Download or read book There She Was written by Amy Argetsinger and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-11-08 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Washington Post style editor’s fascinating and irresistible look back on the Miss America pageant as it approaches its 100th anniversary. The sash. The tears. The glittering crown. And of course, that soaring song. For all its pomp and kitsch, the Miss America pageant is indelibly written into the American story of the past century. From its giddy origins as a summer’s-end tourist draw in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, it blossomed into a televised extravaganza that drew tens of millions of viewers in its heyday and was once considered the highest honor that a young woman could achieve. For two years, Washington Post reporter and editor Amy Argetsinger visited pageants and interviewed former winners and contestants to unveil the hidden world of this iconic institution. There She Was spotlights how the pageant survived decades of social and cultural change, collided with a women’s liberation movement that sought to abolish it, and redefined itself alongside evolving ideas about feminism. For its superstars—Phyllis George, Vanessa Williams, Gretchen Carlson—and for those who never became household names, Miss America was a platform for women to exercise their ambitions and learn brutal lessons about the culture of fame. Spirited and revelatory, There She Was charts the evolution of the American woman, from the Miss America catapulted into advocacy after she was exposed as a survivor of domestic violence to the one who used her crown to launch a congressional campaign; from a 1930s winner who ran away on the night of her crowning to a present-day rock guitarist carving out her place in this world. Argetsinger dissects the scandals and financial turmoil that have repeatedly threatened to kill the pageant—and highlights the unexpected sisterhood of Miss Americas fighting to keep it alive.
Download or read book There She Is Miss America written by E. Watson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2004-09-18 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book There She Is Miss America written by Elwood Watson and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2004-08-21 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description
Download or read book Looking for Miss America written by Margot Mifflin and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Miss America by Day written by Marilyn Van Derbur and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Won the prestigious Writer's Digest award. 1,900 books entered the national competition, Miss America by Day won first place in the "Most Inspirational Book" category. In this award winning book, former Miss America, Marilyn Van Derbur, describes, in detail, her healing process after 13 years of incest. "I wrote the book, not because I want someone to learn more about me but so readers can learn more about themselves. And so that loved ones can better understand the brutal recovery process and never again say, "just get over it." The pain ends, I promise . . . IF you do the 'work' of healing. A loving, long-term relationship and grounded well, adjusted children await you. A judge for the Writers Digest book competition wrote: "Seldom as a judge have I wanted to read the entire book but I devoured every word of this riveting story... Told with stark honesty and vivid details that were so important in ridding herself of the pain, torment and shame..." Anyone who knew Marilyn Van Derbur as a child and young adult believed she had it all -- a loving family, a beautiful home, an active social life. But beneath the surface, Van Derbur was a troubled young woman who lived through horrific panic attacks and excruciating physical pain every day of her adult life. Starting when she was just a child of five, she was sexually abused by her father until she turned 18. Van Derbur uses the term "incested," eschewing the more vanilla terms of "molestation" or "abuse." As a student and young adult, Van Derbur was an overachiever with an unconscious need to stay very busy. She realizes now this was a coping mechanism to keep her two worlds separated-the "night child" who suffered at the hands of her father and the "day child" who was happy and outgoing. After being named valedictorian of her high school class, she went on to college. Persuaded to enter a local beauty pageant, she ultimately was crowned Miss America. Ignoring the sheer terror she felt at the prospect of speaking in front of others, Van Derbur went on to become a highly successful motivational speaker. She writes of her endless need to be respected by others, all the while believing that if others really knew who she was, they would hate her and look at her with disdain and disgust. The perfectly poised mask she showed the outside world was a far cry from the tortured, panic-stricken, anxious woman within. The shame she felt within was a constant in her life, reminding her that she was "unworthy." When a newspaper reporter learned of her story, Van Derbur's private shame became front-page news. Then she landed on the cover of People magazine. Soon incest survivors from around the country were reaching out to her, desperate to tell someone what had happened to them. It became instantly clear that her new role in life was to help others who had suffered incest and to help teach everyone how to make sure their children are safe from predators.
Download or read book There She Was written by Amy Argetsinger and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Washington Post style editor’s fascinating and irresistible look back on the Miss America pageant as it approaches its 100th anniversary. The sash. The tears. The glittering crown. And of course, that soaring song. For all its pomp and kitsch, the Miss America pageant is indelibly written into the American story of the past century. From its giddy origins as a summer’s-end tourist draw in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, it blossomed into a televised extravaganza that drew tens of millions of viewers in its heyday and was once considered the highest honor that a young woman could achieve. For two years, Washington Post reporter and editor Amy Argetsinger visited pageants and interviewed former winners and contestants to unveil the hidden world of this iconic institution. There She Was spotlights how the pageant survived decades of social and cultural change, collided with a women’s liberation movement that sought to abolish it, and redefined itself alongside evolving ideas about feminism. For its superstars—Phyllis George, Vanessa Williams, Gretchen Carlson—and for those who never became household names, Miss America was a platform for women to exercise their ambitions and learn brutal lessons about the culture of fame. Spirited and revelatory, There She Was charts the evolution of the American woman, from the Miss America catapulted into advocacy after she was exposed as a survivor of domestic violence to the one who used her crown to launch a congressional campaign; from a 1930s winner who ran away on the night of her crowning to a present-day rock guitarist carving out her place in this world. Argetsinger dissects the scandals and financial turmoil that have repeatedly threatened to kill the pageant—and highlights the unexpected sisterhood of Miss Americas fighting to keep it alive.
Download or read book Being Miss America written by Kate Shindle and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2014-09-01 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recounts the author's experiences as Miss America 1998, providing a history of the pageant and profiling other former winners.
Download or read book Here She Is written by Hilary Levey Friedman and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fresh exploration of American feminist history told through the lens of the beauty pageant world. Many predicted that pageants would disappear by the 21st century. Yet they are thriving. America’s most enduring contest, Miss America, celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2020. Why do they persist? In Here She Is, Hilary Levey Friedman reveals the surprising ways pageants have been an empowering feminist tradition. She traces the role of pageants in many of the feminist movement’s signature achievements, including bringing women into the public sphere, helping them become leaders in business and politics, providing increased educational opportunities, and giving them a voice in the age of #MeToo. Using her unique perspective as a NOW state president, daughter to Miss America 1970, sometimes pageant judge, and scholar, Friedman explores how pageants became so deeply embedded in American life from their origins as a P.T. Barnum spectacle at the birth of the suffrage movement, through Miss Universe’s bathing beauties to the talent- and achievement-based competitions of today. She looks at how pageantry has morphed into culture everywhere from The Bachelor and RuPaul’s Drag Race to cheer and specialized contests like those for children, Indigenous women, and contestants with disabilities. Friedman also acknowledges the damaging and unrealistic expectations pageants place on women in society and discusses the controversies, including Miss America’s ableist and racist history, Trump’s ownership of the Miss Universe Organization, and the death of child pageant-winner JonBenét Ramsey. Presenting a more complex narrative than what’s been previously portrayed, Here She Is shows that as American women continue to evolve, so too will beauty pageants.
Download or read book There She Is Miss America written by E. Watson and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2004-09-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Miss America written by Howard Stern and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1996-10-16 with total page 596 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Howard Stern versus the world in Miss America. Including eight pages of full-color photos, this book covers the celebrity shock jocks thoughts on himself and the world in which he leaves. From the author of the New York Times bestselling author of Private Parts.
Download or read book There She is written by Frank Deford and published by Viking Adult. This book was released on 1971 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Walking a magic tightrope that never topples him into either derision or credulousness, Frank Deford traces the Miss America contest from its beginnings a half-century ago to the present-from Margaret Gorman in 1921, just turned sixteen and measuring 30-25-32, to Phyllis George, Miss America 1971, 36-24-36." -- dust jacket.
Download or read book Miss Unlikely written by Betty Cantrell Maxwell and published by BroadStreet Publishing Group LLC. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a double-wide trailer on a farm in Georgia to the 2016 Miss America pageant, Betty Cantrell was not a likely contender for the crown. She won by being herself—mistakes and all. Miss Unlikely takes you through Betty’s unconventional childhood, the surprising pageant journey, an incredible year as Miss America, a fairytale wedding, and everything in between. She offers wisdom on school, boys, self-esteem, choices, disappointments, insecurities, mentors, cyberbullies, and more. Behind-the-scenes moments and previously untold stories show how her faith and family ultimately carried her through difficult times. Betty’s personal and sincere account will remind you the only way to get where you want to go is through God’s unique plan. Find confidence in being you, and turn your dreams into reality.
Download or read book Mr Mrs American Pie written by Juliet McDaniel and published by Inkshares. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the vein of Where'd You Go, Bernadette, this whip-smart romantic comedy is as incisive as it is funny—and refuses to be thwarted by convention. After getting dumped by her husband, a woman sets out to prove her worth by entering a 'best housewife' pageant in 1970 Palm Springs.
Download or read book Miss America 1945 written by Susan Dworkin and published by William Morrow Paperbacks. This book was released on 1999-12-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First time in paperback, this unique biography and cultural history is based on History extensive research and interviews with more than one hundred witnesses from the period. Acclaimed novelist and playwright Susan Dworkin skillfully interweaves the absorbing first-person account of how Bess Myerson became the country’s first, and still only, Jewish Miss America in the same year that World War II ended, with a fresh portrait of what life was like for women and Jews in America in the 1930s and ’40s. Her tale of one girl’s coming of age in prefeminist America is “poignant and appealing . . . as much a cameo of an era as a work of biography.” —ALA Booklist
Download or read book Miss America Through the Looking Glass written by Nancie S. Martin and published by Julian Messner. This book was released on 1985 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the history of the Miss America Pageant, how it is judged, what contestants go through, and how their lives are affected.
Download or read book The Night She Won Miss America written by Michael Callahan and published by Harper Paperbacks. This book was released on 2018-04-24 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Inspired by a true story, The Night She Won Miss America is part love story, part true-crime saga, written with spirit and panache." --Vanity Fair Betty Jane Welch reluctantly enters the Miss Delaware contest only to make her mother happy, but to her surprise, she's the judges' top choice. Just like that, she's catapulted into the big time: the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. Luckily, her pageant-approved escort for the week is the dashing but mercurial Griffin McAllister, and she falls for him hard. But when the spirited Betty unexpectedly wins the crown and sash, she finds she may lose what she wants most: Griff's love. To stay together, she impulsively agrees to run away with him. And then the chase is on: from the shadowy streets of Manhattan to a cliffside mansion in Newport, as the cops, a cunning socialite, and a scrappy young reporter secretly in love with the beauty queen threaten to unravel everything--and expose Griff's darkest secret. "Expect glamour, grit, and some truly unpredictable twists and turns." --Town & Country "A cinematic tale in the tradition of a Douglas Sirk movie, and the perfect book to pack away in your beach bag." --Adweek
Download or read book Miss Saigon PVG written by Wise Publications and published by Wise Publications. This book was released on 2014-07-08 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Miss Saigon (PVG) presents 12 songs from Boublil & Schonberg’s hit musical, Miss Saigon. Each song has been freshly engraved for piano and voice, with accompanying lyrics, allowing you to relive the beauty and drama of the show. With beautiful and faithful transciptions, alongside full-colour photography, this book is an essential purchase for any fan. Songlist: - The Heat Is On In Saigon - The Movie In My Mind - Why God Why? - Sun And Moon - The Last Night Of The World - I Still Believe - I’d Give My Life For You - Bui-doi - What A Waste - Too Much For One Heart - Maybe - The American Dream
