Patterico's Pontifications

7/21/2019

Miss Michigan Stripped of Title

Filed under: Politics — DRJ @ 11:20 am



[Headline from DRJ]

Miss Michigan World America stripped of title over ‘offensive’ social media posts:

A Michigan pageant contestant and fan of President Donald Trump was stripped of her title for what she calls discrimination against her conservative political views.

Kathy Zhu, a University of Michigan student, was dismissed Thursday as a Miss World America pageant participant when the organization described the content of her social media as “offensive, insensitive and inappropriate.” according to a letter from the pageant that she posted on her Twitter account.

Zhu is a well-known political commentator and online figure, amassing approximately 80,000 followers in her Instagram and Twitter accounts combined.

“I have seen this happen before,” Zhu told the Free Press on Thursday. “It is just not okay to be prejudiced against people who just have a different political view as you.”

This is from last week but I think last week’s stories are important. They suggest we are turning into an intolerant or maybe an overly-sensitive nation.

— DRJ

34 Responses to “Miss Michigan Stripped of Title”

  1. You can have both beauty and brains but only people with brains will like you for it.

    nk (dbc370)

  2. Sounds like a good lawsuit

    joe-Dallas (debac0)

  3. In the latest hierarchy of victimhood, it’s offensive to point out that for a great many women, the hijab is not a choice but a requirement, and that the punishment for not wearing it may be death, sometimes at the hands of relatives. Even in America.

    It’s deeply unfortunate that a warped notion of religious tolerance has served to stifle discussion of the intolerant, oppressive practices that tend to accompany a certain religion (or “total way of life,” as its adherents sometimes say). Self-described liberals are happy to talk about it if the religion is Christianity, but they’ll call you a bigot if you see any problem with Islamic practices with respect to women, gays, freedom of speech, etc.

    It’s also unfortunate that some people who have paid serious attention to the problem latched on to Donald Trump as a civilizational savior – as though he had any understanding of the problem, not just a willingness to speak of it in ways easy to dismiss as rank bigotry.

    Radegunda (f133c3)

  4. 3. I think calling it a “warped notion of religious tolerance” is being way too kind. It’s not any kind of religious tolerance; the SJWs are insisting that we embrace Islam and ostracize Christianity.

    Gryph (08c844)

  5. 4. That’s generally true for the left. But there are also some (generally well-meaning) non-leftists who decry the “bigotry” of people who have paid fairly close attention to Islamic teachings, history, present practice, and who not unreasonably see a threat to a tolerant, liberal society wherever there’s a substantial presence of Islam, which after all explicitly recognizes no distinction between religious and secular authority — whereas that distinction was written into Christianity very early (though of course not always honored in practice).

    Radegunda (f133c3)

  6. She did cross the line of being rude and insensitive, IMO.

    If she doesn’t want to try on a hijab, I think that’s cool. “Thanks, but I’m not a believer” would have been a perfect response. But this is Trump-style mocking and stereotyping someone else’s religion, and uncalled for:

    “There is a ‘try a hijab on’ booth at my college campus.
    So you’re telling me that it’s now just a fashion accessory and not a religious thing? Or are you just trying to get women used to being oppressed under Islam?”

    Then this:

    “Did you know the majority of black deaths are caused by other blacks? Fix problems within your own community before blaming others.”

    Aggressive, condescending and tactless.

    There’s no law against being a nasty, hostile b*tch, but it’s understandable why an organization might not want her as their public representative.

    Dave (1bb933)

  7. Dave (1bb933) — 7/21/2019 @ 1:53 pm

    I think her point was that “Thanks, but I’m not a believer” doesn’t quite work in many countries.

    If she objected to a “try female genital mutilation” booth, would she be cranking the volume on her “hostile b*tch” nastiness?

    Munroe (0b2761)

  8. I think her point was that “Thanks, but I’m not a believer” doesn’t quite work in many countries.

    She didn’t cite any oppressive act or oppressive country. She indiscriminately attacked a whole religion.

    If she objected to a “try female genital mutilation” booth, would she be cranking the volume on her “hostile b*tch” nastiness?

    Strawman argument. *Yawn*

    Dave (1bb933)

  9. 6. Yes, an organization is free to decide what views shall represent it.

    But as a general matter, “You need to be sensitive to our beliefs” sometimes shades into heavy-handed clamp-downs on other people’s speech and action.

    Should non-Muslims be enjoined from drinking water at a public meeting during Ramadan, out of “sensitivity” toward a Muslim or two who might be in attendance?

    Should an Englishwoman be required to remove her collection of pig figurines from her own kitchen window, out of “sensitivity” to passing Muslims? Should major publishers remove porcine characters from children’s books, out of sensitivity to potential Muslim customers?

    Should a passenger on public transport be assaulted for eating a ham sandwich in the presence of a Muslim?

    Is it acceptable for large groups of people to take over public sidewalks and streets for ritualized prayer, because we need to be sensitive to their religion?

    What about morality police on the streets of European cities, scolding and threatening women in “immodest” attire?

    What happens when the demand for sensitivity toward some becomes punitive toward all others? Sometimes the answer seems to hinge on the rioter’s veto.

    When people were slaughtered because of cartoons, too many “tolerant liberals” reflexively blamed the cartoonists for “provoking” the poor sensitive souls how just couldn’t be expected to restrain their murderous impulses, and who for some reason were entitled to enforce their religion’s blasphemy laws universally. Western governments have been too inclined to act as enforcers of those laws, no doubt because it seems the easy way out of a cultural problem.

    Radegunda (f133c3)

  10. A Muslim once called the police on a friend of mine because of a comment bearing on Islamic theology. It wasn’t disparaging of Islam per se — my friend was very far from being “Islamophobic.” But the Muslim, quivering with rage, said “That’s blasphemy!”

    I mentioned that we don’t have blasphemy laws here. He said something like “Oh, that’s right.”

    When the police arrived, the Muslim flat-out lied about what my friend had said, and claimed that my friend had threatened him personally. (Before that point, they had been on reasonably friendly terms.)

    Fortunately the police officer recognized that as a dubious claim, but gave my friend a lecture on being more careful regarding what he says. (Really?)

    That was before 9/11 and the consequent “be careful not to offend Muslims” theme as a major cultural force. And it gave me an up-close view of what “sensitivity” toward Muslims might actually mean in many cases.

    Radegunda (f133c3)

  11. actually it’s been a recent development, since the 70s, even in countries like Egypt, and it’s become so in Western Europe, which has become an extension of North Africa, except in Poland and Hungary where they don’t play that game,

    narciso (d1f714)

  12. Radegunda (f133c3) — 7/21/2019 @ 3:00 pm

    None of those “what if’s” have anything to do with the actual situation.

    Nobody tried to impose their religion on Miss Michigan.

    She made a gratuitous, bigoted remark.

    Dave (1bb933)

  13. There’s no law against being a nasty, hostile b*tch, but it’s understandable why an organization might not want her as their public representative.

    Dave (1bb933) — 7/21/2019 @ 1:53 pm

    I agree organizations like this can decide who violates their standards/morality/PR clauses. I remember when beauty queens were known for being beautiful but rather dim, and then they were beautiful and very PC, but in recent years it seems to me that the pageants have chosen winners who are a little edgier — where being attractive is as important as being smart, confident activists and leaders.

    If that is the case, then I think they need to get out of the business of picking winning and losing opinions, especially since these were tweets from 2017 and 2018.

    DRJ (15874d)

  14. Dave,

    Facts are not bigotry. Do you have a personal problem with this woman or is it her support for the President that causes you to attack her?

    NJRob (9ec5ef)

  15. 12. Point granted.

    Radegunda (f133c3)

  16. 12. On the other hand, what is really the point of “World Hijab Day”?

    Many people find the hijab offensive, to the extent that it’s often forcibly imposed, and to the extent that it symbolizes repression and bigotry, and a view of the world as sharply divided between the “pure” and the “dirty.” The hijab represents a way of thinking in which “blasphemy” merits the death penalty.

    Moral concerns about “insulting an entire religion” can serve as a convenient cover for suppressing criticism of any practice that’s defined as part of someone’s religion. When it’s a very large religion (thanks to a millennium of bloody conquests), and a rather aggressive one, which has been known to visit violence upon its critics, the problem is compounded.

    Radegunda (f133c3)

  17. 14. I respect Dave’s view of the incident, though I’ve taken a different one (perhaps because I’m looking through an overly broad lens).

    Can’t you acknowledge that his view probably has nothing whatever to do with Donald Trump? Do you seriously believe he would have taken a different view four years ago?

    Have we arrived at a point where anyone who supports Trump must not be criticized – because it might hurt Trump’s feelings or something?

    This is just one more example of the tendency of Trump fans to divide their whole moral world between “pro-Trump” and “anti-Trump.”

    Seriously, not everything in the world is about Donald Trump!

    Radegunda (f133c3)

  18. The same people who cheer world hijab day, think the world of the handmaids tale is around the corner, now it was impart many years ago when we let the likes of general zia propagate salafism not only in Pakistan but even in europe

    Narciso (5d1b28)

  19. Facts are not bigotry.

    “Or are you just trying to get women used to being oppressed under Islam?”

    … is not a “fact”. It’s a nasty, bigoted insult to the students it was addressed to, and to Muslims in general.

    Dave (1bb933)

  20. Whether he inspired Ms. Zhu’s comments or not, Trump sets a bad example with his own bomb-throwing and verbal diarrhea.

    Ms. Zhu is 20. That means she was 16 when Trump rode down the elevator and opened his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants drug-dealers, rapists and murderers. She was 16 or 17 when he attacked an American judge for his Mexican ancestry, and called for “a complete shutdown of Muslims entering the US”. It’s quite possible that her view of what is acceptable behavior toward others has been warped by the excesses of the last four years. I certainly looked up to the President (Ronald Reagan) and adopted some of his positions and rhetoric as my own, when I was her age.

    Dave (1bb933)

  21. *escalator

    Dave (1bb933)

  22. Oh, puhlease! That black people are overwhelmingly the victims of black criminals is not racist — it is indisputable fact. Wasn’t there a public service ad, put out by black rights groups, that if killing black people was an Olympic event, the KKK would get the bronze, skinheads would get the silver, and black street gangs would get the gold?

    Similarly, the hijab is imposed on Muslim women by their culture, sometimes on penalty of torture or death, even if some have internalized it and have turned it into some kind of emblem. It is not a fashion choice.

    What the girl is guilty of is not keeping her mouth shut about things that did not affect her directly, and we could say the same thing about you, Dave, and you don’t even have the excuse of two X chromosomes.

    nk (dbc370)

  23. You cant have an opinion on controversial issues unless you’re rapinoe or Kaepernick, or any other if the SJW mob like anita sarkeesian, thanks for playing

    Narciso (5d1b28)

  24. “What the girl is guilty of is not keeping her mouth shut about things that did not affect her directly, and we could say the same thing about you, Dave, and you don’t even have the excuse of two X chromosomes.”

    nk (dbc370) — 7/21/2019 @ 6:16 pm

    Not so fast, Dave did cop to being in an all-girl band over in Great Britain. NTTAWWT

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  25. Da troof a da matta (that’ how they say “the truth of the matter” where Donald Trump is from) is that these beauty contests are commercial enterprises. The girls are photo/video/spokesmodels for the various sponsors’ products and the sponsors of this particular show did not want to offend a portion of their market. Abi-abi-abi, th-that’s all folks!

    nk (dbc370)

  26. Ok which spice girl was he, if an alternative candidate had shown her collection of scimitars

    Narciso (5d1b28)

  27. That black people are overwhelmingly the victims of black criminals is not racist — it is indisputable fact.

    I never said it was. What I did say, sir, was:

    “Did you know the majority of black deaths are caused by other blacks? Fix problems within your own community before blaming others.”

    Aggressive, condescending and tactless.

    Which it is.

    What the girl is guilty of is not keeping her mouth shut about things that did not affect her directly, and we could say the same thing about you, Dave, and you don’t even have the excuse of two X chromosomes.

    *checks byline of post*

    I didn’t, uh, create this topic?

    Dave (1bb933)

  28. Not so fast, Dave did cop to being in an all-girl band over in Great Britain. NTTAWWT

    Do you ever get tired of telling lies?

    Dave (1bb933)

  29. Sure, but you comment all the time, not only on this post but on others too. 😉

    nk (dbc370)

  30. Many people find the hijab offensive, to the extent that it’s often forcibly imposed, and to the extent that it symbolizes repression and bigotry, and a view of the world as sharply divided between the “pure” and the “dirty.” The hijab represents a way of thinking in which “blasphemy” merits the death penalty.

    The hijab represents something that has been mostly pushed to the fringes of Western society: modesty in dressing. “The glory of the princess is all within.” The most traditional sectors of Catholicism and Protestantism, Orthodox Judaism, and Islamic communities adhere to it, but otherwise it’s a vanished thing.
    Some women are forced into it, of course, but many of these women see it as a positive thing. And is it truly worse than the pursuit of youthful beauty and slim trim bodies the majority of Western men and women have internalized into their own system of values? Isn’t forcing a woman to hide her body as bad as forcing her to constantly exhibit herself and judge herself by a (usually) unattainable standard of beauty?

    And it should be no surprise that a beauty pageant contestant would be hostile to the concept.

    Kishnevi (c5cd7d)

  31. Sure, but you comment all the time, not only on this post but on others too.

    Oh yeah?

    Well at least my feet are the same size.

    You freak.

    🙂

    Dave (1bb933)

  32. 28… I’ll see if I can find it.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  33. If you’re referring to Les Horribles Cernettes, a girl group in SWITZERLAND, I said they were friends of mine and I was once in a DIFFERENT band with ONE of the members.

    I look forward to your apology.

    Dave (1bb933)

  34. Well at least my feet are the same size.

    You freak.

    I prefer “Byronic”, unless you wish to discuss the matter with the sword.

    nk (dbc370)


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