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An editor for The Washington Post's Style section offers a look back on the Miss America pageant as it approaches its 100th anniversary, spotlighting how it has survived decades of social and cultural change and redefined itself alongside evolving ideas of feminism. For all of its pomp and kitsch, the Miss America pageant is indelibly written into the American story of the past century. From its origins as a summer's-end tourist draw, it blossomed into a televised extravaganza and was once considered the highest honor that a young woman could achieve. Argetsinger spotlights how the pageant survived decades of social and cultural change, collided with a women's liberation movement that sought to abolish it, and redefined itself alongside evolving ideas about feminism. In doing so, she charts the evolution of the American woman, dissects the scandals and financial turmoil that have repeatedly threatened to kill the pageant-- and highlights the unexpected sisterhood of Miss Americas fighting to keep it alive. -- adapted from jacket

Beauty contests --- History. --- Miss America Pageant --- Miss America Pageant --- History. --- United States

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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.

Beauty contests --- National characteristics. --- Racism in popular culture. --- Popular culture --- Characteristics, National --- Identity, National --- Images, National --- National identity --- National images --- National psychology --- Psychology, National --- Anthropology --- Nationalism --- Social psychology --- Collective memory --- Ethnopsychology --- Exceptionalism --- Miss Universe Pageant. --- Miss America Pageant. --- Taḥarut "Mis Yunivers" --- achievement. --- american women. --- beauty pageants. --- beauty standards. --- beauty. --- bess myerson. --- black miss america. --- cultural criticism. --- disability. --- diversity. --- empowerment. --- ethnography. --- feminism. --- gender studies. --- gender. --- heather whitestone. --- interview. --- interviews. --- jewish miss america. --- liberal feminism. --- miss america. --- national identity. --- nonfiction. --- pageant officials. --- pageant participants. --- pageants. --- race. --- ritual. --- sexuality. --- social issues. --- sociology. --- swimsuit. --- talent competitions. --- vanessa williams.

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"Marvel is famous for their fantastic superheroes. Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and dozens of other costumed avengers from the Marvel Universe are recognized the world over. In the 21st Century, Marvel has expanded just what it means to be a superhero, and who can wear the tights. Panthers, Hulks & Ironhearts explores the importance of ethnicity in many of Marvels newest heroes (and a few of their oldest) in the comics, movies, and on television. New characters of color like the Pakistani-American Ms. Marvel, the Latina Ms. America, the Korean-American Hulk and Silk, as well as new takes on old heroes such as the African American versions of Spider-Man, Captain America, and Iron Man, have joined such landmark heroes as Black Panther and Luke Cage to diversify the role of superhero. These "All New, All Different" heroes can defeat super villains, but they can also help explain important cultural concepts like stereotyping, Orientalism, repatriation, whitewashing, and identification"--

Comic books, strips, etc. --- History and criticism. --- Comics, Book culture, Culture, America, Heroes, Black Panther, Media, Hulk, Iron Man, Media company, Latina, Superheroes, Miss America, Ms. Marvel, Characters, Diversity, Television, Film, Stereotypes, Whitewashing, Identity, Spiderman, Legacy. --- Literature