# Beauty pageants have long been the dominion of gay men.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [November 21, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929 "2008-11-21T23:27:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929/1 "2008-11-21T23:27:03Z")
I was a but surprised [by this assertion](http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/112208dnmetmisstexas.1d4bbbea1.html). Over the years I got the impression that most beauty pageant parents are fairly religious/conservative and would not be likely to be gay friendly. How do gay men and conservative beauty pageant parents manage to get along?
> [@](#):
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> In the days before and since the pageant, a controversy caught wind.
> On one side, the local competition’s director and others say beauty pageants have long been the dominion of gay men. They supervise wardrobes, style hair and for whatever reason, seem to have a knack for coquettish walks down the runway.
> On the other, some contestants and their mothers say nowhere are gender roles more defined than at a beauty pageant — an on-stage display of poise, grace and conventional femininity.
> “It was pretty clear they were pushing an agenda,” said Barbara Cox, an elementary school teacher who squirmed while watching her daughter compete Sunday night. “It’s never healthy when society deviates to the extreme. I can’t see where something like this would be beneficial to our nation. As a matter of fact, I see it as a detriment.”
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929/2 "2008-11-21T23:41:08Z")
I’m always a butt surprised when I discover gay men where I don’t expect him to be, too.
Beauty pageants showcase charicatures of womanity. It seems only fitting that they be hosted by others who are also impersonaiting the bizarre ideal. Because really, the beauty queens and the drag queens are about equally close to being real women.
I have no real idea why Queens and conservative Christian types would get along. Unless of course, the queen was an expedient to serving the vanity of the participants. But that’s a big ol’ Oprah right there innit? Christianity? Vanity? Excess? Manlove?
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### Author:  [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929/3 "2008-11-22T03:24:35Z")
> [@astro](#):
>
> I was a but surprised [by this assertion](http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/112208dnmetmisstexas.1d4bbbea1.html). Over the years I got the impression that most beauty pageant parents are fairly religious/conservative and would not be likely to be gay friendly. How do gay men and conservative beauty pageant parents manage to get along?
It seems like you have a rather dim view of religious and conservative people.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2008, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929/4 "2008-11-22T03:55:07Z")
> [@Absolute](#):
>
> It seems like you have a rather dim view of religious and conservative people.
And who do you think votes for anti-homosexual laws and politicians ? Religious and conservative people. And in enough numbers to pass such laws and elect such politicians, so don’t bother with the standard “Oh, it’s just a tiny minority” nonsense.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929/5 "2008-11-22T04:24:29Z")
> [@](#):
>
> It seems like you have a rather dim view of religious and conservative people.
But a realistic one. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that religious conservatives are generally not gay friendly.
That said, I’d speculate that many of these same people have less objections to gays who stay in their “place”. A gay person who wants to get married or be a parent or join the Army offends the religious conservative sense of order. But a gay person who wants to be a hairdresser or clothing designer or perform in musical theater is reinforcing their view of the world.
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### Author:  [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2008, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929/6 "2008-11-22T04:28:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> But a realistic one. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that religious conservatives are generally not gay friendly.
>
> That said, I’d speculate that many of these same people have less objections to gays who stay in their “place”. A gay person who wants to get married or be a parent or join the Army offends the religious conservative sense of order. But a gay person who wants to be a hairdresser or clothing designer or perform in musical theater is reinforcing their view of the world.
Yes, this was my point. Wackjob religious conservatives who truly hate gays probably think beauty pageants are immoral, as well.
Just because a small-minded person who is fearful of change votes against gay marriage doesn’t mean they hate gays.
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### Author:  [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2008, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929/7 "2008-11-22T04:52:46Z")
Never mind, Inigo…I see what you did there!
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929/8 "2008-11-22T05:27:34Z")
If you want to know the exact extent of this perfidious threat to our precious bodily daughters, you should watch this [astoundingly well researched documentary](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162360/) 😉
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2008, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929/9 "2008-11-22T06:34:48Z")
> [@Absolute](#):
>
> Just because a small-minded person who is fearful of change votes against gay marriage doesn’t mean they hate gays.
No, but if they vote along with the people who really do hate us, it’s all the same to me.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2008, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929/10 "2008-11-22T07:24:05Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Just because a small-minded person who is fearful of change votes against gay marriage doesn’t mean they hate gays.
I don’t care if it’s fear or hate or an indefinable sense of ennui that motivates them. People who oppose other people having the same rights they do are wrong.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2008, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beauty-pageants-have-long-been-the-dominion-of-gay-men/473929/11 "2008-11-22T09:35:16Z")
> [@Absolute](#):
>
> Just because a small-minded person who is fearful of change votes against gay marriage doesn’t mean they hate gays.
Even if I believed that hatred wasn’t the motivation - which I don’t believe for a moment - so what ? The end result is the same. They acted as bigots.