14 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 19, 1997
FRIDAYFOCUS -
Al i t
Atlantic
City's
'everthing
old
sparkle.
again'
I'S
new
A TLANT1C CITY, N.J. - To
many, the Miss America
Pageant is little more than an
annual swimsuit show.
But to the hundreds of pageant devo-
tees who spend their lives preparing
for the sparkling September evening,
and the thousands more supporters who
gather in Atlantic City to watch it, the
pageant is more than just two and a
half hours of entertainment - it's a
tradition, and even a way of life.
"It's just part of us," said Allen
Pergament, an Atlantic City native who
has childhood memories of the host
city's pageants. Pergament's history
with the pageant goes back to age five,
when he sold empty peach baskets at
the Friday boardwalk parade to onlook-
ers who wanted a better view.
His wife, Marlene, has contributed to
the pageant by serving as a contestant
hostess - a woman who accompanies
a particular contestant throughout the
course of the pageant.
More than 200 volunteers devote
two weeks each September to make the
dream of the pageant a reality for 51
young women.
Pageant volunteers go to great
extents to accommodate the contes-
tants. Press Director Tessa Goldsmith
said the staff held a "Down on the
Farm" day where volunteers dressed up
in costumes to make the contestants
more comfortable.
The most devoted fans by far are the
people who work for the Miss America
Pageant Program on the local and state
levels. Contestant
said. "It's just wonderful. You remem-
ber all the excitement."
Yet many supporters who flock to
Atlantic City have no affiliation with
the pageant at all.
Each year, the women in Christine
McCarthy's family leave their men
behind and travel from Voorhees, N.J.
for a girls-only night at the Friday
evening parade.
"It's just like a good, old-fashioned
tradition in America," McCarthy said.
"It gets people excited, some patriotic-
ness for their state."
Absecon, N.J. residents Barbara and
Carmen Melone said they still enjoy
attending pageant festivities, despite
this year's lack of the traditionally
elaborate floats sponsored by Atlantic
City casinos.
"I think it's a tradition that is
Atlantic City," Carmen Melone said.
"There's nothing else like this. There
never was and there never will be."
The pageant tradition began in 1920
as a swimsuit contest. It was started as
a way to extend the summer by giving
tourists an incentive to stay in Atlantic
City for an extra week after their Labor
Day vacations.
Since then, the Miss America organi-
zation has evolved into the world's
largest provider of scholarships exclu-
sively for women, giving nearly $32
million in scholarship money last year.
To modernize the event, the pageant
has shifted its focus toward the promo-
tion of talent and scholarship efforts,
but still includes the swimsuit competi-
tion despite the controversy surround-
ing it.
Two years ago, pageant viewers had
the chance to phone in and voice their
opinion on whether the swimsuit com-
petition should remain a part of the
competition. The public voted in favor
of keeping the segment.
The pageant attracts its share of folk
who disapprove of its philosophy.
Absent from this year's events was
"the meat woman" - a semi-annual
visitor who, according to Miss
America veterans, would stand outside
the convention hall draped in meat to
protest what some consider to be the
objectification of women by beauty
pageants.
Even those who dn't seem like the
pageant type make time in their sched-
ules to attend.
Photographer Annie Liebowitz said
she chose to attend this year's pageant
to get another look at women for her
upcoming book on women.
"The whole thing is steeped in con-
troversy," said Liebowitz, adding that
if it was up to her, she would get rid of
the swimsuit portion of the competi-
tion.
"I love tradition," Liebowitz said. "If
they can still have tradition and make
things better, I think it's great."
Some who attend the pageant make
sport of its shallow image - but in
good fun.
Pam Goodman and several of her
male and female friends dressed as
mock contestants for Saturday
evening's show. Wearing black cock-
tail dresses and suits, the group sported
9
"I don't think
there's a
,greater
opportunity
for women
than this
program.
- Tom Skogen
Miss Wisconsin executive
board member
entourages are
usually composed
of at least a dozen
pageant represen-
tatives who travel
from all corners
of the country in
hopes that their
"Miss" will be
chosen to wear
the crown.
"I don't think
there's a greater
opportunity for
women than this
program," said
Tom Skogen, a
member of
America executive
Wisconsin's Miss1
board.
Jon Ferguson, who has been
involved with the Miss Jefferson
pageant in Lakewood, Colo., since
1972, said members of "the pageant
culture" compose a tightly knit group
that returns annually.
"It's like a big family reunion,"
Ferguson said.
There is also a considerable showing
every year by former contestants,
whose hearts fill with nostalgia as they
sit in the audience, remembering their
moment in the spotlight.
Returning for her 10th anniversary
was Kay Lani Rae Rafko, the former
Miss Michigan who won the Miss
America crown in 1987.
"You come here and you just get
goosebumps and chills all over," Rafko
homemade banners printed with titles " (Above)Miss
like "Miss Demeanor," "Miss Take" Mississippi Myra
and "Miss Ellaneous."f Barginear sings a
"We love entertainment," said lsal talina
Goodman, who came from vocal piece,,"Una
Philadelphia to see the pageant for her vdring talent
first time. "Anything that's positive"et
Although no official tally is taken, com ttion
the gay community makes up a large Thursday, Sept.
part of the pageant's audience.
"I've lways said that,(the people
who attend pageants) are no more than ;(Right) Miss
the contestants, fat people and (gays)," North Carolina
said Paul Williams, an openly horno- Michelle Warren
sexual stand-up comedian from New sings ".And I'm
York. belling you I'm
"Gay men always put beauty on such notgoing" during
a high pedestal," Williams said. "It ' the talent
gives them a chance to live out their competition.
own fantasies." . arren was the
Despite their diversity, there is gen- overal:runner-up
eral feeling of camaraderie among in'the Miss
those attending the pageant. America
On the night of'the pageant, hotel competition.
elevators are jammed with visitors dis-
cussing their hometowns and placing
verbal bets on their favorite contes-
tants.
Walking down the boardwalk, peo-
ple seek out folks from their own'state
-identifiable by the contestant's but-
ton they're likely wearing-'to share
words of encouragement.
Pergament said the pageant's great
est accomplishment would he to use its ,
spirit to cure social ills.
"Wouldn't it be great if we acted this.
way toward some of the problems in
the world?" Pergament said.
After.all, the Miss America Pageant.Y:
is a place where dreams can come true,. '
(right) MissDistrict of
Columbia Sonya Gavankar
sings "The Power of the
Dream" on the second
night of preliminary
competitIons.
(left) Miss California
Rebekah Ann Keller
participates in a revue : f
deoicting the Miss America
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21 IMF* AIMUM
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