Sara Lawrence knew, or those around her should have known, that once she entered the Miss Jamaica (World) contest that she had entered an implied contract to become a public person. Once she won that competition and agreed to enter the Miss World contest, there was an expressed agreement, beyond the written contract, to fulfil the obligations of a public person.
In other words, Ms. Lawrence?s life would become a fish bowl, an open display for all to scrutinise; one on to which we all felt a right to poke at and pick over. So, it is not surprising that Ms. Lawrence?s announcement of her pregnancy and decision to relinquish her title have been subject to significant discussion in Jamaica.
We understand the voyeuristic excitement of many of those who have weighed and waded in on the issue; their sense of excitement at something that seems more than confirmation that Ms. Lawrence had sex and is now pregnant. It has something to do, we believe, with a common ambivalence among ordinary people toward VIPs or prominent personalities. They are put on a pedestal to be lionised and lauded; but some may secretly hope that the base will crack and that they will falter, if not crumble.
Painted reminders
Then there are the newly-minted moralists, with rouged and painted reminders of a Bohemian recency and a present spent under the protection of shadiness; they declare in threadbare fashion on decency and obligation: on Ms. Lawrence?s supposed moral deficiency, ethical failures and weak character. Even the wretched would be pardoned if they puked.
We, perhaps, understand best those who point to Ms. Lawrence?s promise to promote safe sex and an end of discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS. On the face of it, her pregnancy suggests that she and her partner did not use a condom. What the reaction does not address ? assuming that it is our business in the first place ? is whether this is a relationship between a committed couple.
We question, too, whether those who give great moral authority to the young women crowned ?Queen? ever concern themselves with the structure of contests from which they receive their title; the parading of women?s bodies and their often less than subtle pandering to sex and sexuality.
The bottom line is that Ms. Lawrence has decided to have a child and to resign her ?crown?, not cling to it. She has left voluntarily. We should leave her be.
The hypocrisy, whether the saccharin and venom-based version, over this issue is, frankly, nauseating.
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