Bathing Suits and Backlash

Abstract

When we hear the words “women” and “pageant” together, most of us think of beauty pageants. This, however, was not always the case. Prior to 1921, most Americans had never heard of a “beauty pageant.” In the 1910s, the most popular and well-known female pageants were the elaborate, theatrical events created, produced, and performed by the woman’s suffragists. Hazel MacKaye, a leader in the suffrage movement, believed that pageants were the most powerful and convincing way to bring the equal rights campaign to the public. She wrote, “Through pageantry, we women can set forth our ideals and aspirations more graphically than in any other way.”1 Although pageants were a popular form of civic entertainment and reform agitation throughout the Progressive Era, no one produced more effective ones than the suffragists. In fact, scholars cite the suffragists’ skillful use of pageants as one reason for the success of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.2 Suffrage pageants consisted of a series of short scenes, or tableaus, that generally depicted important women in history, such as Joan of Arc or Florence Nightingale, and showcased women’s contributions to the community as mothers, pioneers, and workers. Such tableaus suggested that women’s suffrage was the next logical step in the march of progress. On stage, women portrayed historic figures or virtues such as “courage” or “justice,” which helped to normalize the presence of women in the public sphere and gave the participants confidence in their abilities and role models to emulate.