Capstones
Graduation Date
Fall 12-13-2019
Grading Professor
Margot Mifflin
Subject Concentration
Arts & Culture
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Abstract
Evening gown in pageants, as in society, has always represented a woman's way of expressing her personality and femininity through fashion. Miss America's attempt to stop requiring evening gowns implies that wearing formal gowns does not equate to being a modern, empowered woman.
Instead of attempting to erase the evening gown as an outdated part of a modern woman’s wardrobe, the Miss America pageant should restore the original gown segment and use this opportunity to reshape America’s perspective on how modern women can choose to wear gowns and still be empowered.
Recommended Citation
WILLIAMS, KEISHEL, "The Miss America Pageant Should Restore Prioritizing the Evening Gown Segment" (2019). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gj_etds/363
Miss America's Evening Gown Mistake - Social Video
Miss America 1941 Rosemary LaPlanche_MSNBC_Williams_Keishel_sequence#1.jpg (626 kB)
Miss America 1941, Rosemary LaPlanche. Photo: MSNBC
Miss America 2005 Deidre Downs_Donna Conner_Getty Images_Williams_Keishel_sequence#2.jpg (354 kB)
Miss America 2005, Deidre Downs. Photo: Donna Connor/FilmMagic
Miss America 2008 Kirsten Haglund_Ethan Miller_Getty Images_Williams_Keishel_sequence#3.jpg (86 kB)
Miss America 2008, Kirsten Haglund. Photo: Getty Images
Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields_Cosmo_Williams_Keishel_sequence#4.jpg (176 kB)
Miss America 2017, Savvy Shields. Photo: Cosmo
Miss America 2018 Cara Mund_Donald Kravitz_Getty Images_Williams_Keishel_sequnce#5.jpg (185 kB)
Miss America 2018, Cara Mund. Photo: Getty Images
Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin_Tom Briglia_Getty Images_Williams_Keishel_seqaunce#6.jpg (147 kB)
Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin. Photo: Tom Briglia/Getty Images
Miss America 2.0 Gowns_alamy_Williams_Keishel_sequnce7.jpg (206 kB)
Miss America 2.0 Gowns. Photo: alamy_