Values of Miss America Pageant

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She’s intelligence and humility. She’s fair and honesty. She’s Miss United States. These are not the lyrics to the song that is played after a contestant wins the ever-so coveted crown. These are not lyrics to any song at all actually. But why not? Aren’t those all attributes most people yearn for? While of course these characteristics are things everyone tries to perfect throughout their lifetime, this is not the focal point of the Miss America pageant. The actual lyrics are; “She’s beauty and she’s grace. She’s queen of 50 states. She’s elegance and taste. She’s Miss United States” (Miss Congeniality).

It is shocking to see the digression in humanity’s morals and values over the past decade. As cliché as it sounds, the media is the center of it all. The way women are being represented, from our television sets, the radio, pornography and even art has pushed beauty to the top of the list of controversial and widely debated topics around the globe. “Whenever we walk down the street, watch TV, open a magazine or enter an art gallery, we are faced with images of femininity,” (Watson and Martin).

Beauty pageants are no help to the cause either. Miss America has become a job for women that represent their country from the way their face looks, rather than their ideas and vocal capabilities. We have become a nation centered around beauty and appearance and this annual television show has followed in this trend’s wake.

American’s unneeded celebration of beauty in the pageantry world is digging a hole for the country and has been the contributing factor to the downward spiral we are presently in. The system of this pageant needs to change tremendously in order for it to become a beneficial contest in the future. Beauty pageants to...

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...d. Web. 8 May 2012. http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/01/14/why-arent-we-protesting-miss-america.

Shappert, Rhonda. " The Pageant Expert | What Are The Benefits Of Beauty Pageants?." The Pageant

Expert | Rhonda Shappert's Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 May 2012. http://thepageantexpert.com/post/What-Are-The-Benefits-Of-Beauty-Pageants.aspx.

Watson, Elwood, and Darcy Martin. "The Miss America Pageant: Pluralism, Femininity, And Cinderella All

In One." Journal Of Popular Culture 34.1 (2000): 105-126. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 May 2012.

Warnock, Susan Marie. "Writing Samples - Susan Warnock E-Portfolio." www.personal.psu.edu. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 24 May 2012. .

Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New York:

HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2002. Print.

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