American beauty

When former ordinary Michigan girl Rima Fakih, who just happens to be an Arab-Muslim, was crowned Miss USA,she thought this was as famous as she could get. Little did she know that someone mischievous had other plans to make her more so. Pictures of her performing a strip tease act and groping a pole in skimpy shorts were released soon after her victory,much to the delight of tabloids and gossipmongers all over the country. Typical.

What is not typical is the horror and disgrace flung at this case by the media in particular. It was said in very clear terms that she may not be a suitable representative of the United States of America. It was conveniently sidetracked that what she has,in fact,displayed in those pictures (although she vehemently denies any dark secrets and claims that she did it 'for charity') is an embodiment of modern American femininity that every woman in that country is at least aware of and at most celebrated for.

If you are a pretty,rich,popular woman who is an expert at home-made cellphone-based self-porn,you are on your way to fame and glory. One is hard pressed for clues about why a Paris Hilton or a Kim Kardashian are worthy of the A list fame and consequent wealth that they enjoy day after day. All the more disturbing is that they did not even particularly enjoy this deviant behaviour-I believe Ariel Levy, author of 'female chauvinist pigs', when she says that in the said clipping,at one point,Paris' phone rings and she picks it up and talks non-chalantly mid act. Contrary to what they claim,it is neither the act of heinous criminals,petulant spoilt brats,nor plain feminine sexual liberation. It is unfortunately true that drama and sleaze sell when it comes to media. What is even more unfortunate is to watch these women manipulate it to their benefit.

If that is too much sass for you,consider the other option. Become the mistress of an important,famous man who finally comes in the public eye amongst much public speculation and general mass idiocy. Then you can hire a high profile lawyer,conduct press conferences where you declare 'yes,I fell in love,is that a crime?',spontaneously burst into tears,show racy text conversations between the two of you,and finally,pose for the cameras fully bedecked before asking for a nice cheque both from the news channel/magazine and the man in question. In an embarrassing low even for tabloids,all the women in Tiger Woods' secret life had a photo session for a leading magazine,in which one of them chose a dress of a white shirt and a blazer along with lace panties and garters and humped a golf stick on a fake grass carpet while a giant white ball rolled around tellingly nearby.

Of course,all of these affairs were the result of a moral collapse of both parties,more of the man in this case,because he was the one who was committed in marriage and because of the sheer frequency of his indiscretions. However,when this news became public,he did pay for his mistake,perhaps aptly enough. He lost his wife,his kids,his family,his money,his credibility at his job and also his general reputation. The women on the other hand stood only to gain from this staged ignorance of the mechanics of shame. As more and more unnamed women begin blackmailing (admittedly deserving) horny hollywood honchos,one is left disillusioned by the unfortunate congruencies of the terms 'inspite of' and 'because of'.

This glorification and glamourization is a personal tragedy for impressionable young female minds,made more dangerous by the fact that they are not even aware of it being a tragedy. Women depend on role models more than men do,especially in these post-modern times. To present them with such an ideal to feel and become worthwhile seems extremely sinister. It is a kind of anti-feminism in reverse,where the role of the woman is once again,shrunken down to the carnal. What makes it worse this time is that she is made to feel good about it.

status-worried.