Hilary Levey Friedman, Visiting Assistant Professor of Education, is a sociologist and expert on beauty pageants, childhood and parenting, competitive afterschool activities, and pop culture. A graduate from Harvard University, Princeton University, and the University of Cambridge, She's the author of Here She Is and Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture. Levey Friedman is currently the President of the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Women (RI Now), serves on the Public Policy Committee of the United Way of Rhode Island, and is a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). 

Congratulations on your new book! Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America is set to be published later this year, drawing on years of researching and experiencing beauty pageants in the U.S. Can you share more about the book?

Thanks so much! I'm so excited to have this book out in the world soon. The short answer is that Here She Is uses beauty pageants to trace the arc of American feminism, beginning with Seneca Falls in 1848 up to the present day. Pageantry (Miss America, yes, but so much more) offers a window into changes in higher education, politics, entertainment, etc. And, no, I have never competed in a pageant...

Your mother was Miss America 1970 and you’ve served as a pageant judge in the past. Are there common misconceptions about the pageant industry that you hope to correct with Here She Is?

Well there's the reason I'm so interested in pageants -- they are quite literally in my blood.

There are so many assumptions about beauty pageants, and given I'm a social scientist I wanted to look at the data. For example, one of the most pervasive stereotypes is that most pageant winners look like Barbie with blonde hair, light eyes, very thin and tall. So, turns out that for decades Miss America reported the body measurements of contestants, along with college major and talent. I collected hundreds of program books, and then coded them, to see (among other things) if that stereotype is true. You'll have to read the book to find out!

You’ve written extensively on topics varying from beauty pageants and popular culture to childhood, parenting, and competitive afterschool activities. What drew you to focusing your research on these? What led you to a career in education?

I would say at the broadest level I'm interested in how generations are socialized, particularly when it comes to class position/inequality. How do schools, parents, and the space in between them reproduce culture? I have always been fascinated by what is dismissed or overlooked by society, but also academic research. I'd like to think I take it all seriously, but I will say that competition has been a thread of my work over the years.

You’ve been teaching at Brown for a few years now. What have you learned from your students?

My students are so creative with so much energy! And they come from so many different communities. I love learning about how we are all connected and can better work together to bend the arc of history toward justice in all ways.

From the book's synopsis: "Many predicted that pageants would disappear by the 21st century. Yet they are thriving. America's most enduring contest, Miss America, celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2020. Why do they persist?" Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America is set to be published in August 2020 by Beacon Press.