What, again with this woman???
I know, I know, and I am publicly vowing that this will the Final Carrie Prejean Posting Ever (wellllll….unless she goes and locks two gay parents in a Wal-Mart or something). Now that her “religious discrimination” lawsuit against her former employers is being dropped after the discovery of her sex tape, I would’ve been happy to see her drift off into obscurity.
But along comes a feminist blog that suddenly, bafflingly defends the beauty queen who campaigns against the rights of gay people because that’s just how she was raised by arguing that Ms. Prejean is the tragic victim of puritanism:
“Prejean is being shamed for being a sexual being
in a world in which chastity in women is highly prized. We may claim
to be a sexually liberated but the disciplining and slut shaming of
women’s bodies proves quite the opposite…Is it really a good idea for the GLBT community to chastise
someone’s sexual behaviour when that is exactly what heterosexism does
to create homosexuality as ‘other’?“
No. No. No.
Carrie Prejean is not being shamed for her sex tape or even her “Christian values” — it’s because she’s a liar. That’s it. She used her ridiculous platform at a national beauty contest to disparage millions of gay people, then went on to become a poster girl for the fearmongering National Organization for Marriage. I know that the blogger behind Womanist Musings is on our side here but did she not see this video from September?
This was the true display of immorality. It’s not about Carrie Prejean making a sex tape. Everyone should make a sex tape*. Sex tapes are fun! (Just don’t be surprised when they somehow end up on the internet.) No, the reason there’s something about Carrie is that she merrily became the spokesmodel for people who attack queer people for our sexuality even while she was lying to them about her own. It’s not about being a slut — sluts are great! — it’s about being a liar and a bigot.
While conservatives panic at the thought that gay rights will usher in some nightmare of widespread sexual depravity, we have always known that that’s not the case. Sexual liberation simply means more honesty about the kind of sex people like Ms. Prejean are having already.
I mean, for pity’s sake, Alfred Kinsey taught us that in the 1950’s!
* everyone but Dick Cheney
Why you can trust Xtra
