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“There She Is, Miss America”

The Politics of Sex, Beauty, and Race in America’s Most Famous Pageant

  • Book
  • © 2004

Overview

Editors:
  1. Elwood Watson
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  2. Darcy Martin
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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
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  2. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Elwood Watson, Darcy Martin
      Pages 1-23

  3. History

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 25-25
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    2. Bathing Suits and Backlash

      • Kimberly A. Hamlin
      Pages 27-51

    3. Miss America, Rosie the Riveter, and World War II

      • Mary Anne Schofield
      Pages 53-66

    4. Miss America, National Identity, and the Identity Politics of Whiteness

      • Sarah Banet-Weiser
      Pages 67-89

  4. Gender, Race, and Identity

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-91
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    2. The Rhetoric of Black Bodies

      • Valerie Felita Kinloch
      Pages 93-109

    3. Princess Literature and the Miss America Pageant

      • Iset Anuakan
      Pages 111-124

    4. Wiregrass Country Pageant Competitions, or What’s Beauty Got to Do with It?

      • Jerrilyn McGregory
      Pages 125-134

  5. Personal Reflections

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 135-135
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    2. I Was Miss Meridian 1985

      • Donelle R. Ruwe
      Pages 137-152

    3. My Miss Americas

      • Mark A. Eaton
      Pages 153-170

    4. Waiting for Miss America

      • Gerald Early
      Pages 171-183

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 185-205
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Keywords

About this book

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.

Reviews

"This book is a significant exploration of the dilemma of American women in our modern consumer culture between glamour as objectification and standardization and, conversely, as a means of self-expression. These essays edited by Elwood Watson and Darcy Martin encompass issues of gender, race, and nationality as manifested in the history of the Miss America pageant in an exciting manner to show the power of popular culture in the national consciousness."

- Lois Banner, Professor of History and Gender Studies, University of Southern California

"'There She Is, Miss America' is an insightful yet sobering examination of the identity politics surrounding the Miss America Pageant. It is essential reading for those interested in developing their understanding of issues of body, beauty, racial, and sexual identity."

- Robin R. Means Coleman, Associate Professor of Communication, University of Pittsburgh, and author of Say It Loud!: African Americans, Media, and Identity

About the authors

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

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: “There She Is, Miss America”

  • Book Subtitle: The Politics of Sex, Beauty, and Race in America’s Most Famous Pageant

  • Editors: Elwood Watson, Darcy Martin

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981820

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies Collection, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Elwood Watson and Darcy Martin 2004

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4039-6301-7Published: 18 September 2004

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4039-6302-4Published: 18 September 2004

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4039-8182-0Published: 18 September 2004

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: IX, 205

  • Number of Illustrations: 9 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Gender Studies, US History, Modern History, History of the Americas, Ethnicity Studies

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