Monday 9 November 2009

Media rejoice as pro-war beauty becomes Miss England



___________________________Christie and Hodge______________________


When Rachel Christie somewhat bizarrely won the Miss England beauty contest earlier this year our ‘anti-racist’ mainstream media were cockahoop - because she wasn’t White. The ITN News reporter said that Christie’s non-Whiteness made her ‘a thoroughly modern beauty queen’; Christie herself said that she hoped to be a role-model to Black youngsters:

‘I want to show them you can do anything you want, whatever your colour. I don't like hearing: "I can't do this or that because I'm black." They should stop behaving in a way that stereotypes them. If you come across as smart, if you dress nicely and speak well, it shouldn't make a difference if you're black or white.’


It made a difference to the media, every piece of news coverage mentioned her race as a positive factor. I quoted some headlines at the time:

I won Miss England to prove being black is NEVER an excuse for failure
First Black Miss England crowned
Victory for Linford Christie’s niece as she becomes first black Miss England
100m star Christie’s niece crowned first black Miss England
Linford Christie's niece is first black Miss England


But now that Christie has conformed to stereotype and been forced to hand back her crown after punching another girl repeatedly in the face in a nightclub brawl, the media are strangely silent about race. Maybe her uncle Linford Christie, the drug cheat sprinter, is right about the media’s racism but wrong about which groups it privileges?

Fortunately for the media, though, every cloud has a silver lining, and while Christie’s resignation means no more anti-White propaganda can be squeezed from this story, her replacement offers propaganda scope for one of their other wars:

Miss England: 'I Want To Serve In Afghanistan'

The soldier recently crowned Miss England has expressed her wish to one day serve on the frontline alongside comrades in Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal Katrina Hodge, dubbed "Combat Barbie" by Army colleagues, had been due to join the British effort before she was drafted in to compete for the Miss World crown.

The 22-year-old soldier, who has already served in Iraq, said she hopes to be deployed when her reign as Miss England ends in July next year.

The 2009 runner up was fast-tracked in as a replacement for the year's original winner Rachel Christie.

The 21-year-old relinquished the beauty title following her arrest over an alleged brawl in a Manchester nightclub.


How convenient. I wonder if the second runner-up was a professional global warming activist?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Merely comparing Hodge & Christie, their photos anyway, is proof that things were fixed for Christie. The two girls are not in the same league.

Nick Dean said...

Yes, thank you anon, you’re quite right. I’ve posted a pic in the blog now. By no means is it the worst photo of Christie I could have chosen, it just happens to be one of Christie and Hodge together. Quite a contrast even though Hodge is not especially good looking.