Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

Vanessa Williams & Miss America Contest

Vanessa Williams is a black singer, actress, and model who in 1983 was forced to resign from her position as Miss America--the first black Miss America. Her resignation came after Penthouse magazine printed a series of photographs taken of Williams some years before, photos seen as pornographic by pageant officials, who in any case seek to avoid scandal at all costs. In the year since that event, Williams has achieved much as an actress and singer, not becoming a major star, but working steadily and reaching the top of the pop music charts. Recently she released a video called The Comfort Zone Collection, and one of the videos on this tape is a visualization of the single that Williams recorded that reached the number one position, "Save the Best for Last." An examination of this video shows that the images used may be intended to refer to the scandal and to poke fun at the type of people who were offended by the photographs and who presumably caused her to resign.

The downfall of Williams was a particularly galling one at the time because she was representing more than just America--she was representing black women everywhere. She brought to the contest a new image to the standard of American beauty that usually excluded blacks. She stated at the time that she did not think her being black had anything to do with her qualifications to be Miss America, and as if with some precognition, she also stated, "I'm ready for whatever crisis I have to face." She was raised as a Roman Catholic in the middle-class, suburban hamlet of Millwood, New York, some 35 miles north of New York City. Her parents were both public school music teachers and were also the first blacks to move to Millwood. Vanessa remembers encountering some racist comments when she was a child. She and her brother were each required to learn at least one musical instrument. They were also taught to be responsible for money and for whatever they wanted to have--...

Page 1 of 7 Next >

More on Vanessa Williams & Miss America Contest...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
Vanessa Williams & Miss America Contest. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 04:46, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1690448.html