The Most Beautiful Girl in the World - by Sarah Banet-Weiser (Paperback)

About the Book

This is an intriguing and original examination of how issues of sex, race and nationalism get played out in US beauty pageants, and how pageants have tried to respond to large social and political change. She takes issue with those in Naomi Wolff's camp, as well as with conservatives.

Book Synopsis

Sarah Banet-Weiser complicates the standard feminist take on beauty pageants in this intriguing look at a hotly contested but enduringly popular American ritual. She focuses on the Miss America pageant in particular, considering its claim to be an accurate representation of the diversity of contemporary American women. Exploring the cultural constructions and legitimations that go on during the long process of the pageant, Banet-Weiser depicts the beauty pageant stage as a place where concerns about national identity, cultural hopes and desires, and anxieties about race and gender are crystallized and condensed. The beauty pageant, she convincingly demonstrates, is a profoundly political arena deserving of serious study.

Drawing on cultural criticism, ethnographic research, and interviews with pageant participants and officials, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World illustrates how contestants invent and reinvent themselves while articulating the female body as a national body. Banet-Weiser finds that most pageants are characterized by the ambivalence of contemporary "liberal" feminism, which encourages individual achievement, self-determination, and civic responsibility, while simultaneously promoting very conventional notions of beauty. The book explores the many different aspects of the Miss America pageant, including the swimsuit, the interview, and the talent competitions. It also takes a closer look at some extraordinary Miss Americas, such as Bess Myerson, the first Jewish Miss America; Vanessa Williams, the first African American Miss America; and Heather Whitestone, the first Miss America with a disability.

From the Back Cover

The Miss America pageant has assumed a recognizable, if not uncontroversial, place in American culture. In this nuanced study of the politics and culture of beauty pageants, Sarah Banet-Weiser moves beyond standard feminist rhetoric. From interviews with contestants and extensive fieldwork, she finds that most pageants are characterized by the ambivalence of contemporary "liberal" feminism, encouraging individual achievement, self-determination, and civic responsibility while promoting very conventional notions of beauty. Banet-Weiser convincingly argues that beauty pageants are sites of complex cultural work, where ideas of race and nationalism often take center stage.

Drawing on ethnographic research, feminism, and cultural criticism, this book is situated at the center of contemporary debates on what constitutes a distinct "feminist" methodology. To this end, it explores many different aspects of the Miss America pageant, including the swimsuit, the interview, and the talent competitions. It also takes a closer look at some extraordinary Miss Americas, such as Bess Myerson, the first Jewish Miss America; Vanessa Williams, the first African-American Miss America; and Heather Whitestone, the first Miss America with a disability.

Review Quotes

"A book that illuminates the beauty pageant as one of the best places to view the tensions surrounding the construction of gender. . . . A thoughful and readable book. Scholars interested in the dynamics of gender and race in popular culture will find the book especially useful."--"American Journal of Sociology

About the Author

Sarah Banet-Weiser is Assistant Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California.