Scarlet Letter Scandal Project
Jay Tocco
Ms. Branca
Eng.11CP/Per.3
1 March 2011
The Scarlet Letter - Scandal Project
Today’s society is cruel, and if one is something or does something they don’t approve of, they will ruin you. People are shunned, among other things, for their skin color, their religion, their sexual orientation, their income, and their education. One may also do something to have society shun them, whether they pesonally think it is right or wrong. Everyone has their own opinion and there is no greater power than the power of the people. Take Vanessa Williams for example, she was decrowned as Miss America for posing in Penthouse, a pornographic magazine. There were standards she had to meet and rules she had to follow, she broke them, and she was shunned. Vanessa Williams was crowned Miss America 1984 on September 17, 1983, becoming the first African American to ever win the beauty pageant. She automatically became the target of death threats and hate mail, most likely due to her race. Ten months after winning the pageant, Vanessa received an anonymous phone call informing her that pre-fame naked pictures had been leaked out into the public. She thought the pictures …show more content…
She received massive amounts of undesirable attention for these pictures. They were offered to but turned down by Hugh Hefner, the publisher of Playboy. Soon after, Bob Guccione, the publisher of Penthouse, publically announced that the September 1984 issue of his magazine would feature the pictures. He was sneaky and paid the photographer of the images for the rights to distribute them without Vanessa’s consent. Vanessa was distraught by this, she worked hard to get to where she was only to see it all come crashing down in front of her eyes. She won countless pageants just to even enter Miss America, and kept herself healthy and good looking to win the pageant. These haunting images came back and destroyed her
Ms. Branca
Eng.11CP/Per.3
1 March 2011
The Scarlet Letter - Scandal Project
Today’s society is cruel, and if one is something or does something they don’t approve of, they will ruin you. People are shunned, among other things, for their skin color, their religion, their sexual orientation, their income, and their education. One may also do something to have society shun them, whether they pesonally think it is right or wrong. Everyone has their own opinion and there is no greater power than the power of the people. Take Vanessa Williams for example, she was decrowned as Miss America for posing in Penthouse, a pornographic magazine. There were standards she had to meet and rules she had to follow, she broke them, and she was shunned. Vanessa Williams was crowned Miss America 1984 on September 17, 1983, becoming the first African American to ever win the beauty pageant. She automatically became the target of death threats and hate mail, most likely due to her race. Ten months after winning the pageant, Vanessa received an anonymous phone call informing her that pre-fame naked pictures had been leaked out into the public. She thought the pictures …show more content…
She received massive amounts of undesirable attention for these pictures. They were offered to but turned down by Hugh Hefner, the publisher of Playboy. Soon after, Bob Guccione, the publisher of Penthouse, publically announced that the September 1984 issue of his magazine would feature the pictures. He was sneaky and paid the photographer of the images for the rights to distribute them without Vanessa’s consent. Vanessa was distraught by this, she worked hard to get to where she was only to see it all come crashing down in front of her eyes. She won countless pageants just to even enter Miss America, and kept herself healthy and good looking to win the pageant. These haunting images came back and destroyed her