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Anatomy of a Beauty Pageant [Her]stories and [His]tories of the Pageant Circuit
Banet-‐Weiser • What are some of the authors’ arguments?
– That the swimsuit compe66on is part of a much more complex and contradictory set of meanings offered not only by the pageant, but also by other contemporary concepts of femininity.
– That these meanings shi? and take par6cular shape over a period marked by contested defini6ons of racial and gendered iden66es, shi?ing concep6ons of the feminine body, and the growth of consumer society and commodified popular cultural forms.
– That the swimsuit compe66on both mirrors and invents standards for the "average" American body (an average that is inextricable from current feminine ideals) and that these standards are and have always been connected to histories of na6onalism and racial purity.
• Let’s look at the history of the swimsuit compe77on of Miss America.
Beauty contest, by Reginald Marsh, c. 1938-‐45.
Percep6on of Beauty – It was not long a?er Henry David Thoreau
said that the “percep6on of beauty is a moral test” that his contemporary P.T. Barnum inaugurated the world’s first official beauty pageant, which was staged in 1854 and which was deemed so risqué that Barnum had to tone it down by asking women to submit images for judging instead of hos6ng a live show. From there, legend has it that the first “bathing beauty pageant” took place in the beach town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where in the 1880s, the event was held as part of a summer fes6val to promote business.
Beauty contest on Long Island, c. 1925.
• Miss America – The Miss America pageant was first held in
1921 in Atlan6c City, New Jersey, and presided over by a man dressed like King Neptune. Sixteen-‐year-‐old Margaret Gorman from Washington, D.C. took home the golden Liele Mermaid trophy. And yet the beauty of this beauty pageant was secondary to commercial interests; as with many American cultural tradi6ons, what became the Miss America pageant began as a promo6onal stunt, in this case promo6ng tourism in Atlan6c City beyond the summer months.
– Ever since, the bathing suit compe66on has remained an integral part—or, let’s face it—the integral part—of most beauty pageants.
When Miss America began in Atlan6c City in 1921, all swimsuits worn were one-‐piece and ended in a skirt (pictured in 1926)
Women showed very liele cleavage (here in 1927), and figures were generally more covered-‐up
A?er the pageant was shut down for several years in response to protesters who called it too risqué, the swimwear – s6ll modest by today's standards – came back in the 1930s. At the 6me, swimwear also played an especially important role within the compe66on. For the first two and a half decades, winners were actually crowned wearing their bathing suits, and at one 6me the swimsuit compe66on had its own special 6tle: Bather’s Revue.
Beauty pageants during the civil rights era.
Af r i c an -‐Amer i c an beau ty contest in Mississippi
– Many beauty pageants at that 6me, including Miss America, allowed only white women to compete. It was not un6l 1970 that the first African American contestant reached the na6onal Miss America compe66on, two years a?er the Miss Black America Pageant had been inaugurated in protest.
Do you know that beauty pageants like Miss Universe and Miss USA came to exist because of the dispute with a swimwear brand? • Catalina Swimwear – C a t a l i n a ' s i n fl u en c e w a s
intertwined with the myth and icon of the Miss America Beauty Pageant. When they sponsored the contest in the 1940s, contestants wore essen6ally off-‐the-‐rack Catalina swimsuits. They dropped sponsorship a?er the 1951 winner, Yolande Betbeze, refused to pose for publicity p i c tu res wh i l e wear ing a swimsuit. Catalina then went on to found the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Universe pageants, co-‐sponsoring them for decades to follow. With this came a new slogan to emphasize their growing global awareness: "A round the wor ld . . . i t ' s Catalina"..
• Now, watch the following video.
Regula6ng the Body
• According to the author: – Women are produced as feminine subjects through disciplinary prac6ces.
• Disciplining oneself as a par6cular kind of body entails the necessary other side to this prac6ce: humilia6on.
The popular press and tabloids devoted much space and 6me to Miss Universe 1996, Alicia Machado, who caused great controversy and threats of dis-‐ missal over her apparent twenty-‐pound weight gain during her reign.
Regula6ng Self and Desire • One of the most important arguments presented by the
Banet-‐Weiser is: – Sex is forcibly called up through the swimsuit compe77on, not only because of the sexualized body that is evaluated, but also because of the silence of the contestants. Voices may be heard during each individual parade in front of the judges (and the voice may even be the recorded voice of the contestant), but the contestant herself does not speak during this par7cular compe77on . Her status as a nonspeaking subject is absolutely crucial to the logic of the swimsuit compe77on-‐ and to the processes of containment that ensure its success within the larger pageant. .” (p 75).
• Think of this quote. Do you agree with the author? If not? In which ways a contestant may challenge that containment (if possible)?
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