We live in scary times. The mental and moral meltdowns that we see everywhere show no signs of abating, and one fears things will simply go from bad to worse. At some point all this must bottom out, and it will then indeed be the end of civilisation as we know it.
The disease of political correctness and all that goes with it – the victimhood cult, the offense industry, the trigger warning culture, etc. – is ensuring that the West is on its last legs. Countless documented cases of this have been offered on this website.
Plenty of them are exceedingly serious: creeping sharia, the homosexualisation of everything, the culture of death, and the erosion of truth. These are all causing massive problems, and sadly there is no end in sight. And I just spotted a news item that is simply more of the same.
True, it is in some ways much less serious, and I need to offer a few qualifications here concerning it. But it may be another indication of PC culture spinning out of control. It has to do with beauty pageants, of all things. So let me offer my prefatory remarks here.
I have little interest in beauty contests, and if they were all banned tonight, it would not faze me very much. Sure, many young women might object, and many may have been greatly helped in their careers and life paths by taking part in these things.
But as a conservative and a Christian, I obviously do not put much emphasis on mere external looks. Who we are inside is what matters. As we read in Proverbs 31:30, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain.” And all of us know we have far too much on display already, so I certainly am not promoting any of this.
That we should see a return to modesty in how we dress, etc, of course goes without saying. I for one have long worked to reduce the objectification of women and the sexualisation of our culture. So with those words of introduction and clarification out of the way, let me turn to the news item.
In what seemed like yet another article from a satire site, it nonetheless seems this is legit. The headline runs this way: “Miss America competition is getting a major makeover”. But the really mind-boggling thing is this: contestants will now not be judged by how they look – really!
Says the article:
There she is, Miss America … fully clothed. Miss America is scrapping its swimsuit competition and will no longer judge contestants based on their looks, the organization announced Tuesday. “We’ve heard from a lot of young women who say, ‘We’d love to be a part of your program but we don’t want to be out there in high heels and a swimsuit,’ so guess what, you don’t have to do that anymore,” Gretchen Carlson, chairwoman of the Miss America Organization, told “Good Morning America.”
“Who doesn’t want to be empowered, learn leadership skills and pay for college and be able to show the world who you are as a person from the inside of your soul,” she said. “That’s what we’re judging them on now.”
https://nypost.com/2018/06/05/miss-america-competition-is-getting-a-major-makeover/
So there you have it. Bearing in mind my earlier qualifications, it still seems rather odd. A beauty pageant not about beauty? Hmmm. So what gives? Can anyone now enter? Can an old and not very good looking guy – such as myself – now join in as a contestant?
Yep, such levelling downwards may make the social justice warriors feel good. It has such a neat PC ring to it. And just think, I now stand a very real chance of winning such a contest! Now that beauty has zippo to do with a beauty contest, the odds of me winning have just skyrocketed!
But could it be this just seems to defeat the purpose of all this? In the interests of not offending anyone, of being PC in all things, and not being seen as discriminatory, the entire rationale for something like a beauty contest has just been chucked out the window.
What is the point then? Why even have one? One might as well have Olympic competitions where no one wins. Everyone just gets a participation trophy and then they all go home. So a weightlifter would not be judged on how much weight he pumps.
A sprinter would not be judged on how fast he or she goes. A long jumper would not be judged on how far the jump is. A high jumper would not be judged on how high he jumped. Sorta defeats the purpose of such contests, don’t you think?
So tell me: is it just me, or does anyone else think this is all a bit much, and all a bit bizarre? A beauty contest in which beauty will no longer feature? One might as well have a cake-making contest in which cakes are no longer featured.
Or a knitting contest in which knitting is not featured. Or a painting competition in which paintings are not a part of it. Umm, this all sounds rather strange to me. But then again, we live in rather strange times. So I guess I should no longer be surprised about such things.
Let me repeat: as a conservative and a Christian I have no real love of beauty pageants, nor any great concern either way if they continue. But I am concerned about nutty political correctness where every num num idea and agenda item is run with, and common sense and rationality are thrown under the bus.
If folks want a beauty pageant which has nothing to do with beauty – at least outward, physical beauty – I guess they can go right ahead. But maybe call it something else. Maybe call it a character contest, or an inner-you competition. Whatever.
As I said, this in itself is not as serious as so many other cases of moonbeam political correctness. But all these smaller cases do have a cumulative impact. They all add up to one massive case of mental diarrhoea and moral myopia. Taken together, they do offer further proof that Western civilisation is teetering on the brink.
So away with all beauty contests if you will. I would prefer that we do away with all this nut job political correctness.
Afterword
As should be evident, I am not desirous of going to the wall over this matter. But what do you think? Am I out to lunch here? Or is there something to this mini-rant that you resonate with? Let me know your thoughts. And remember, I am NOT defending beauty contests here or skimpy bathing outfits. I am simply looking at the bigger issue of our PC culture. OK?
19 Replies to “Political Correctness Impacting Everything?”
Bill,
You’re not going mad or crazy as the progressive left are changing the meaning of words. The only way to deal with psychiatric patients/clients is to realise that their reality isn’t your reality. Medical doctors and registered nurses have never informed patients/clients that a hysterectomy, mastectomy and hormone therapy will make females less of a female nor less feminine, nor will these treatments change a female body into a male body nor will these treatments change xx female chromosomes into xy male chromosomes. However, there are now xx female chromosome persons who are demanding these treatments plus a penile reconstruction. These treatments costs the Australian taxpayer $90 000 per person, so now xx female chromosome persons can mutilate their healthy sexual organs, breast tissue and hormone levels in order to feel less feminine and more masculine in order to self-identify as a “male.” The confusing part is the demand for physical body change when they believe the words “male” and “female” are only a social construct. Unfortunately, people have rejected the truth in the Bible about “male” and “female,” so it shouldn’t surprise genuine Christians when the word “beauty” has lost its true meaning.
Dear Bill,
Sometimes I feel like taking PC at its own game as a form of civil disobedience. Maybe you should as an American apply for the pageant and make a big fuss if they do not enrol you. Maybe I too could apply even though I am not an American. Maybe I should complain to the QLD government because I feel discriminated against having to mention I wear specs on my driver’s license. Maybe today I should identify as a lesbian Aboriginal woman with a disability from a non-English speaking background and challenge the Premier for her position. Maybe, just maybe.
Keep up the good work! You seem to pre-empt plenty a sequel 🙂
Best regards,
Pascal.
Thanks Pascal. I wish you well on taking out the Miss America title – but only if I am runner-up!
Hi Bill,
Yep – it makes the point of them meaningless.
And like you, I would not miss them if they were to become obsolete. Men watching beautiful women in swimsuits does not honour their wives.
Do the judges ask any questions to determine character? And don’t the contestants always answer ‘world peace’?
Bill,
It is obvious that many Australians don’t have the time to critically think about words and actions like you do. Kathy Clubb was fined $5000 over words on a pamphlet that are judged as criminal behaviour. The Victorian government claimed this type of criminal behaviour delays or prevents an abortion. However, the government would want Kathy to delay or prevent parents from intentionally killing their own children. The government understands that the killing of an unplanned or unwanted baby is murder because the father would be charged with murder if he decided to end the pregnancy with a morning after pill without the mother’s legal consent. However, the government doesn’t have a logical and rational reason to the legal abortion practice, but declares it is the mother’s choice. Last year, the Victorian government debated for legal euthanasia for days parliament, and declared that it is the terminally ill patient’s choice. This means that every person in Australia is only one step away from the government giving them the choice to legally end their life based on their autonomy and self-determination. The Victorian government has failed to give any reason to why some lives matter more than others. Many Australians believe suicide is morally wrong, but don’t find it morally wrong for a mother to kill of her unplanned/unwanted baby via a legal abortion practice. There are mothers who believe they should have the legal right to choose between an unplanned/unwanted baby and a planned/wanted baby. Unfortunately, the baby has no choice about being planned/wanted or unplanned/unwanted. Therefore, the life and death of a neonate is often determined by whether the mother or the state supports life. It hasn’t been straight forward explaining to my children the meaning of murder as the law complicates it with people’s choice.
Yes quite so Sheryl.
A side point, if I may:
That we should see a return to modesty in how we dress, etc, of course, goes without saying.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what is happening: modesty is going… because nobody raises a voice.
Sensationalism has gripped our media to such an extent that extremes of dress grab the attention while the modesty of inner beauty or handsomeness (for the fellas) is not even in the same room.
And some folks have said that a main reason behind this change is to make it easy for Muslims to enter the competition. If so, then this is also about creeping sharia – making it even more of a worry!
Bill, your comment about Muslims may well be part of the equation. Any which way that Muslims can be “upheld” as virtuous people, icons of peace and beauty, examples of how to live properly, etc etc…..we get this in our faces all the time in Britain. So why indeed not fix the beauty competitions and get a few Muslim women to enter….bribe the judges….big TV hoo-ha—and Bob’s your uncle, everyone cheering and worshipping the new muslim beauty queen, with the MSM hanging on every word and action. Anything to kick whitey in the teeth and add further psychological pressure to them, in terms of inferiority.
Thanks Chris. And along with burka-clad Muslims, no doubt all the trans activists will be there in force as well. I may have a tough time competing against Bruce Jenner!
And one good thing about no longer assessing beauty contest contestants by their looks: just think of all the blind judges they can now hire!
So how do the judges make the assessment that one person is of better character or personality than another, that one contestant is more ‘inwardly beautiful’ than another? And what makes the judges qualified to make such a character assessment? And how will the losers feel to be deemed of lesser character? Will this lead to greater distress, perhaps trigger them?
Good questions Laurie!
Dear Bill. Well, if you’re out for lunch on this issue, than I guess I’m in for brunch and dinner too. The political correctness brigade have lost the plot. I happen not care either way, as a conservative Christian, whether the pageant continues or not, but the madness of a ‘beauty’ contest not being about beauty is absurd! I had to giggle when you suggested you could now be an eligible entrant, you odds of winning have just skyrocketed! Hilarious! Yes, you are beautiful in the inside. Let’s have a cake decorating competition based on the love one puts into making it. My daughter could make disastrous concoction a mud, dirt, rocks and sand. It won’t matter that it is inedible or hideous to look at, it should only be judged on the love she poured into it. Although, as a father I would say it was a great work of art and happy she made created it.
Search these names on You Tube, Janice Fiamengo, Jordan Peterson, Karen Straughan, Jonathan Haidt, Gad Salad, Sargon of Akkad and Gary Orsum. We are being schooled by useful idiots (Joseph Stalin’s words). Search You Tube for Yuri Bezmenov interview. The West is crippling itself with the Trojan horse of feigned compassion.
Hi Bill
I don’t know if it’s just me, but you sounded positively over the moon about now being able to compete as a Miss America umm, Mister America, err, Person America entrant.
Good luck with that! We’ll be cheering you on!
Vic Trudeau
Hi Bill,
Ive just spent the last few days with Miss Canada/Miss World 2015 Anastasia Lin who is in Australia promoting her new film “Reunion” About The Real Bodies Exhibitions held across the world and currently being held in Sydney Australia.
Anastasia refused to wear the swim wear in the Miss World Competition because she wanted to be more modest. So Miss World Competition were happy to adopt her concerns. However, due to her human rights concerns on organ harvesting and her belief system she was banned by the Chinese Government to compete in the final held in China. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJKsRVAncrw
Anastasia and a number of other Australians gave evidence to a select committee in Canberra on Friday on organ harvesting in China and the Real bodies Exhibition.
We encourage all Australians to write to Federal MP’s to have this inhuman exhibition shut down. Please look at below link for more information. https://www.change.org/p/shut-down-real-bodies-exhibition-in-sydney-australia-respect-human-life
Very amusing and I wanted to be Miss / Mrs / Mr/Master Non- Binary ….I now have my chance!
Bill,
You’re not going mad or crazy as the progressive left are changing the meaning of words. The only way to deal with psychiatric patients/clients is to realise that their reality isn’t your reality. Medical doctors and registered nurses have never informed patients/clients that a hysterectomy, mastectomy and hormone therapy will make females less of a female nor less feminine, nor will these treatments change a female body into a male body nor will these treatments change xx female chromosomes into xy male chromosomes. However, there are now xx female chromosome persons who are demanding these treatments plus a penile reconstruction. These treatments costs the Australian taxpayer $90 000 per person, so now xx female chromosome persons can mutilate their healthy sexual organs, breast tissue and hormone levels in order to feel less feminine and more masculine in order to self-identify as a “male.” The confusing part is the demand for physical body change when they believe the words “male” and “female” are only a social construct. Unfortunately, people have rejected the truth in the Bible about “male” and “female,” so it shouldn’t surprise genuine Christians when the word “beauty” has lost its true meaning.
Dear Bill,
Sometimes I feel like taking PC at its own game as a form of civil disobedience. Maybe you should as an American apply for the pageant and make a big fuss if they do not enrol you. Maybe I too could apply even though I am not an American. Maybe I should complain to the QLD government because I feel discriminated against having to mention I wear specs on my driver’s license. Maybe today I should identify as a lesbian Aboriginal woman with a disability from a non-English speaking background and challenge the Premier for her position. Maybe, just maybe.
Keep up the good work! You seem to pre-empt plenty a sequel 🙂
Best regards,
Pascal.
Thanks Pascal. I wish you well on taking out the Miss America title – but only if I am runner-up!
Hi Bill,
Yep – it makes the point of them meaningless.
And like you, I would not miss them if they were to become obsolete. Men watching beautiful women in swimsuits does not honour their wives.
Do the judges ask any questions to determine character? And don’t the contestants always answer ‘world peace’?
Bill,
It is obvious that many Australians don’t have the time to critically think about words and actions like you do. Kathy Clubb was fined $5000 over words on a pamphlet that are judged as criminal behaviour. The Victorian government claimed this type of criminal behaviour delays or prevents an abortion. However, the government would want Kathy to delay or prevent parents from intentionally killing their own children. The government understands that the killing of an unplanned or unwanted baby is murder because the father would be charged with murder if he decided to end the pregnancy with a morning after pill without the mother’s legal consent. However, the government doesn’t have a logical and rational reason to the legal abortion practice, but declares it is the mother’s choice. Last year, the Victorian government debated for legal euthanasia for days parliament, and declared that it is the terminally ill patient’s choice. This means that every person in Australia is only one step away from the government giving them the choice to legally end their life based on their autonomy and self-determination. The Victorian government has failed to give any reason to why some lives matter more than others. Many Australians believe suicide is morally wrong, but don’t find it morally wrong for a mother to kill of her unplanned/unwanted baby via a legal abortion practice. There are mothers who believe they should have the legal right to choose between an unplanned/unwanted baby and a planned/wanted baby. Unfortunately, the baby has no choice about being planned/wanted or unplanned/unwanted. Therefore, the life and death of a neonate is often determined by whether the mother or the state supports life. It hasn’t been straight forward explaining to my children the meaning of murder as the law complicates it with people’s choice.
Yes quite so Sheryl.
A side point, if I may:
Unfortunately, that is exactly what is happening: modesty is going… because nobody raises a voice.
Sensationalism has gripped our media to such an extent that extremes of dress grab the attention while the modesty of inner beauty or handsomeness (for the fellas) is not even in the same room.
Thanks guys. This somewhat silly PC incident involving a beauty pageant offers a chance to share some serious considerations on the issue of beauty: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2018/06/06/on-physical-beauty/
And some folks have said that a main reason behind this change is to make it easy for Muslims to enter the competition. If so, then this is also about creeping sharia – making it even more of a worry!
Bill, your comment about Muslims may well be part of the equation. Any which way that Muslims can be “upheld” as virtuous people, icons of peace and beauty, examples of how to live properly, etc etc…..we get this in our faces all the time in Britain. So why indeed not fix the beauty competitions and get a few Muslim women to enter….bribe the judges….big TV hoo-ha—and Bob’s your uncle, everyone cheering and worshipping the new muslim beauty queen, with the MSM hanging on every word and action. Anything to kick whitey in the teeth and add further psychological pressure to them, in terms of inferiority.
Thanks Chris. And along with burka-clad Muslims, no doubt all the trans activists will be there in force as well. I may have a tough time competing against Bruce Jenner!
And one good thing about no longer assessing beauty contest contestants by their looks: just think of all the blind judges they can now hire!
So how do the judges make the assessment that one person is of better character or personality than another, that one contestant is more ‘inwardly beautiful’ than another? And what makes the judges qualified to make such a character assessment? And how will the losers feel to be deemed of lesser character? Will this lead to greater distress, perhaps trigger them?
Good questions Laurie!
Dear Bill. Well, if you’re out for lunch on this issue, than I guess I’m in for brunch and dinner too. The political correctness brigade have lost the plot. I happen not care either way, as a conservative Christian, whether the pageant continues or not, but the madness of a ‘beauty’ contest not being about beauty is absurd! I had to giggle when you suggested you could now be an eligible entrant, you odds of winning have just skyrocketed! Hilarious! Yes, you are beautiful in the inside. Let’s have a cake decorating competition based on the love one puts into making it. My daughter could make disastrous concoction a mud, dirt, rocks and sand. It won’t matter that it is inedible or hideous to look at, it should only be judged on the love she poured into it. Although, as a father I would say it was a great work of art and happy she made created it.
Search these names on You Tube, Janice Fiamengo, Jordan Peterson, Karen Straughan, Jonathan Haidt, Gad Salad, Sargon of Akkad and Gary Orsum. We are being schooled by useful idiots (Joseph Stalin’s words). Search You Tube for Yuri Bezmenov interview. The West is crippling itself with the Trojan horse of feigned compassion.
Hi Bill
I don’t know if it’s just me, but you sounded positively over the moon about now being able to compete as a Miss America umm, Mister America, err, Person America entrant.
Good luck with that! We’ll be cheering you on!
Vic Trudeau
Hi Bill,
Ive just spent the last few days with Miss Canada/Miss World 2015 Anastasia Lin who is in Australia promoting her new film “Reunion” About The Real Bodies Exhibitions held across the world and currently being held in Sydney Australia.
Anastasia refused to wear the swim wear in the Miss World Competition because she wanted to be more modest. So Miss World Competition were happy to adopt her concerns. However, due to her human rights concerns on organ harvesting and her belief system she was banned by the Chinese Government to compete in the final held in China. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJKsRVAncrw
Anastasia and a number of other Australians gave evidence to a select committee in Canberra on Friday on organ harvesting in China and the Real bodies Exhibition.
We encourage all Australians to write to Federal MP’s to have this inhuman exhibition shut down. Please look at below link for more information.
https://www.change.org/p/shut-down-real-bodies-exhibition-in-sydney-australia-respect-human-life
Very amusing and I wanted to be Miss / Mrs / Mr/Master Non- Binary ….I now have my chance!