Beauty Pageants in American Society

Beauty pageants are often ridiculed, and even vilified, in American society. Yet their cultural power—from “There She Is” to Toddlers + Tiaras to pageant waves—is undeniable. What accounts for the enduring power of beauty pageants? This course draws on inter-disciplinary scholarship across the social sciences and humanities to examine how and why pageantry and American femininity have become linked in the public consciousness. By the end of this course you will be able to use beauty pageants as a lens to carefully examine gender, race, age, and appearance, and apply that critical thinking to other pop culture phenomena.