Life With Daughters: Watching the Miss America Pageant is about the emphasis of white beauty in society and how black beauty is taught to be inferior to the "white barbie doll" look. The essay is written by Gerald Early, he is an American writer and essayist. He is currently the Merle Kling Professor of Modern letters, of English, African studies, African American studies, American culture studies at Washington University. Early's key audience in this essay is American women as the piece mainly focuses on the beauty expectations and roles for women in American culture. His overall message is that mainstream black beauty is lacking in American media and culture. Specifically the preference of stereotypical white features being deemed beautiful and stereotypical black features being deemed ugly. Early uses anecdotes to convey his message. Throughout the piece he talks about his wife and young daughters and how they were subjected to the preference of white beauty. This most notably in the annual watching of the Miss America Pageant which historically shows a preference of white beauty and how significant is was to his family when a black women, Vanessa William, won this pageant in 1983. By using anecdotes Early achieved his purpose of showing real life women struggle with these racial roles and how the media supports White beauty over black beauty. These stories are able to make a connection with his audience to ultimately validate his message.
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