014 by Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2013, in Atlantic City, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Miss New York Nina Davuluri walks down the runway after winning the the Miss America 2014 pageant, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2013, in Atlantic City, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
BumRushDaShow
(127,330 posts)"If you're #Miss America you should have to be American," said one.
"WHEN WILL A WHITE WOMAN WIN #MISSAMERICA? Ever??!!" screamed another.
Nina Davuluri is American. She just happens to be of Indian descent. In fact, she's the first Indian-American to be crowned Miss America.
<snip>
"Well they just picked a Muslim for Miss America. That must've made Obama happy. Maybe he had a vote," vented one person.
Not that it bears pointing out, but Davuluri's not a Muslim -- and the president didn't have a vote.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/showbiz/miss-america-racist-reactions/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
To borrow (and adapt) the utterance of the Steven Hiller character in "Independence Day" to the alien who crash landed - <WHOMP!> "Welcome to America".
TexasTowelie
(111,319 posts)DinahMoeHum
(21,737 posts). . .because your post and that puss are winners!!!!!!!!
SmittynMo
(3,544 posts)and be heard on the internet, on how they hate Muslims, and anyone else. We all know you're racists. Keep this shit to yourself. Better yet, move out of the country. No one wants to hear how ignorant you really are.
Uncle Joe
(58,112 posts)When you base all your judgments and pre-conceived ideas due to the color of someone's skin, you create an extremely narrow outlook as to "us vs them."
Under the yoke of their limited perception anything not matching the superficial idea of you becomes them.
They can't identify with the world.
Their frustration is all based on fear and ignorance.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)America 2013
~~~~Love it or Leave it ~~~!!!!!!
Myrina
(12,296 posts)Ugh I am so embarassed that she's from my hometown.
nolabear
(41,915 posts)And we know how well that turned out.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)permeates all societies and cultures, we americans are well represented in that sub culture. I glad to see the new Miss America. She is pretty and smart.
Fringe
(175 posts)When will that type of thinking ever pass?
JI7
(89,182 posts)PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)Sky Masterson
(5,240 posts)I'm glad Miss Kansas lost.
The only Miss America I want to see is the Miss America that
has only the guns that evolution gave her.
roody
(10,849 posts)It's because all of the gun nuts on facebook loved her.
Supersedeas
(20,630 posts)ehrnst
(32,640 posts)How does a pageant encourage diversity when the goal is to weed out all but the most "ideal" appearance?
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)cyberswede
(26,117 posts)Nicole Kelly, Miss America Hopeful Born With 1 Arm, Hopes To Inspire Other People With Disabilities
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/09/nicole-kelly-miss-america_n_3895806.html
Psephos
(8,032 posts)Myrina
(12,296 posts).... when they were saying who they were & where they're from, hers was something about 'sending text photos isn't allowed in this contest but it IS allowed in my home state ... I'm Miss New York!'
Who were the shills that wrote that shit? Nearly all of them were obnoxious little blurbs. I wonder if any of the girls was hesitant to say the crap?
niyad
(112,440 posts)Myrina
(12,296 posts)niyad
(112,440 posts)GIRLS are minors, plain and simple.
Myrina
(12,296 posts)& I was typing off the top of my head rather than weighing every single letter for political correctness so as not to offend persons like yourself, you need to find a more fulfillling hobby.
niyad
(112,440 posts)KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)Still gorgeous. I LOVE BOLLYWOOD.
Hekate
(90,202 posts)>sigh< and pure Bollywood.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)"Honor killings" are still rampant in India.
<snip>
The case has resonated with thousands of urban Indians who took to the streets in fury after the attack. The victims path through education onto the first rungs of middle-class life seemed to epitomize the aspirations of millions of young women in a society where many men believe women should stay at home.
<snip>
In his 240-page judgment, Judge Khanna slammed the inconsistent defense. Three of the men said they were never on the bus, and another said he was driving and knew nothing of the crime, despite DNA evidence and bite marks on the womens body that placed them at the scene.
Khanna said the attackers pulled the womans intestines from her body with metal rods and their bare hands. He accused the men of cold-bloodedly killing their helpless victim.
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/09/10/four-face-death-for-cold-blooded-murder-of-delhi-gang-rape-victim/
Hekate
(90,202 posts)... performance.
If an Irish-American wins will you be sure to point out the atrocities that have taken place in that benighted land? Our understanding of a young woman's talent portion will not be complete without it.
Hekate
(as I've mentioned before, Irish-American)
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)The woman in India died because she wanted more than being someone's property.
smitra
(290 posts)there is a certain negative aspect to that heritage?
Brutal rapes are not exactly unknown in America either, which is no stranger to having a section of its male population believing that they have the right to dominate the female of their species.
Also... one should not celebrate American culture - perhaps in a different country - because of incidents like the mass shooting at Sandy Hook around the same time as this brutal rape in India?
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)smitra
(290 posts)Besides, if you were fully informed about the events in India following this brutal rape, you would have been aware that in the democratic system that is India today, thousands of people ... especially young people... came out and demonstrated, over an extended period of time, to the extent that the government was compelled to revise the country's laws regarding rape.
We did not see any similar demonstrations in this country ... certainly not to the extent in India... for a certain level of gun control that could keep our children safe in school.
India does not need the world to pontificate to it about its treatment of women. Speaking like this smacks of a 'my culture is better than yours' attitude. Attitudes like this should have ended with the demise of the imperialist era, the time of the 'white man's burden', when European countries believed it was their 'duty' to bring their 'civilization' to the world.
A culture has to realize its flaws from within to effect change. Just as sensible gun laws will not come about in America as a result of the world telling America how to act in this regard.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)smitra
(290 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)smitra
(290 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Fringe
(175 posts)alp227
(31,962 posts)Sorry, I ain't buying into this self-congratulatory celebration.
Why should a damn BEAUTY PAGEANT be a sign of progress for South Asian Americans? When they've succeeded in many other sectors in the USA for years like in science, politics, the law, etc.?
This is a damn step BACKWARD to the days when women were expected to go to college to get a "Mrs. degree", be a stay-at-home mom while the husband is the breadwinner, and suck it up with sexual harassment if they worked at all (most likely as the secretary).
I could go on and risk violating Godwin's Law about how these pageants are PICKY with the definition of beauty, but you get my drift.
I miss "Unrec".
Quantess
(27,630 posts)this trivial fluff is clogging up LBN. Who cares about a dumb pageant?
Dollface
(1,590 posts)Hekate
(90,202 posts)After the 1960s the scholarship portion became incredibly important -- I had no idea. The woman in question is now a veterinarian.
God, when I think of what my mother would have said if I had wanted to compete in any sort of "beauty pageant"! We were as poor as could be, but for all Mom's sterling qualities I can say without qualification that she was an intellectual snob. Fairy princess dreams were not allowed and Santa did not exist. Boy did I feel subversive when I told my wee ones that Santa was going to visit!
JI7
(89,182 posts)the "miss america" pageant might be different from the others through. i know "miss america" has always tried to stay kind of more conservative and 'traditional" .
YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)Miss U.S.A. is based totally on beauty and poise .. not so much intellect.
Miss America is scholarship pageant .. based on scholastic ability and talent .. not so much on beauty. I just think it has more integrity than the Miss U.S.A. pageant and minus Donald Trump.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Another milestone in that it was the first winner of Indian decent. (No longer is "Miss America" the aryan prototype.)
A return to Atlantic City after Sandy.
JI7
(89,182 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)ON Edit: Read some of the racist comments on this YouTube crowning ceremony video.
I swear, some people live on hate.
Hekate
(90,202 posts)I found this:
Now almost 30 years later, on January 30, 2010, another black woman, Caressa Cameron, Miss Virginia, is the latest recipient of Americas most coveted pageant crown. While Camerons win in January 2010 did not elicit as much shock and surprise as Williams in 1983, it did make me (and I sure a number of other people of color) proud to see, yet another Black woman win the Miss America title. Since 1983 eight African American women have won the crown: Vanessa Williams, Miss America (1984), Suzette Charles, Miss America (1984), Debbye Turner, Miss America (1990), Marjorie Judith Vincent, Miss America (1991), Kimberly Aiken, Miss America (1994), Erika Harold, Miss America (2003), Erica Dunlap, Miss America (2004) and now, Ms. Cameron, Miss America (2010) That is an average of once every three years. This is quite remarkable given the fact that it was not until September 1970, that the first black woman, Cheryl Brown, Miss Iowa, competed in the national contest. The pageant has also had one Asian American winner, Angela Perez Baraquio, representing Hawaii who became Miss America 2001. The number of black contestants who have finished in the top five have been noteworthy as well.
As various black women have won the pageant, the question of who and what defines beauty has again entered the public discourse. Vanessa Williams's light skinned features, Suzette Charles biracial background, Debbye Turner's darker, yet Anglo looking features and Marjorie Vincent's classic black features were the subject of considerable debate and commentary within the African American community and the larger society. Some people went as far as to say that Debbye Turner was actually the first "black" Miss America due to the fact that she had legitimately darker skin. By the time Kimberly Aiken had won the crown in September 1993, such debates had largely subsided. This was most likely due to the novelty of having a black Miss America had disappeared. Black women were frequently if not routinely selected among hundreds of contestants. Moreover, collectively the African American women who had won the coveted title represented the entire spectrum of black beauty. In fact, the issue of skin color, though pronounced in black [and white] society prior to the 1960s, was much less of an issue by the last two decades of the 20th century.
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=perspectives/racial-politics-miss-america
Rhiannon12866
(203,041 posts)And this young woman is of Indian descent. What is wrong with people?!