No More Miss America Thesis

Julia Alvarez and his three teenage sisters discover the “key” to assimilating into their new country. Their stereotypical understanding of what it means to be an American is defined by one’s appearance. Comparing themselves to the women featured in the Miss America contest, makes the Alvarez girls long for the “American look”. It narrows down to a caucasian, hourglass shaped figure with long seamless straight hair. “Although we wanted to look like we belonged here, the four sisters, our looks didn 't seem to fit in.”

McGraw-Hill, 1976. “The American Pageant: World history, United States” CTI Reviews. (2017). [online] http://The American Pageant: World history, United States [Accessed 14 Nov. 2017]. Cott, Nancy F. Root of bitterness: documents of the social history of American women.

Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes and Black Women in America, by Melissa Harris Perry is a collection of statistical data, narratives and African American literature to accurately portray the history of black women while also proving that politics is not only voting and public policy. It is also a struggle for recognition and how that recognition holds immense political power to create change. The book offers the unique experiences and explanations of African American women in the American society that consistently overlooks their hardships and achievements.. For three centuries, black women have been under the shadow of black men’s fight for equality. Black women have fought hard to achieved such a high feat, but have only ended up as less than second class citizens; citizens that are not easily recognized to receive fundamental rights. These misrecognitions stem from the Perry’s main argument that the four common stereotypes falsely define black women, and misrecognizes them so much that society doesn’t deem them fit or worthy enough to have equal rights.

Author and Lecturer Deborah Gray White is a professor at Rutgers University who currently serves on the Board of Governors Professor of History and lectures over the Women’s and Gender Studies. She was also the co-director of “The Black Atlantic: Race, Nation and Gender” project at the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis in the 90s (Web). White has authored numerous works throughout her educational career, and continues to do so, however, it is the extraordinary work she did on her Ph.D. dissertation that later turned into a much anticipated manuscript she is most known for. Ar 'n 't I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South gave the world insight into the considerable marginalized plight of the enslaved women of color in the

In the 1948 Miss America Pageant Contract, one of the rules and regulations is the following “5. Contestant must be of good character and possess poise, personality, intelligence, charm, and beauty of face and figure.” (American Experience). Most of these characteristics represent the ideal woman during that era, except they

Additionally, these stories reveal the great diversity among women. Generally, women are grouped together, as stated by Lorde: “As women we have either been taught to ignore our differences or view them as causes for separation and suspicion rather than forces of change (Lorde, 1979).” Despite the efforts to categorize women’s issues into one mass of problems, White women perceive the world differently than African American women, Hispanic women, Native American women, etc., and vice versa. This conglomeration of “women’s issues” does not address every aspect of being a woman in patriarchal and unjust societies throughout the world.

As Friedan points out, “...industry glorifies the American woman” (Document 2). During this period, women fought an image of the “perfect woman.” One such instance is the rally organized by the New York Radical Women to take place on September 7th, 1968 outside of a Miss America Pageant. (Document 4). The goal of the protest was to put an end to pageants and boycott cosmetic and feminine products.

The excerpt I chose to reflect on is called “An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman!” by Claudia Jones (1949). Jones express the concerns that women of color in her time suffer from the neglect and degradation they receive throughout their lives. During this time, the reason many African American women go through the struggles in their community originated from the notion that the “bourgeoisie is fearful of the militancy of the Negro woman” (108). In my opinion, they have every right to be afraid of African American women. As Jones stated nicely "once Negro women undertake action, the militancy of the whole Negro people, and thus of the anti-imperialist coalition, is greatly enhanced" (108).

“It was a national white doll contest. Love hate affair with white dolls, with mythicized white femininity.” (pg 533) The pageant displays the beauty that the dolls are based on. Most of the contestants that take part in Miss America pageants and winners are white female with the exception of a few black females, but they are not emphasized as much.

Even though the problem of women having to fit into this category is not that big of a problem in this century. However, there is a problem of women having to look like certain way to fit into this idea of what women should look like. There is this idea that a women has to look a certain way in order to be beautiful. I have become very vocal on this matter because I truly believe that every women is beautiful. I relate to Tessie Hutchinson from the story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson.

Her tragedy reflects not only the sexism in the African American families in early 20th century, but also the uselessness

Introduction The documentary, Miss Representation was written, directed and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Miss Representation highlights how the media and our culture objectify and belittle women and girls in society. The documentary begins with Newsom’s childhood story and the life and future, she wants for her daughter. The media is used as the main source of information.

It was a warm spring morning in May when my mother and father headed to the hospital to give birth to a little girl. On May 18th, 1998 at 7:34 a.m. I, Allison Michelle Keitel, was born. A lot has changed in these past 18 years, but growing up in a time period between “the good old day” and technology was one of the best generations to live during. Getting to roll around in mud with my siblings and playing outside everyday was one of my favorite memories, however, my generation is also the first generation to grow up with technology.

In this article, the author stated, “Opponents sag pageants put too much emphasis on looks. ‘Many of these kids grow up with a never-ending drive for physical perfection,’ Martina Cartwright tells JS. Her research on child pageants was recently published in a medical journal. ‘This can lead to eating disorders and poor self-esteem’” (Cartwright).

Looking back at the Miss America beauty pageant, “ the Miss America Organization ison of the world’s largest providers of scholarship assistance for young women”(Kaplan). Miss America helps young women pay for college and they are bettering themselves through the help of pageant life. In Krista Medlock’s pageant, There are multiple ways women can better themselves. Kristen Holland, the writer of this article, said, “ …The swimsuit parade is out. Motivational speaking is in”(Holland).