Miss America Season 1 Episode 5 Miss America 1959

Miss America season 1 episode 5, entitled "Miss America 1959," centers on the historical competition held in September 1958 in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the coveted title of Miss America. As the show delves deeper into the pageant’s rich history, it will provide an overview of the social, cultural, and political events of the time that shaped the spectacle in both tangible and intangible ways.

The hour kicks off with a brief summary of how the Miss America pageant came into existence and how it has evolved through the years. The show then quickly moves on to the contest's 1959 iteration, which was touted as the most controversial in its history. This year, the contestants were met with a barrage of protests from Feminist activists who argued that the competition was a sexist, objectifying platform that promoted harmful beauty ideals.

The protest narrative is weaved throughout the episode as we get to meet the contestants and hear their stories. Unlike other beauty pageants of the era, the Miss America competition emphasized qualities like intelligence, grace, and poise in addition to looks. We’re introduced to girls of all sizes, backgrounds, and nationalities, including unusually educated contestants with science and engineering degrees.

The episode moves on to provide an inside look into the rigorous four-day competition, including categories as talent shows and bathing suit and evening gown parades. Much of the focus is on the various skills and talents displayed by the young women, and it's clear that much of the bias around beauty was beginning to give way to actual performance abilities.

The judges' panel is examined in detail, including their criteria for selecting the Miss America 1959. The judges, led by chairman Joe Garagiola, were well-known figures in the entertainment world, and there were several rumors about how the win would play out based on the affiliations of certain judges.

The climax of the show is, of course, the announcement of the winner. As the winner is revealed, we get to see genuine joy on the faces of the contestants. The camera narrows in on the crowned winner’s ecstatic grin as she waves to the crowd in her sash and tiara. Her peers from other years come out to congratulate her, and the high of the moment is joyfully bittersweet.

The episode concludes with a reflection on the message the show has delivered. While the protests around the contest raised important questions about the role of women in society and intersectionality, Miss America represented in many ways the progress of women's rights in America. The show didn't shy away from discussing that the world was in a very different place in 1959. However, regardless, the contest was recognised as a valuable career opportunity for women, giving them a platform to display much more than their beauty alone.