Race, Gender, and Embodiment in Texas Beauty Pageants
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University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020- 2021 The Bikini Line: Race, Gender, and Embodiment in Texas Beauty Pageants Chelsea Belanger University of Central Florida Part of the Race and Ethnicity Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd2020 University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020- by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Belanger, Chelsea, "The Bikini Line: Race, Gender, and Embodiment in Texas Beauty Pageants" (2021). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-. 647. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd2020/647 THE BIKINI LINE: RACE, GENDER, AND EMBODIMENT IN TEXAS BEAUTY PAGEANTS by CHELSEA BELANGER B.A. The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2011 M.S. The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2017 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Sociology in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Summer Term 2021 Major Professor: Shannon Carter ABSTRACT In 2019, for the first time in history, Miss America, Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Universe were all Black women. However, in Texas pageantry, where 12 former state titleholders have become Miss America or Miss USA are from, racial representation is scant. Since their inception in 1937 and 1952, only three Black women have won title of Miss Texas America and two Black women have been crowned Miss Texas USA. This study analyzes the motives for competing in Texas beauty pageants, experiences of preparing and competing, and the perceptions of race and racial inequalities among racially and ethnically diverse contestants and titleholders in two mainstream pageant circuits in Texas, Miss Texas America and Miss Texas USA. Data consist of semi-structured in-depth interviews with a sample of 37 beauty pageant contestants from the state of Texas, including former Miss Texas titleholders. Interviews focused on participants’ experiences preparing and competing in beauty pageants, their motives for competing, their perceptions of race and racial inequalities in pageants, and their views on how race operates within the current system. Findings revealed significant patterns in participants’ motives for competing, preparation for competitions, and perceptions of race within pageantry. The main findings of this study suggest that Black participants’ motives to compete were often more focused on collective goals (e.g., serving as role models for other Black girls) whereas white and Hispanic participants’ motives were more individualistic (e.g., personal growth), managing racial embodiment by training or undoing certain aspects of their identity (e.g., accent) and features such as negotiating their hair textures and styles to meet dominant white aesthetics, and differences observed among contestant preparation based on the pageant circuit they compete in (e.g., the bikini line). This research aims to add to the already scant ii literature on how race operations within the current system in Western beauty pageants especially in the era of the Black Lives Matter movement. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER ONE: SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVES OF PAGEANTRY .............................. 1 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 4 International Beauty Pageants ................................................................................................. 6 History of Pageantry ................................................................................................................ 7 Racism and Discrimination in Pageantry ................................................................................ 8 Controversies ......................................................................................................................... 11 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................. 12 Intersectionality ..................................................................................................................... 12 Matrix of Domination ............................................................................................................ 14 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................... 17 Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 19 Participant Recruitment ............................................................................................................. 20 Sample ....................................................................................................................................... 22 Data Collection.......................................................................................................................... 24 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 26 Field Observation ...................................................................................................................... 27 Reflexivity ................................................................................................................................. 28 CHAPTER THREE: DESIRE TO COMPETE IN PAGEANTRY .............................................. 30 Overview of the Miss America and Miss USA Organizations ................................................. 31 Overview of the Study Participants........................................................................................... 35 Miss Texas Scholarship Organization....................................................................................... 36 Miss Texas USA........................................................................................................................ 37 Narratives for Competing .......................................................................................................... 40 Theme 1: Inspired to Compete .................................................................................................. 41 Theme 2: Encouraged to Compete ............................................................................................ 52 CHAPTER FOUR: RACIALIZED MOTIVES FOR COMPETING........................................... 70 Hyper-Individualism ................................................................................................................. 72 Motives Among Hispanic Participants...................................................................................... 78 iv Importance of Diversity ............................................................................................................ 81 Collectivist Orientation: Black Women’s Motives ................................................................... 84 Tokenism ................................................................................................................................... 91 Controlling Images of Black Titleholders ............................................................................... 102 CHAPTER FIVE: THE BIKINI LINE: EMBODIMENT OF MISS AMERICA & MISS USA STATE CONTESTANTS........................................................................................................... 112 Body Management Practices ................................................................................................... 115 Medical Intervention ............................................................................................................... 132 Managing Racial Embodiment ................................................................................................ 143 CHAPTER SIX: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ............................................................. 153 APPENDIX A: IRB APPROVAL ............................................................................................. 161 APPENDIX B: PRE-INTERVIEW SURVEY .......................................................................... 164 APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE................................................................... 166 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 169 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Demographics of Study Sample (n=37) ......................................................................... 23 Table 2: Pageant Titles Won by Participants ................................................................................ 24 Table 3: Competition Categories by Pageant Circuit ................................................................... 32 vi CHAPTER ONE: SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVES OF PAGEANTRY In 2019, for the first time in history, Miss America, Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Universe were all Black women. In the state of Texas, however, racial representation lags among contestants and state titleholders. Since their inception in 1937 and 1952, only three