Audiobook13 hours
There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America
Written by Amy Argetsinger
Narrated by Deanna Anthony
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
A Washington Post style editor’s fascinating and irresistible look back on the Miss America pageant as it approaches its 100th anniversary.
The sash. The tears. The glittering crown. And of course, that soaring song. For all its pomp and kitsch, the Miss America pageant is indelibly written into the American story of the past century. From its giddy origins as a summer’s-end tourist draw in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, it blossomed into a televised extravaganza that drew tens of millions of viewers in its heyday and was once considered the highest honor that a young woman could achieve.
For two years, Washington Post reporter and editor Amy Argetsinger visited pageants and interviewed former winners and contestants to unveil the hidden world of this iconic institution. There She Was spotlights how the pageant survived decades of social and cultural change, collided with a women’s liberation movement that sought to abolish it, and redefined itself alongside evolving ideas about feminism.
For its superstars—Phyllis George, Vanessa Williams, Gretchen Carlson—and for those who never became household names, Miss America was a platform for women to exercise their ambitions and learn brutal lessons about the culture of fame. Spirited and revelatory, There She Was charts the evolution of the American woman, from the Miss America catapulted into advocacy after she was exposed as a survivor of domestic violence to the one who used her crown to launch a congressional campaign; from a 1930s winner who ran away on the night of her crowning to a present-day rock guitarist carving out her place in this world. Argetsinger dissects the scandals and financial turmoil that have repeatedly threatened to kill the pageant—and highlights the unexpected sisterhood of Miss Americas fighting to keep it alive.
The sash. The tears. The glittering crown. And of course, that soaring song. For all its pomp and kitsch, the Miss America pageant is indelibly written into the American story of the past century. From its giddy origins as a summer’s-end tourist draw in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, it blossomed into a televised extravaganza that drew tens of millions of viewers in its heyday and was once considered the highest honor that a young woman could achieve.
For two years, Washington Post reporter and editor Amy Argetsinger visited pageants and interviewed former winners and contestants to unveil the hidden world of this iconic institution. There She Was spotlights how the pageant survived decades of social and cultural change, collided with a women’s liberation movement that sought to abolish it, and redefined itself alongside evolving ideas about feminism.
For its superstars—Phyllis George, Vanessa Williams, Gretchen Carlson—and for those who never became household names, Miss America was a platform for women to exercise their ambitions and learn brutal lessons about the culture of fame. Spirited and revelatory, There She Was charts the evolution of the American woman, from the Miss America catapulted into advocacy after she was exposed as a survivor of domestic violence to the one who used her crown to launch a congressional campaign; from a 1930s winner who ran away on the night of her crowning to a present-day rock guitarist carving out her place in this world. Argetsinger dissects the scandals and financial turmoil that have repeatedly threatened to kill the pageant—and highlights the unexpected sisterhood of Miss Americas fighting to keep it alive.
Author
Amy Argetsinger
Amy Argetsinger is an editor for The Washington Post’s style section. A staff writer since 1995, she covered a variety of news beats and went on to write the Reliable Source column for eight years. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband and daughter. You can follow her on Twitter @AmyArgetsinger.
Related to There She Was
Related audiobooks
When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Diamonds and Deadlines: A Tale of Greed, Deceit, and a Female Tycoon in the Gilded Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Season: A Social History of the Debutante Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gilded Suffragists: The New York Socialites who Fought for Women's Right to Vote Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Queen Bess: An Unauthorized Biography of Bess Myerson Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Husband Hunters: American Heiresses Who Married into the British Aristocracy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All That Glitters: Anna Wintour, Tina Brown, and the Rivalry Inside America's Richest Media Empire Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Irrepressible: The Jazz Age Life of Henrietta Bingham Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First Ladies: The Ever Changing Role, from Martha Washington to Melania Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confidential Confidential: The Inside Story of Hollywood's Notorious Scandal Magazine Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Inseparable: The Original Siamese Twins and Their Rendezvous with American History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heiresses: The Lives of the Million Dollar Babies Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters: The Tragic and Glamorous Lives of Jackie and Lee Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Come Fly The World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Betty Ford: First Lady, Women's Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eleanor in the Village Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bridesmaid's Daughter: From Grace Kelly's Wedding to a Women's Shelter - Searching for the Truth About My Mother Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJackie's Girl: My Life with the Kennedy Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Camera Girl: The Coming of Age of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
History For You
Who Cooked the Last Supper?: The Women's History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mary Magdalene: Women, the Church, and the Great Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Restaurant: A History of Eating Out Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of Art Without Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lafayette in the Somewhat United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Endurance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson And The Opening Of The American West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy: And the Path to a Shared American Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Small Mercies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An American Marriage: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for There She Was
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
2 ratings0 reviews