{"product_id":"the-most-beautiful-girl-in-the-world-beauty-pageants-and-national-identity-paperback","title":"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World: Beauty Pageants and National Identity - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSarah Banet-Weiser\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSarah 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on cultural criticism, ethnographic research, and interviews with pageant participants and officials, \u003ci\u003eThe Most Beautiful Girl in the World\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSarah Banet-Weiser\u003c\/b\u003e is Assistant Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 290\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.78 x 9.02 x 6.08 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 30, 1999\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42705638916159,"sku":"9780520217911","price":52.11,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/1bbc24a645c74a928166186fc01e8786.webp?v=1765037498","url":"https:\/\/dhl-adrianne.myshopify.com\/products\/the-most-beautiful-girl-in-the-world-beauty-pageants-and-national-identity-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}