Austin Economy

Pageants

Beauty pageants, like many other social rituals reinforce traditional ideas of gender, beauty and perfection. Beyond this role of reinforcement, pageants serve as a symbol- a symbol of the experience of a woman.
There are moments reminiscent of childhood hopes, purity and beauty. Relationships tangled with jealousy, competition and resentment reveal themselves through the pageant process.
For me, these moments represent something larger- the experience of being a woman and trying to understand ideas of perfection.