Wednesday, July 13, 2011

In Defense of Christina Fallin

Yesterday the Oklahoma Truth Council posted a video and a critique of a photo shoot done at the Oklahoma Governor's Mansion by the daughter of Governor Mary Fallin.  The video and likely the photos depict the First Daughter in a see through dress with under cloths visible, very alternative clothing, and prancing about the mansion for the shoot.

This was as part of Twenty Something Magazine's recognition of Christina Fallin as the woman of the month for the magazine.  Twenty Something seems to be an arts/fashion/style magazine that emphasizes "urban chic" women and stuff….. The video has since been removed - but not before someone grabbed their own copy and posted it back online.

Here's the thing about this photo-shoot:  Was it inappropriate to do it at the Governor's Mansion with the mansion as a backdrop?  Yes.  Absolutely.  But does Christina Fallin have the right to be as alternative and scantily clad as she wants?  Absolutely - in fact we encourage it.

Christina Fallin wasn't the one who ran for office under a "Faith, Family and Freedom" banner and we shouldn't hold her to the same standards as we would hold her mother's "hypothetical" offering of hotel room keys to people at conventions.  Christina didn't cheat on her husband with a state trooper hired to protect her.  She didn't molest or sexually harass a Congressional Page, nor did she try and get some man on man action from an undercover cop in a bathroom stall.  She put on some cloths that conservatives would have a problem with and took photos.  And if her mother didn't try to pretend like the good Christian wife and mother all the time, most people probably wouldn't have a problem with it other than it was done on "The People's" property…. 

Here's the thing that I've learned in watching Christine Fallin over the last few years.  She's either too politically stupid not to get in trouble - or she honestly doesn't give a shit.  Or I suppose she could be intentionally doing things to give her mother the finger.  Which… if I were Christina Fallin and my mother had cheated on my dad, destroyed our family, was too focused on her own political career to care about her family, and had a weird obsession with plastic surgery… I'd probably act out in efforts to get her back too.  So if she's doing that - I salute you, Christina, because you got totally screwed over in your life and your childhood.

While I'm sure liberals and comedians like to poke fun at Christina Fallin for her shocking taste, either in photo-shoot wardrobe options or wedding photography - she's not weird she's just different.  She's artistic, clearly fashion conscious and enjoys the creativity of being a fashionista, and neither of those characteristics really fit in well in Oklahoma's jeans and t-shirts world.  She's more downtown and we're more hometown.  There's nothing wrong with that - it's just different.

Where Christina will get in trouble is as she tries to make her own "political" career. As a lobbyist or "Huddelston's event planner" … we're not really sure what she does for him now… she's going to be held to a higher standard than if she were just a normal kid doing a normal non-political job. People in politics who speak out of both sides of their mouths generally get owned by the other side pretty quickly.   But because she's involved in the political world and her mother is the Governor she's going to catch much higher flack for anything she does that is outside of the norm.  

Christina Fallin is missing her potential.  She doesn't belong in politics she clearly belongs somewhere much more alternative and creative where her artistic talents can shine.  I continue to also encourage her to do a spread with the Suicide Girls