There she is ...
Miss America. I was saddened to read that the Miss America pageant has been dropped by CMT leaving it without a home. Read here. It seems that our pop culture has made an interesting turn where young ladies instead of wanting to be the big-haired smiling 1950s personification of wholesome beauty (Miss America) would rather be the vampy high-paying but minimally talented new millennium’s personification of beauty (The Search for the Next Doll).
It’s the battle as old as time beauty queens vs. pop tarts. I remember as a young girl watching beauty pageants with my mother. We marveled in evening gowns, bathing suits, lacquered hair and baton twirling. We looked forward to the festivities. It bonded us. Tradition. Don’t get me wrong. I never wanted to be Miss America but I sure loved the ceremony. It was probably the closest a girl could get to being a princess without marrying some homely European royal. Every little girl’s dream. The pomp and circumstance. I reveled in the hokey middle America charm. Tradition.
Even back then there was controversy around the usefulness of the bathing suit competition. The judging of beauty. I’m sure that seems silly today when you compare it to such competitions as the Search for the Next Doll. Where are the activist protesting the new genre of beauty competitions and reality shows? It’s hard for me to imagine a mother and daughter bonding over these programs. Little girls want to be Paris Hilton not Miss America. Even the Miss USA/Miss Universe has tarted up their imagine. I mean, a former Miss USA went to rehab and was able to retain her crown and title.
I just felt a little melancholy and nostalgic when I read this article. Our society has changed so much and little girls everywhere are getting the shaft. I feel loss. Tradition.
What are your thoughts?
Labels: Miss America Pageant
posted by Pop Culture Diva @ 4/02/2007
2 Comments:
I used to watch Miss America as a kid and it is a tradition worth having-the two main probelms with it as I see it are:
1) Too rigid with the image of Miss America;while I don't want her to be a hoochie mama,I think that by having her be a prim and proper schoolgirl only makes Miss America a cardboard cutout and a ripe target for mockery. A little more down to earthiness would go a long way.
2) Bland talent-I remember the days when you could expect the unexpected from the Talent portion of the show,like hula dancing,ventrilquist act or baton twirling. In later years,Talent was mostly about singing(and not very good singing either,Simon Cowell would've had a field day).
I think that if Miss America wants to survive this age of American Idol and Pussycat Dolls,they need to loosen up and go for the wacky.
I still catch the pageants when I can and always end up with a book on my head, trying to walk perfectly.
It's a sad commentary when pussy cat dolls and paris hiltons are more desirable "goals" for girls than Ms. America. Not that that's much of a real role model, what with the prudishness and having to parade in a bathing suit and such, but it's a way be better option than whores.
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