Exploring the phenomenon of child beauty pageants in rural Southern communities, this book delves into the cultural significance and impact of these events on young girls and their families. It examines the pressures and expectations placed on participants, the role of parents, and the broader societal implications of such competitions. Through personal stories and sociological insights, the narrative sheds light on the complexities of femininity, self-worth, and the pursuit of beauty in a unique regional context.
Girlhood, Beauty Pageants, and Power: Trailer Park Royalty explores the phenomenon of child beauty pageants in rural communities throughout the American South. In a bricolage of post-structural feminism, critical ethnographies, critical hermeneutics, and cultural studies lenses, this book analyzes how the performance of participants--most from a lower socio-economic bracket--and the power exercised by beauty pageant culture work to formulate girls' identities. Girlhood, Beauty Pageants, and Power also examines how depictions in popular culture through film, videos, documentaries, and television shows add to the dialogue. Author Elisabeth B. Thompson-Hardy suggests rural pageant culture works to create girlhood identity and shapes the way participants view the world and themselves--through intricate cultural work in terms of gender and class. This book is intended for students and teachers who are interested in dissecting rural girlhood and development, Southern American beauty standards, and the effect of the media on girls' identities.
