assignment

The practice of citizenship

 When we think about citizenship, it's usually the manner in which a person is given legal rights within a country.  Citizenship in the U.S. can be granted through birth, or through  naturalization.  by which an immigrant is granted U.S. citizenship after they fulfill the requirements established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).  Race as a determinate was established as early as  1790 with the Naturalization Act.  That set aside citizenship for "free white persons."  This targeted the populations that were nonwhite in the U.S. at that time (African American slaves and freed persons and Native Americans) and carried over to every immigrant who eventually made their way to the U.S.  Equating whiteness to citizenry would translate to all facets of society, even in the world of beauty pageants.  

We will see the practice of citizenship in terms of demonstrating acts of belonging, perceived authenticity, and the cultural citizenship performed through beauty pageants. The way we would apply cultural citizenship is through the performance of rules, norms and acts within the beauty pageant realms (inception of the pageants, qualifications, evolution, and conflicts).  The culture within mainstream beauty pageants would then be adapted and altered by Asian Americans.  Through this week's lecture we will look at an American popular culture phenomenon that was developed to build commerce and evolved to a longstanding national tradition.  Through exclusion, Asian Americans will adapt parts of the American pageants and develop their own, perpetuating the rules of exclusion-by race. 

Roots: Miss America  

"In the summer of 1921, on the boardwalk of Atlantic City, an American icon was born".  This quote is the first line from the History page of the Miss America website.  The "American icon" (Miss America) embodied nation, gender, and race, and the contest attracted tourists and locals alike to spend their time and money in the Atlantic City Boardwalk.  This ploy worked well.  The idea of having beautiful women as lures for tourists to pour their money into this new attraction was simple and effective.  The symbol that she represented for the nation was much more than "just a pretty face", she was the embodiment of America. 

The Miss America winner, Margaret Gorman (as photographed above) was said to be the "ideal American woman", representing "the type of womanhood America needs; strong, red-blooded, able to shoulder the responsibilities of home-making and motherhood" (Samuel Gompers, AFL president).  Not surprising for the time, gendered roles were celebrated along with the physical beauty of a woman.  Gendered roles and expectations of what a fine American woman would be were cemented through this contest.  The heteronormative (the idea that heterosexuality is the only normal expression of sexuality) gendered roles were standard for the time and were not going to be challenged (at least not until women's rights movements decades later).  Race, the white race in particular, would also be an expectation or requisite until 1950 when the rule was abolished.   PBS has a copy of contract (Links to an external site.)  for sponsors from 1948 that shows the participants requirements.  Take a look at it, you'll be referring to it in this week's assignment.  Of course  today's requirements (Links to an external site.)  differ, reflecting progress over the decades.  

Out of exclusion, a pageant is born

As previously stated, one of the requirements to participate in the Miss American contest prior to 1950 was belonging to the White race (requirement number 7).  Asian Americans wanted to participate in the national contest since many felt American by nationality (born in the US) but of course did not fit the part because of their race.  Instead of fighting for inclusion (which would then erase the White requirement), Asian Americans created their own race based beauty pageants out of exclusion.  One pageant that has a longstanding history in California is the Nisei Week contest.  The Nisei Week contest has a similar history as the  National Miss America (Links to an external site.)  contest with the goal of boosting the economy for the communities.  The Nisei Week contest had additional goals in mind.  The second generation (Nisei) Japanese Americans were rapidly assimilating into the American culture which they believed to be good for the community but adversely saw the weakening economy of the Nihonmachi (Japantown).  They urged the Issei (first generation) to think about "opening the doors" to the community, to utilize the bridge in the community (the Nisei) to usher in outside dollars, stabilizing and possibly growing the ethnic economy.  

Nisei Week: Japanese Festival

The  first Nisei week (Links to an external site.)  took place in Los Angeles California in 1934.  As earlier mentioned, one of the main goals was to bring greater income to Little Tokyo/Nihonmachi during the recovery time from the great depression.  Nihonmachi was and ethnic enclave (a place/neighborhood of a high concentration of a specific ethnic group)  created by the Issei (first generation/immigrant genera(first generation/immigrant generation) as a safe space to build community.  They did not care to assimilate rather they celebrated their Japanese culture and enjoyed the intimacy of their enclave.  The Nisei (second generation, first American born) on the other hand were more motivated to assimilate, in the hopes that socializing and become educated in the greater society would expedite acceptance into the American culture.  The also knew that the festival could be a great opportunity to create connection to the greater society and to their own culture which the Issei were afraid of losing.  Just as the Miss America pageants utilize women to "bring in the bucks" to Atlantic City, the Miss Nisei Week pageant was deployed with the same intention.  The addition of the Nisei Week Queen pageant enabled women who were excluded from "white" beauty pageants to have a space and a crown of her own.  Partnering the appeal of the pageant with the goals of Nisei week, votes by ballots were earned through purchasing merchandise in Japantown.  This helped to invite community members and non community members alike to spend their money on votes and essentially build the economy of Japantown.  

 

Bridging the Gap

The  JACL (Links to an external site.)  (Japanese American citizens' league) played a major role in the development of Nisei Week.  These Nisei acted as a bridge between their parents and the greater society.  Having been educated and raised in the US, they were able to adapt many aspects of the mainstream society's culture.  They were becoming more civically involved, even if they did not find full acceptance into mainstream society.  Though they differed greatly in their approach from their parents' generation their intentions were the same, to save the declining Nihonmachi.  The first generation having faced first hand the ills of American discrimination had be accustomed to keeping their culture and community private.  The Nisei felt that the only way to gain acceptance into society was to open up the private community and Nisei Week would help to do just that.  

Nisei Week and the pageant enabled the community to display Japanese culture as well as American notions of citizenship.  In a passive manner, this act was part of a larger message which was that: 

“The Nisei is a new American. Racially of the Orient, he is true and loyal citizen of the United States, his native land. Young, ambitious, hopeful, though at times oppressed, he seeks to take his place in civic development and community progress.” John Maeno, chairman of the third Nisei Week.  

The "All American" Japanese

The pageant enabled outsiders a glimpse into a community that seemed so "foreign" while also encouraging the Nisei to celebrate and preserve their Japanese culture. This was a selling point for the Issei as they were worried about their children becoming "too" American.  Having the women display acts of culture helped to ease the Issei's concerns about the festival as a whole.  Just as Miss America acted as a representation of American women, Miss Nisei Week would become more than just a "pretty face" but also a gentle introduction to Japanese America.  She became a conduit to the American mainstream culture by way of her: 

Presentation: Her dress, behavior, presentation of self was a symbol for acceptance into mainstream society.

Display of a "Good Girl’: Adopting and displaying hegemonic American cultural values such as innocence, sexual purity, honesty and caring.

Acting the part: Looked, spoke and carried herself as American, she would be seen as such by others.

These women dressed in Japanese traditional clothing, performed traditional Japanese dances all the while being very "American" in their mastery of the English language and American customs.  Their femininity was widely accepted and celebrated by both cultures, and worked to ease the fears of the "foreign Japanese" in the United States.  She was a kind, gentle display of Japanese culture and showed the ability to live in two "worlds" simultaneously.  This quelled the "foreign" identity  and gained support from outside communities.  This acceptance would be short lived due to the impending war and the pageant would evolve in the 1960s and 1970s as women in the US changed their presence in society.    

Changes in society, changes in the pageant

In the first few years, the Japanese American community celebrated their culture with open doors to the greater society, even if the latter were not terribly interested.  Having the space to practice and exhibit parts of their heritage was uplifting to the community, reassuring the Issei that ethnic solidarity was still intact.  The fear from the greater society had lessened until of course, the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  With the internment of the Japanese the festival came a halt and aspects of the festival would be altered to ensure a more seamless return to normality.  Post WWII the aim of the festival and community as a whole was to regain trust from the greater society and to yet again revitalize Nihonmachi's economy.  In 1949 Nisei week started back up, and was symbolic as a return of joy and growth to the community.  

Empowered women

The Nisei Week pageant's inception enabled women to be included in a pageant and celebrated for Japanese American standards of beauty.  She played a pivotal role in the community as a representation of the kind, gentle Japanese American woman.  The contest itself was created, judged and managed by men.  Just as WWII made an impact on the nation, community and festival, so would the swell of civil rights and women's movements of the 1960's.  The Nisei, and Sansei (third generation) were definitely in tune with national politics since the JACL's aim was to become involved and civically responsible.  Many women were still interested in participating in the pageant but were unhappy with it's antiquated measures of victory (buying votes, management by men), and wanted the crown to represent much more.  

More than a pretty face

Participants in the beauty pageants wanted to continue celebrating their beauty, culture and heritage but wanted their crown to represent a more progressive beautiful woman.  The wanted to: 

Remove the "skebe" (perverted) old men as judges

Remove the swimsuit portion of the competition

Put more focus on community and professional service

Of course with change comes conflict.  The organizers were not the only ones who resisted the change but it was also other participants who wanted the pageant to stay as is, to celebrate the beauty of a Japanese American woman.  The two sides argued about the role of the pageant and queen.  One side argued that she would be a positive reflection of the community and everything that a women of the time was capable of being.  Though the other side agreed, they argued that in shifting the focus away from beauty, the initial purpose of having a space where a Japanese American women could be crowned for her beauty would be lost.  Eventually those changes came.  Because of the national movements for women's rights and empowerment changes felt natural.  Both the ethnic pageants as well as the Miss American pageant included portions to show a more well rounded woman.  Women would highlight their academic goals, community involvement and career goals while still practicing and displaying customary Japanese traditions in traditional and modern gowns. 

How Japanese must she be?

The Japanese were one of the largest of the first five Asian ethnic groups to migrate to the United States in the first wave but post World War II the numbers dwindled.  There was not a disparaging gender disparity as many Japanese in California came by way of Hawaii were women were encouraged to move.  The Issei were very insular not venturing far from the Nihonmachi.  The Nisei and Sansei however assimilated rapidly into the American society, climbing up the academic, social and political ladders.  Their involvement also meant a greater exposure and interaction with people other than Japanese Americans.  Out-marriage was not unheard of as the commonalities found in those social circles surpassed racial differences.  With population growth only achieved by reproduction, dating and marrying options for the Japanese (to Japanese) declined.  The growth of the multiracial community would become an issue of racial and ethnic "belonging" when attempting to be a Nisei Week Queen.  The racial measure of the Miss America beauty pageant pre-1950 stated that the contestant must be of the "white race".  This is what spurred the Nisei Week pageant.  The Nisei week pageant now had to contend with Japanese American woman who were not 100% Japanese.  The addition of the Nationality qualification (specifying that the contestant has to be 50% Japanese) created yet another point of contention within the pageant.  Struggling to thrive these adjustments had to be made in order to accommodate the growing mixed raced women  who actively wanted to represent their community, even if they didn't "look Japanese".  Of course these changes were inevitable, along with the changes of the Miss America contest where Asian Americans were becoming more involved.  

Having this space of belonging was important as a Japanese American woman, especially with it's inception from exclusion but times and qualifications have changed for the Miss America pageant.  Since the "white race" qualifier was out, would it be safe to say that and Asian American could and would be accepted as Miss America?  

Not American enough 

When we began this lecture we talked about the idea of whiteness and equating to citizenship.  The legal means and symbol of citizenship was discussed through the representation of Miss America.  Being part of the white race meant being a citizen, beautiful and worthy of the title.  Without that exclusion Nisei Week's beauty pageant (along with other ethnic beauty pageants) many have not come into fruition.  Of course we are in the dawn of a new day, right? We've moved passed the idea that only white is beautiful and a true representation of America, right? 

After 1950, "the white race" was no longer a requisite to compete in the Miss America pageant.  Though the qualification was obsolete, it took over thirty years and some controversy to crown the first black Miss. America.  (Like the Nisei Week pageant, the Miss Black America contest was born out of exclusion and forty years later, still continues today).  Through the 1960's and 1970's inclusion of women of color was not an important issue for the pageant to tackle, seeing as there were more protests than races to compete.  The 1980's saw a shift in national conversations of race, ethnicity gender and inclusion, which slowly increased the numbers of women of color in the national pageant.  

Finally in 1984, the first African American Miss America was crowned.  Vanessa Williams showed other women of color that it was a true possibility to become Miss America but again not without controversy.  She faced backlash about her skin tone, eye color, hair texture and finally lost her crown due to nude photographs surfacing.  Since her crowning there have been seven African American women crowned as Miss America.  In 2001 the first Asian American, Filipina from Hawaii was crowned, and that was Angela Perez Baraquio.  She was of a time that was pre-internet, pre-9/11 and pre-Obama presidency.  The 2014 crowned Miss America was not so lucky.  

When Nina Davuluri, the first Indian American woman was crowned in 2014 the Asian American/South Asian American community rejoiced.  The standard of American beauty was definitely different than fifty years prior and it was a true celebration to be crowning and Asian American Miss America.  Her excitement and joy was overshadowed by the mass audiences' ability to voice their opinions from behind a computer screen.  It was not even fresh wounds from September 11 but it was a fervor of politics, with some Americans unhappy with two persons of color representing the nation: a black president and an Indian American Miss America.  Twitter, apparently a space to air your grievances was flooded with hateful language after the crowning of Nina.  

In a nation that should be celebrating inclusion, divisiveness always is a tool to discourage the country moving forward in a more positive and progressive manner.  Thankfully, despite all of the ignorant remarks made online, Nina held her head high and continued to show her pose, contributing to more positive conversations around race in America.  Her presence sent a message that a South Asian American woman could represent the nation, building on the platform to move forward her goals and hopefully open up more doors for other South Asian/Asian American women.  The importance of inclusion within this space is the validation of Asian American's national citizenry.  Not only celebrating the beauty and accolades of a woman but that this "non-traditionally" looking Miss America can represent the nation and all of the good that it stands for.  

*In an interesting new development, the Miss USA contest (that differs from Miss America) just crowned their  Miss US of America Miss Minnesota. (Links to an external site.)   She is Hmong American!  The Hmong population is pretty large in Minnesota but her presence on the national scene will really bring their community to light.  Just something I found to be interesting considering this week's topic.