Making Miss India Miss World: Constructing Gender, Power, and the Nation in Postliberalization India (Gender and Globalization)

Through the unexpected lens of the 2003 beauty pageant, Susan Dewey's Making Miss India Miss World examines what feminine beauty has come to mean in a country transformed by recent political, economic, and cultural developments. For almost half a century, the Miss India competition has been a prominent feature of Indian popular culture, influencing, over time, the conventional standard for female beauty. As India participates increasingly in a global economy, that standard is gradually being shaped by forces beyond the country's borders. Through the unexpected lens of the 2003 beauty pageant, Susan Dewey's Making Miss India Miss World examines what feminine beauty has come to mean in a country transformed by recent political, economic, and cultural developments. Dewey offers readers an up-close view of the beauty pageant through her discussion of the contestants' intense training program, a process that involves extensive physical, emotional, and cultural transformations. Covering everything from proper table etiquette to preferred skin tone, the author reveals the exacting standards set by pageant officials and reflected in Indian society. Yet she also recognizes the empowerment these women are afforded by their status as beauty symbols in a culture increasingly shaped by the visual influence of national and international media. Making Miss India Miss World constitutes an important cultural critique and an enlightening take on how macroeconomic change affects cultural identity at the individual level. For almost half a century, the Miss India competition has been a prominent feature of Indian popular culture, influencing, over time, the conventional standard for female beauty. As India participates increasingly in a global economy, that standard is gradually being shaped by forces beyond the country's borders. Through the unexpected lens of the 2003 beauty pageant, Susan Dewey's Making Miss India Miss World examines what feminine beauty has come to mean in a country transformed by recent political, economic, and cultural developments.

Dewey offers readers an up-close view of the beauty pageant through her discussion of the contestants' intense training program, a process that involves extensive physical, emotional, and cultural transformations. Covering everything from proper table etiquette to preferred skin tone, the author reveals the exacting standards set by pageant officials and reflected in Indian society. Yet she also recognizes the empowerment these women are afforded by their status as beauty symbols in a culture increasingly shaped by the visual influence of national and international media.

Making Miss India Miss World constitutes an important cultural critique and an enlightening take on how macroeconomic change affects cultural identity at the individual level.

Cover 1 Title Page 5 Copyright Page 6 Dedication Page 7 Contents 9 List of Illustrations 11 Acknowledgments 13 Beauty as Cultural Performance 17 Part One: The Power of the Gaze 65 Women of Substance? Situating Self under the Gaze 67 Watching Miss World 107 Part Two: Gender 141 Strı Sakti and the Rhetoric of Women’s Empowerment 143 Part Three: Globalization 171 Structural Adjustment and “International Standards” 173 Miss India and National Identity 211 Conclusion 236 Glossary 243 Works Cited 245 Index 251 "For almost half a century, the Miss India competition has been a prominent feature of Indian popular culture, influencing over time the conventional standard for female beauty. Through the unexpected lens of the 2003 beauty pageant, Susan Dewey's Making Miss India Miss World examines what feminine beauty has come to mean in a country transformed by recent political, economic, and cultural developments."--BOOK JACKET. Miss India competition has become a prominent feature of Indian popular culture, influencing, over time, the conventional standard for female beauty. Through the lens of the 2003 beauty pageant, the author examines what feminine beauty has come to mean in a country transformed by political, economic, and cultural developments. Beauty as cultural performance Women of substance? situating self under the gaze Watching Miss World Strī śakti and the rhetoric of women's empowerment Structural adjustment and "international standards" Miss India and national identity Conclusion: Miss India in the postliberalization candy store.