Friday, February 6, 2009

Not What You Think


In the book we have been reading, Where the Girls Are, it talks about something that I am very passionate about. And I know it sounds cheesy, but I LOVE pageants. In chapter 7 it talks about the Miss America Pageant. The chapter portrays the Miss America contestants as a "cattle auction." And the girls are only up on state to show off their butts and boobs. I have done 8 pageants, and let me tell you, there is a ton more the just modeling on stage. Pageants may not be what you think they are. I did the Miss UVU pageant here on campus last semester. In order to even qualify for the competition we were all required to do community service hours with something that we are passionate about around campus. We also had to earn a hundred dollars which would be donated to the Children's Miracle Network, a hospital with kids in need. If we did not do these things we could not compete. The contestants not only acquire service hours and fund raising, but they are all very talented as well. There is a talent portion in the pageant, which ends up being a majority of your final score. I play the piano, and I played a piece by Chopin for the Miss UVU pageant last year. I ended up getting first attendant, and I was so excited because I got scholarship money to help me further my education. I used the organization to get scholarship money, and make a difference in serving my community.
Pageants are not only about modeling in your swim suit, and walking around in high heels. But there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. Like i mentioned before, there are some things that are required of the contestant to even participate.These girls want to make a difference in the community. These pageant girls want to further their education by earning scholarship money, because if you win a pageant, you get scholarship money, you don't get cash to use however you want.
Once again, there is a lot of stereotyping that goes on with pageants. But this is just some information about what goes on, so this information may or may not change your mind about pageant girls :)

6 comments:

  1. Stephanie- I am so glad you wrote this! The Miss America pageants I read about in chapter 7 seemed to be completely different than the concept I was familiar with. I am, by any measure, not a pageant expert. Still, it was painfully obvious to me that Douglass’ description of the Miss America pageant as a “cattle auction” was completely bias and wrong. I don’t remember there ever being a “Good Butt” or “Hot Boob’s” portion of the show. If there were, then Douglass would be completely correct in stating that the girls are only up on stage to show off their butts and boobs. But since they don’t exist, I guess she is wrong again.

    The thing that pushed me over the edge is when Douglass stated that the Miss America pageant is one of the countries most sacred and closely followed rituals. She makes it sound like our country is some kind of pagan cult that would cease to exist without our cultish ritual. Obviously she doesn’t have a very solid grip on reality. True, some of her ideas and concepts introduced in the book are right and dead on. But when it comes to this, she is just plain clueless. I love lamp. Savai or Die.

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  2. I thank you. I had no idea that there was so much that one had to do, to be able to even qualify for a pageant. I also didnt know that they helped students out by giving participants scholarships.

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  3. When I read your blog, I couldn't help but think of the movie Miss Congeniality. True, it shows a lot of the women as the stereotyped "pageant girl", but I also think it's successful in portraying others as smart, talented, and successful young women, which is probably the majority in reality. It's not fair to think of all the contestants of pageants as "just for show", although, unfortunately some people (and contestants) do, otherwise there would've never been a stereotype at all.

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  4. I agree with your points on pageants. However, that being said, not many people are going to tune into the Miss America Pageant when they are doing service hours. Most people, men, are tuned into see the swimsuit/dress competition. The media uses the body to get viewers. Until people take a stand and realize there is more to people than their body, I can't see this changing.

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  5. I agress with your point and I like what you wrote. actually I don't know exactry about American Pafeant, but your idea was very helpfull for me. thanks!

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  6. I had a roommate that did a lot of pagents, so i got to see all that went on. The sad thing is no one gets to really see that part on TV. Again, its the media portraying they want us to see and believe.

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