Queens of Academe

"""This is the first book to provide a complete history of campus beauty contests and their deep embedding in American life, as we strive to provide ways in which young women can fulfill themselves. Whether we condemn judging women by beauty standards or understand that this imperative goes back to the ancient Greeks, we know that beauty and its manifestations drive our culture as much as athletic contests and games."" --Lois Banner, University of Southern California ""Queens of Academe unearths the fascinating past and explores the complicated present of campus beauty pageants. Through nuanced analysis of the dynamics of class and race, Tice skillfully critiques celebrations of consumption and competition as forms of women's empowerment and provides a timely and fascinating perspective on entrepreneurial conservative Christianity. Karen Tice shows us that campus pageants are the ideal place to view the neoliberal transformation of the university."" --Maxine Craig, University of California - Davis ""This book is ethnography at its best. Karen Tice takes her readers into the lively world of campus beauty pageants from multiple vantage points. The book pulls back the curtain on the hidden curriculum of class, race, gender, and sexuality in college life and learning; the marketing of higher education; and how to use the study of campus culture as a teachable moment. It belongs on every college reading list."" --Wendy Luttrell, Graduate Center, City University of New York ""This book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the pageantry phenomenon and issues of feminism and gender norms."" --Contemporary Sociology ""Tice has made a significant contribution to understanding several normative threads that when woven together constitute much of our unique American culture."" --International Social Science Review"