Today, they are being put on by grammar schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges everywhere, not only in the southern USA. And when I say “everywhere,” I mean in other countries as well as throughout the USA.
Not only has the quantity of the pageants increased, but the quality of the pageants has improved, too. Some of the faux girls are drop dead gorgeous. Kudos to the moms and sisters who do their sons’ and brothers’ makeup and hair and lend them their evening gowns and cocktail dresses.
And the way the faux girls expertly walk in high heels makes one wonder how long they have been practicing. Do their stage mothers force their sons to practice weeks in advance of the pageant date?
And it makes one also wonder how many faux girls continue femulating after the pageant?
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| Wearing Lemoniade |
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| This image has been labeled a “womanless beauty pageant” photo on various websites, but I believe it is a Halloween photo with the participants dressed as characters from The Hunger Games. Whether the participant on the left is a male or a female has yet to be determined. If anyone can shed a light on that mystery, I’d appreciate hearing from you. |
My dad -- age 89 -- is still traumatized by the time he was the "flower girl" in a womanless wedding in the 1930s. They made him wear his mother's underpants, which fell off as he walked down the aisle. He shudders every time he tells us that story. (It was a mean thing to do to a painfully shy boy.)
ReplyDeleteAm pretty sure that this church fundraiser did not draw the same crowd as modern WWs. Although, now that I think about it ... never mind. The rest of those old men have long ago gone to glory. And I'm sure they look FABULOUS.
LinB's story reminds me of a promotion often used at halftime at my university's basketball games. There are two kids who have to put on a team's uniform and run down the court to make a basket. The shorts are ALWAYS too big and fall down. It's an exercise in getting cheap laughs by making the kids look ridiculous -- we laugh at their humiliation. Well, I don't and have complained to the organizers about it.
ReplyDeleteI have full empathy for LinB's dad. MY dad was big on humiliating me and my siblings, though the episode of LinB's dad wouldn't be one of his nasty stunts. He wouldn't allow us to do "women's work" --just simple chores! -- because he thought it would turn us into "queers". You should check me out now, Dad! Maybe it will make you roll in your crypt!
Stana, I found my way to you via your wealth of "Womenless Beauty Pageants" photos. I noticed most of them were in the south and midwest, and not in "our" northeast region. I'm not sure why that's the case. But I always thought that if my mother had dressed me I would have looked fabulous because she was such a perfectionist with everything she did. Never happened.
ReplyDeleteNow, as society has gotten over "queer" scares and is seeing Drag Queens so often on TV, people aren't threatened by Drag. In fact, recent Hallowe'ens here in Baltimore have a growing number of men in dresses. But now these folks are insisting on looking good, not so much just a man trooping around in women's clothing. RuPaul has set the bar high for everyone, not just Drag Queens and us! Now those "men in dresses" are self-conscious about looking good, not being seen in a dress! To quote an old boss of mine, "It's up and to the right".