Miss California and Cultural Intolerance

Just when I think it is time to move on to something more recent, I see another story related to the controversy surrounding Miss California and the Miss USA Pageant. In case you are not familiar with the controversy, during the Miss USA Pageant, Miss California was asked a question concerning same-sex marriages. Perez Hilton, celebrity blogger, gay activist, and judge #8 asked, "Recently Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?" Miss California expressed her belief that marriage was between a man and a woman--not a politically correct response.

The Today Show with Matt Lauer ran the story with the usual media bias. He recently interviewed Perez Hilton and during the conversation Perez Hilton made the comment that he was "floored by the response." Then he said, "I personally would have appreciated it if she left her politics and her religion out." While others are commenting on the legitimacy and political correctness of Miss California's response, I want to to comment on this statement by Perez Hilton because it demonstrates another form of the double standards of the cultural definition of tolerance--questions that express political and moral views are acceptable and answers that express these views are not.

Hilton suggested that Miss California could have said that each state should decide. He claims to believe that he had given her a very easy and politically safe question. However, there are two problems with his logic. First of all, if she would have responded with Hilton's suggested answer, she would have been sharing a political view--that states should exercise their rights without federal interference--which according to his statement to Matt Lauer would have been inappropriate as well. Second, she would not have answered the question. He clearly asked, "Should every state follow suit?" His answer would have been a non-answer and I am fairly certain that she would have been penalized for a non-response as well. In other words, he wanted her opinion on same-sex marriage and when it did not agree with his opinion, he became intolerant of her intolerance. The only safe answer for Miss California would have been one that went against her convictions.

Just in case we think we are immune to cultural pressure and media bias, I realized as I wrote this article thatI knew the name of Perez Hilton. Miss California remained anonymous. That is the influence of media. By the way, her name is Carrie Prejean. I had to look it up because Matt Lauer never mentioned it.