Vanessa Williams Part 1: Becoming Miss America

Mike tells Sarah how a 20-year-old singer, actress and French horn player became Miss America with less than six months of practice. Digressions include Ted Bundy, Stephen King’s “It” and a bonus debunking of the "bra-burning feminist" trope. We're sorry to say that this episode includes a description of child sexual abuse.

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Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads
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Clips!

• Opening musical number
• Vanessa introduces herself
• Talent competition
• Swimsuit
• Vanessa wins!

Links!

• Sarah's Miss America piece!
• Vanessa and Helen’s memoir, “You Have No Idea”
• Margot Mifflin’s “Looking for Miss America”
• Vanessa Williams, Whitney Houston and Hollywood’s Misogynoir Problem
• Vanessa Williams: A Beauty Queen’s Crown of Thorns
• Miss America--The Inside Story
• First Black Miss America Finds Unforeseen Issues
• Ain’t I a Beauty Queen?: Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race
• Life with Daughters: Watching the Miss America Pageant
• 'A Felony Just to Own': The Sleazy Story Behind Penthouse’s Most Controversial Issue
• There She Goes, Miss America
• Most Famous Miss America In History
• 1989 People magazine article
• In Black and White
• Putting on a Happy Face

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