Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder remake of Twilight Zone episode

1. Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholderremake of Twilight Zone episode • Part I 11 mins • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlRXV-WTZ2E&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL4400E42BE293CAD5 • Part II 6 mins • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXH0Q9-PLzc&feature=related • Part III 5 mins • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nbF_iQ5l7Q&feature=related

2. ancient custom: choosing symbolic kings and queens for May Day in Europe, where beautiful young women symbolized the nation, virtue, other ideals

3. 1st modern pageant = P.T. Barnum’s in 1850s. Closed down by public protest (he had previously held dog, baby, and bird beauty contests). He substituted “daguerreotypes” for judging, a practice quickly adopted by newspapers, which held photo beauty contests for many decades.

4. 1st “bathing beauty” pageant took place as part of a summer festival to promote business in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware, in 1880.

5. Modern beauty pageant traces it origins to the Miss America pageant, first held in Atlantic City, NJ, in 1921. Deliberately held in September to keep attracting tourists to the beach after Labor Day.

6. The contest was not considered respectable entertainment and was shunned by middle-class society. Pageants did not become respectable until World War II, when beauty queens were recruited to sell bonds and entertain troops; scholarships and talent competitions accompanied scrutiny of contestants’ morals and background.

7. The pageant has been nationally televised since 1954 - the same year that “There She Is” became the show’s signature song. The pageant peaked in the early 1960s when it was repeatedly the highest-rated program on American TV, attracting nearly 30 million viewers. It was seen as a symbol of the U.S.; Miss America was often referred to as the female equivalent of the President. Beauty contests often have rules regarding the sexual “purity” of the contestants: for example, they must not be married, must not become pregnant, must agree to remain celibate during their “reign.”

8. The pageant stressed conservative values; contestants were not expected to have ambitions beyond being a good wife. It was also open only to whites; a parallel Miss Black America pageant was held. In 1984, Vanessa Williams became the first African-American winner, but was forced to relinquish her title when Penthouse published nude pictures of her that were taken before her victory.

9. Many feminists regard beauty contests as degrading to females, and particularly object to contestants parading in swimsuits and high heels. With the rise of feminism and civil rights movement, the pageant became a focus of protests each year and the audience began to fade. 1968 protest announced the arrival of the feminism movement: freedom trash can – bras (not bra burning), girdles, curlers, false eyelashes, wigs, Cosmopolitan, Ladies’ Home Journal

10. The pageant’s audience has eroded. In 2004, its 50th anniversary of being televised, the promoters put more emphasis on bathing suits, but when the audience fell to 9.8 million viewers (a record low), ABC dropped the pageant. “There She Goes” - in 2005, the pageant announced a new television agreement with cable network Country Music, a switch in schedule from September to January, and a move away from Atlantic City.

11. Miss America: Behind the CurtainTLC Special • “Shocking revelations” that contestants spray their bodies with hairspray to prevent jiggling and with WD-40 to keep their gowns from sticking to “certain areas” • 2010’s winner, Caressa Cameron, 22 – a former Miss Virginia and the 8th African-American to win the crown – was happy to come clean. • “I was really excited about the show. It was good for people to know that there are little tricks of the trade that make sure we look our best. WD-40 is absolutely awesome.”

12. The 2002 Miss World contest, which was held in Nigeria, the country of the 2001 winner, witnessed mass riots that killed 200; a “fatwa” against a female journalist caused the pageant to be moved to London.

13. Other contests include the yearly Miss World (founded 1951), Miss Universe (founded 1952), and Miss Earth (founded in 2001, for environmental awareness) , Miss Digital World (founded in 2005 for virtual models). Numerous other smaller pageants around the globe: Garden State’s Dairy Princess, Maine’s Lobster Queen and Blueberry Queen, Wisconsin’s Miss Wheelchair (2005 winner was stripped of the title when she was seen standing up), China’s Miss Plastic Surgery.

14. Miss Congeniality • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmCXbkl1ykI • Start 1:15; end 5:30 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hxEoHAn3yQ • End 5:20 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM5EppuxI9k • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yu3MNbyBOI • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCikgam8yyM • End 2:45

15. The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women: $45 million in cash and scholarships • Maintained a tradition for many decades of empowering young women to achieve their personal and professional goals, while providing a forum in which to express their opinions, talent and intelligence. Scholarships have been the cornerstone of the Miss America program since 1945 when Bess Myerson was the first Miss America. • Participating in the Miss America system not only helps you pay for college and prepare for a career, it also provides an opportunity to gain additional life experience, working on issues of importance to society, enhancing your personal and professional skills and developing your performance-related and other talents.

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22. 2012 Miss Wisconsin: Laura Kaeppeler, 23. unusual background: her father was in federal prison for mail fraud. her mission: she wants children of incarcerated adults to feel less alone, to have mentoring and as much of a relationship with their parents as possible. She majored in music and vocal performance in college and initially said she wanted to become a speech therapist, but now Kaeppler plans to use her $50,000 scholarship money to become a lawyer, specializing in helping children of incarcerated adults.

23. Become a Contestant "I did lots of things. I was a pianist, but not quite good enough to get a music scholarship; an athlete, but I didn't play a varsity sport; smart, but not smart enough to get an academic scholarship. So competing in the Miss America program was an opportunity to get a scholarship for school." Kellye Cash - Miss America 1987 You have ideas and plans and goals - so much to offer the world - but how? Each year young women just like you choose to compete in the Miss America system. That's right! Many of them are just like you - yet they know that Miss America is the single largest provider of scholarships for young women in the world. To become Miss America, a contestant must first win a local competition and then compete to represent her state. A woman may compete as a state titleholder only once at the national Miss America competition. More than 12,000 young women participate each year in the local and state events, culminating in the selection of 52 national finalists who vie for the Miss America title in Las Vegas. All you need is commitment, perseverance, talent and ambition.

24. Becoming a Contestant Facts: To compete you must • Be between the ages of 17 and 24. • Be a United States citizen. • Meet residency requirements for competing in a certain town or state. • Meet character criteria as set forth by the Miss America Organization. • Be in reasonably good health to meet the job requirements. • Be able to meet the time commitment and job responsibilities as set forth by the local program in which you compete.