Book
Looking for Miss America : a pageant's 100-year quest to define womanhood / Margot Mifflin.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781640092235 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: 310 pages : illustrations (some colour) ; 24 cm
- Edition: First hardcover edition.
- Publisher: Berkeley, California : Counterpoint, 2020.
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references. |
| Formatted Contents Note: | Introduction. American beauties -- Bathing beauties -- Dreamers -- Seekers -- Achievers -- Resisters -- Trailblazers -- Iconoclasts -- Believers -- Survivors. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Miss America Pageant > History. Beauty contests > United States > History. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroud Branch | 791.66 Mif | 31681010215267 | NONFIC | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
"Looking for Miss America is a fast-paced narrative history of the Miss America pageant from its start as a shocking east coast bathing-beauty revue in 1921 to its recent rebirth as a swimsuit-free "scholarship competition." It introduces the dreamers and dissidents, hustlers and heroines who won; the celebrities, including Norman Rockwell, Joan Crawford, and Rod McKuen, who judged; and the masterminds behind it, like director Lenora Slaughter, who "picked the pageant up by its bathing suit straps and put it down in an evening gown" in the 1930s, transforming it from a seaside skin show into a national institution. Approaching its 100th anniversary, the pageant has survived scandal, protests, mockery, and the mutiny of a queen who got cold feet and skipped town the night she won. One winner called Miss America "the kind of girl who would go into a bar and order orange juice in a loud voice"; another claimed "she's not a real person. She's something that happens every year." Looking for Miss America breaks down the blend of capitalism, patriotism, class anxiety and cultural mythology that has fueled the pageant, the racial biases it has perpetuated, and the social mobility it has enabled"-- - Perseus Publishing
From an author praised for writing âdelicious social historyâ (Dwight Garner, The New York Times) comes a lively account of memorable Miss America contestants, protests, and scandalsâand how the pageant, nearing its one hundredth anniversary, serves as an unintended indicator of feminist progress
Looking for Miss America is a fast-paced narrative history of a curious and contradictory institution. From its start in 1921 as an Atlantic City tourist draw to itscurrent incarnation as a scholarship competition, the pageant has indexed womenâsstatus during periods of social changeâthe post-suffrage 1920s, the Eisenhower 1950s, the#MeToo era. This ever-changing institution has been shaped by war, evangelism, the rise oftelevision and reality TV, and, significantly, by contestants who confounded expectations.
Spotlighting individuals, from Yolande Betbeze, whose refusal to pose in swimsuits ledan angry sponsor to launch the rival Miss USA contest, to the first black winner, VanessaWilliams, who received death threats and was protected by sharpshooters in her hometownparade, Margot Mifflin shows how women made hard bargains even as they used the pageantfor economic advancement. The pageantâs history includes, crucially, those it excluded; thenotorious Rule Seven, which required contestants to be âof the white race,â was retired in the 1950s, but no women of color were crowned until the 1980s.
In rigorously researched, vibrant chapters that unpack each decade of the pageant, Looking for Miss America examines the heady blend of capitalism, patriotism, class anxiety, and cultural mythology that has fueled this American ritual.
- Random House, Inc.
Winner of the Popular Culture Association’s Emily Toth Best Book in Women’s Studies Award
From an author praised for writing “delicious social history” (Dwight Garner, The New York Times) comes a lively account of memorable Miss America contestants, protests, and scandals—and how the pageant, now in its one hundredth year, serves as an unintended indicator of feminist progress
Looking for Miss America is a fast–paced narrative history of a curious and contradictory institution. From its start in 1921 as an Atlantic City tourist draw to its current incarnation as a scholarship competition, the pageant has indexed women’s status during periods of social change—the post–suffrage 1920s, the Eisenhower 1950s, the #MeToo era. This ever–changing institution has been shaped by war, evangelism, the rise of television and reality TV, and, significantly, by contestants who confounded expectations.
Spotlighting individuals, from Yolande Betbeze, whose refusal to pose in swimsuits led an angry sponsor to launch the rival Miss USA contest, to the first black winner, Vanessa Williams, who received death threats and was protected by sharpshooters in her hometown parade, Margot Mifflin shows how women made hard bargains even as they used the pageant for economic advancement. The pageant’s history includes, crucially, those it excluded; the notorious Rule Seven, which required contestants to be “of the white race,” was retired in the 1950s, but no women of color were crowned until the 1980s.
In rigorously researched, vibrant chapters that unpack each decade of the pageant, Looking for Miss America examines the heady blend of capitalism, patriotism, class anxiety, and cultural mythology that has fueled this American ritual.
