The best books for understanding how the Miss America pageant was born, what it means, and why it matters

Book cover of Drag Queens and Beauty Queens: Contesting Femininity in the World's Playground Book cover of Queens of Academe: Beauty Pageantry, Student Bodies, and College Life Book cover of "There She Is, Miss America": The Politics of Sex, Beauty, and Race in America's Most Famous Pageant Book cover of Being Miss America: Behind the Rhinestone Curtain Book cover of The Most Beautiful Girl in the World: Beauty Pageants and National Identity

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Book cover of The Most Beautiful Girl in the World: Beauty Pageants and National Identity Book cover of "There She Is, Miss America": The Politics of Sex, Beauty, and Race in America's Most Famous Pageant Book cover of Queens of Academe: Beauty Pageantry, Student Bodies, and College Life Book cover of Drag Queens and Beauty Queens: Contesting Femininity in the World's Playground Book cover of Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America Book cover of Raymie Nightingale

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