“Get him to talk about himself”: Miss America, 50s Sitcom Daughters, and the Feminine Ideal

Abstract

In 1954, the longstanding Miss America pageant became a nationally televised event. American families were able to witness the final portion of the competition, generally incorporating the talent performances and interviews with the finalists. As it made its way onto the small screen, the pageant and its prescribed notion of 1950s femininity fed upon and reinforced similar unrealistic beauty and comportment ideals that were showcased and reified through 1950s sitcoms.

In this paper, I will compare the performance of femininity by the Miss America contestants in the pageants broadcast from 1954-1959 with the weekly depiction of young women on television shows like Father Knows Best, Bachelor Father, and The Donna Reed Show. These television broadcasts were consumed widely and presented a rigid definition of proper behavior for young women between the ages of 13 and 22. How did these broadcasts amplify problematic messages for young female viewers in the 1950s? What, if any, critiques did the contestants or sitcoms raise regarding “traditional” gender roles?