"There She Is, Miss America": The Politics of Sex, Beauty, and Race in America's Most Famous Pageant

While some see the Miss American Pageant as hokey vestige of another era, many remain enthralled by the annual Atlantic City event. And whether you love it or hate it, no one can deny the impact the contest has had on American popular culture-indeed, many reality television shows seem to have taken cues from the pageant. Founded in 1921, the Miss America Pageant has provided a fascinating glimpse into how American standards of femininity have been defined, projected, maintained, and challenged. At various times, it has been praised as a positive role model for young American women, protested as degrading to women by feminists, and shamed by scandals, such as the one caused by the Penthouse photos of Vanessa Williams in 1984. In this first interdisciplinary anthology to examine this uniquely American event, scholars defend, critique, and reflect on the pageant, grappling with themes like beauty, race, the body, identity, kitsch, and consumerism. "There She Is, Miss America" provides a fascinating examination of an enduring American icon.

Essays that critique and celebrate one of the best known American icons of the twentieth century

Library Journal

With this interdisciplinary anthology, editors Watson (history, East Tennessee State Univ.) and Martin (women's studies, East Tennessee State Univ.) examine the history and significance of beauty pageants from a cultural and sociological perspective. The first set of essays traces the history of the Miss America Pageant from its start in 1921, a year after women won the right to vote. During the war years and later, through televised showing, the pageant reinforced the concept of women as objects virginal and wholesome, with an oppressively narrow definition of beauty. A second set of essays addresses questions of racial identity and beauty. One essayist sees the history of black women as pageant participants as a metaphor for changes in race relations over the past 80 years, while another offers a thought-provoking chapter about the connection between the pageant and childhood princess fables. The final essays provide personal insights from pageant participants. Though too scholarly for public libraries, this worthwhile study would be a good addition to a women's studies or popular culture collection in an academic library. Cathy Carpenter, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Elwood W. Watson is associate professor of history at East Tennessee State University. Darcy Martin is an adjunct assistant professor in the Women's Studies Department at East Tennessee State University.