The view on women
I don’t like the view on women which is expressed in the text or in the beauty queen business. The women are just sex objects, just tits and ass as Emma says in the text. They are not expected to have their own political opinion and to have other talents than looking good to satisfy others. The modeling company moves around with Emma like she is a tool to earn money and not a real person. They do not expect her to read her own contract, the breakfast she gets in bed which should be very glamorous is not for her but only for the cameras and even though she doesn’t like curly hair they make it cause she is not expected to have an opinion. This isn’t a way to treat a human being but sadly I think this kind of treatment is still used in the modeling business.
Emma Knight a feminist?
Already when she was young Emma Knight had her own opinions. Like in this quotation from the beginning of the text:
“I didn’t like being told by Seventeen magazine: Subvert your own interests if you have a crush on a guy, get interested in what he is interested in. If you play cards, be sure not to beat him.”
She didn’t like that the women should disregard their own interests. They needed to have their own interests, to have their own opinions. She didn’t like either that women should let men beat them when they play cards because women shouldn’t submit men. Men shouldn’t be the strongest sex. Men and women have to be equal and women have to dare. These are the opinions of a feminist.
Emma Knight also writes her own speeches. She doesn’t want a ghost writer and her speeches aren’t what people expected. Because she has her own political opinion and she isn’t afraid to speak it out loud. It isn’t normal that an ideal of female beauty should declare political opinions. This could also be an argument that Emma is a feminist.
The Miss USA-title a part of the American dream
The American dream is about becoming something. To become rich, to become a house owner or to become famous. The Miss USA-title is a part of the American dream because it is the teenage dream for a lot of girls. Everybody wants to be famous, to be chosen, to be beautiful and to be rich.
I can relate this text to another text I have read called Albertina Di Grazia. In this story an Italian girl and her family dream about a better life in America. This is like when the girls in this text dream about the good life that for them is to become famous and to be approved. Albertina Di Grazia and her family do also want to be approved this is just in another way. In their old town Montazzoli they lived under the old feudal system. They were all working for the baron who owned all of the land so they had a dream about moving up in the system or to get out of the system. The girls who want to be Miss USA do also want to move up in their system. The girls believe that it’s so lovely, funny and glamorous to be famous, and Albertina Di Grazia and her family believe that it’s so lovely, funny and easy in America. The difference in these to dreams is that Albertina Di Grazia gets her dream to come true and she actually ends up very happy for the rest of her life, but it is only a few of the girls who actually become Miss USA and those who do, do not end up happy for the rest of their lives.
