Margot Mifflin's Blog

Margot Mifflin. Counterpoint, $28 (320p) ISBN 978-1-64009-223-5

Mifflin (Bodies of Subversion), an English professor at
Lehman College, intertwines the histories of the Miss America pageant
and American feminism in this vigorously researched and wryly humorous
account. Over the past century, Mifflin contends, the pageant—which
began in Atlantic City in 1921—has exemplified social tensions over
gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity. She notes that one early
contestant was arrested on the beach for wearing the same “sea togs”
she’d worn on stage the day before; that African-American women were
officially excluded from the competition until the 1950s; and that only
one Jewish woman has ever won. As the contest evolved from crowning “the
girl next door” to anointing the “biggest glampots,” Mifflin writes,
the addition of a scholarship program tried to “cover the skin show with
the fig leaf of a diploma.” Mifflin profiles famous contestants (Bess
Myerson, Gretchen Carlson, and Vanessa Williams) in depth, but also
allows less-familiar names, including Yolande Betbeze, whose refusal to
participate in the swimsuit portion of the contest led to the creation
of the rival Miss USA pageant, to take center stage. This incisive and
entertaining history deserves the spotlight. Agent: Linda Chester, the Linda Chester Literary Agency, (Aug.)

…a Library Journal Most Anticipated Books of 2020 pick!

I wrote this essay about the dad I barely knew for O, The Oprah Magazine.

I chatted about tattooed women, Mohave Indians, and Miss America with Cara Santa Maria on Talk Nerdy.

Read it here. 

Proud to have served as an advisor on a portion of the historic exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art “Items: Is Fashion Modern?”

 Items: Is Fashion Modern?

Read it here:

Items: Is Fashion Modern? at the Museum of Modern Art

I served as an advisor on this exhibition, which traces our tattoo history back to the Iroquois, New York’s first tattooed people, and features a slew of top notch NYC tattooists from Stephanie Tamez to Duke Riley.