When I first chose to study beauty pageants, I was mostly interested in being able to attend a live pageant. I had spent hours online searching for weeks for local Idaho pageants scheduled for February or March, but I was unable to find any within the time frame I needed. I was forced to find another pageant somewhere close, and I was really excited when I found a pageant being held in Las Vegas the weekend I would be in town. The day before the pageant I went to the website to buy my ticket, and to my surprise they had moved the date back three weeks to try to get more participants. I was devastated; I was so looking forward to seeing a live beauty pageant. Luckily, I was able to contact one of the girls I interviewed, and I borrowed the dvd of her latest pageant, which ended up saving me twenty dollars on a ticket in the long run.
Watching the video was just like being in the Civic Center when the pageant was held, except for the fact that I already knew who the winners would be. It was surprising to me how short the actual pageant was, and how little time each girl had on the stage. After so many weeks and months of preparation, I thought there would be a little more time for each girl to show what they had accomplished. Watching the pageant answered a lot of my questions about the actual performance. For example, I was confused on what the “fun fashion” event was, which ended up being the first event in which the girls participated. Also, I wasn’t sure what role the runner ups played in the future and their important role was explained right before the crowning. I was shocked by a couple of the girls’ physical appearances, so watching the pageant helped tear down some of the stereotypes I have about the slim nature of beauty queens. I also had no idea that there were entertainers during the competition, which makes sense because it allowed the judges time to collaborate. I would like to learn more about the competitors’ interaction with one another backstage during the pageant. Lacey and Bree both assured me that they were great friends with the other competitors, but by the look on the runners-up faces I wasn’t so certain.
Although watching the pageant take place was informative and a great learning experience, I felt that the interviews and my observation of the coaching session are much more beneficial to my project. We were told to find out everything we could about the people of our community, and watching a pageant was more about the subject of pageantry and less about the pageant contestants themselves. I now completely understand the importance of observing at multiple locations; the interactions were not the same at both places and I received a totally different perspective from each location. The pageant didn’t highlight the dedication of the girls and all the fine details that goes into competing, so I found the coaching session more insightful.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment