By Sommerly Simser, Multimedia Managing Editor

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A beauty queen has been, for the most part, regarded as a woman of character, intelligence and confidence, not to mention stunningly beautiful inside and out. But that image is slowly disappearing because of the focus of one of today’s most popular pageant systems.

During the past five years, the judges of the Miss USA Pageant have awarded numerous crowns to women that have no brains or moral compasses to back up their outside beauty.

Tara Conner, Miss USA 2006, almost was stripped of her title because of her party lifestyle that included alcohol and drugs. At the same time, Katie Rees, Miss Nevada USA, lost her title after provocative photos of her surfaced.

Both instances created a media circus across the nation, leaving many to question whether or not beauty queens were positive role models for younger generations.

In 2007 at the Miss Teen USA Pageant, the credibility of the USA pageant system and the women who represent it was once again splashed across the media.

Caitlin Upton, representing South Carolina, was asked in the final round of the Miss Teen USA Pageant why she thought one fifth of Americans could not locate the U.S. on a world map.

Upton’s infamous, gibberish response has since become a reference point in mocking beauty queens, and its recorded footage has received millions of hits on YouTube.

It seems Miss USA’s reputation of making the news has not ended after last weekend’s controversial pageant, but this time it had nothing to do with an unintelligent answer or a misbehaving beauty queen.

Instead, the media circus is surrounding one contestant’s adamant, conservative stance.

Carrie PreJean, Miss California USA, currently is being criticized for her response to a question after making the top five in the pageant.

Perez Hilton, a well-known celebrity blogger and judge for this past weekend’s Miss USA Pageant, asked PreJean if she thought every state should legalize gay marriage.

PreJean responded to the question by saying, “In my country and in my family, I think that a marriage should be between a man and a woman.”

After the scores from the final question were calculated, PreJean placed first runner-up in the pageant.

After the pageant, PreJean said she understood where Hilton, who is a homosexual, was coming from when he asked such a question. She said she was also aware that the pageant judges and audience might have preferred a more politically correct answer.

“I was raised in a way that you can never compromise your beliefs and your opinions for anything,” PreJean said in defense of her answer.

PreJean had the guts to defend what she believed, even if it may have cost her a national title.

And instead of focusing on the fact that she is exactly what the Miss USA system needs – a confident woman who knows what she believes and is willing to hold her ground on it – the focus is on how she was so “insensitive” to the gay community.

In an interview with Larry King, Hilton said he did not disagree with her view that a marriage should be between a man and a woman; he disagreed with her because he thinks Miss USA should be all-inclusive.

Hilton said, “She should be my Miss USA, and when she answered that question that way, it was instantly divisive and alienating to gays and lesbians and friends and supporters.”

Since when did the Miss USA Pageant system become a platform for representing the gay community?

Hilton’s tactic in asking such a question was malicious. He simply was trying to weed out the conservative, cause drama (which he is known for doing) and find approval from someone on his own lifestyle.

Why does it matter whether Miss USA supports his lifestyle?

Miss USA is supposed to represent the USA as a whole. And as a whole, the U.S. is not made up of homosexuals, nor is it 100 percent in favor of gay marriage.

PreJean is exactly what the pageant system needs to revamp its negative image, one that has been carved out by women more interested in partying than being role models to the youth who admire them.

Shouldn’t a beauty queen represent the majority and not the minority? It is impossible to represent everyone, while being “all-inclusive.” There was no way she could answer it without it being divisive because the question was divisive.

So, Perez Hilton may think his question was clever and relevant and something Miss USA should be concerned with, but really, Miss USA should be more concerned with representing the youth, and I don’t know about you, but I would prefer my children look up to a beauty queen who believes in the sanctity of the family structure.

Sadly, Donald Trump didn’t learn his lesson from the divisive Rosie O’Donnell. Trump should be “fired” from his own pageant on the grounds that Perez Hilton isn’t qualified to make normal decisions! Hilton is weird and aberrant! Shame on you, Mr. Trump.

Hilton said, “She should be my Miss USA, and when she answered that question that way, it was instantly divisive and alienating to gays and lesbians and friends and supporters.”

Perez Hilton is a moron. By asking the question he was going to instantly divide the people. No matter what answer she gave it was going to divide people. He asked for her opinion it just so happens that her opinion went against Hilton, therefore she is obviously wrong in her way of thinking. He is an absolute idiot and hypocrite.

Mr. Hilton had and has every right to ask a question of a potential Miss USA that is culturally relevant.
Thank goodness that Miss Prejean did not win.
Her written quote makes her sound much more intelligent than her sound bite.
Miss USA should be not be a divisive figurehead and should give hope to people of all backgrounds.
Because in my family, and the way that I was brought up, equality is not negotiable.

Erin,

Did Mr. Hilton have every right to call PreJean a b**ch on his website afterwards and to photoshop a picture of her with her mouth open and substitute male genitalia in place of the microphone?

Well, of course he did, but don’t make it sound like is the victim here when he spews out hatred just because her answer didn’t conform to his lifestyle.

You talk about equality not being negotiable. Maybe Perez could take a few hints from your family upbringing and learn that not everyone thinks gay marriage should be legalized in every state.

In his mind, everyone should tolerate gays. Why do we have to conform to only his point of view?

You’re correct about Miss USA not being a divisive figurehead, but if PreJean had won it, how would she be being any more divisive than a candidate who supported legalizing gay marriage?

It’s amazing how if someone stands up for a viewpoint that may not be popular in the celebrity environment, it’s looked at as ‘divisive’.

In California during the last election, voters shot down a gay marriage bill that tried to get passed in the state. I think that Miss California shared values with majority of the voters in her state, and country. And yes, the question is culturally relevant, but how could you phrase an politically appropriate response without compromising your values? I say more power to her for saying what she believes. I also think its unfair for any judge to ask a question that he or she feels has a wrong answer, and if he or she does, they should keep their big mouth shut, because agendas shouldn’t drive a pageant that is open for everyone to participate in.