The Miss America pageant has been held in Atlantic City for the past hundred years, helping to promote the city as a tourist destination. But just a few streets away, the city hosts a smaller event that, in its own way, is equally vital to the local community: the Miss’d America drag pageant. Drag Queens and Beauty Queens presents a vivid ethnography of the Miss’d America pageant and the gay neighborhood from which it emerged in the early 1990s as a moment of campy celebration in the midst of the AIDS crisis. It examines how the pageant strengthened community bonds and activism, as well as how it has changed now that Rupaul’s Drag Race has brought many of its practices into the cultural mainstream. Comparing the Miss’d America pageant with its glitzy cisgender big sister, anthropologist Laurie Greene discovers how the two pageants have influenced each other in unexpected ways. Drag Queens and Beauty Queens deepens our understanding of how femininity is performed at pageants, exploring the various ways that both the Miss’d America and Miss America pageants have negotiated between embracing and critiquing traditional gender roles. Ultimately, it celebrates the rich tradition of drag performance and the community it engenders.

Reviews:
“An unprecedented look at drag culture and its history in Atlantic City. A must-read for queens and their fans!” ––Sapphira Cristal, Miss’d American 2020

“I have long wondered how the Miss America pageant maintains a conservative appeal while ignoring the known influence and involvement by the gay community. If you’ve ever known or loved Miss America, you need this history lesson.” ––Erin O’Flaherty, Miss Missouri 2016, first openly lesbian Miss America contestant

“Dr. Greene provides as incredibly rich, nuanced, sensitive and insightful analysis of embodied gender performance. This is a book that should become a standard in cultural anthropology courses for a spectrum of reasons. It is based on incredibly intensive, highly personalized ethnography, provides a wonderful example of gendered performativity, focuses on an incredibly important issue of social justice and rights – the objectification of bodies, rank prejudice and the erasure of agency – but then turns the lens around and makes the reader examine their own embodied performance of self; their own politically subject position. Drag Queens and Beauty Queens is also one of the best cultural geographies of a city that I have ever read. The history of Atlantic City as a cultural environment literary comes alive in a way that reflects Dr. Greene’s deep understanding of the worlds of experience this urban space has made possible. Dr. Greene writes beautifully, and in a way that goes well beyond description to evoke critical, empathetic, empowered understanding.” —Joseph Alter,

“After 30 years in the drag business, I was surprised and elated to learn so much about drag/LGBTQ+ history in Atlantic City. The in-depth exploration of how Miss America and Miss’d America were connected and disconnected is fascinating.” —Sherry Vine, Drag Legend

“Through a highly entertaining, insightful, and informative combination of history, ethnography, and gender studies, Greene uncovers the long-standing influence that Atlantic City’s LGBTQ+ community has had on the Miss America Pageant.” ––Rusty Barrett, author of From Drag Queens to Leathermen: Language, Gender, and Gay Male Subcultures “

The subject matter is fascinating.” —Gay & Lesbian Review

” The REAL TEA!  What an excellent book. Anyone who’s ever laughed an at episode of Drag Race, gotten excited about the over the top glamour of the Miss America Pageant, or who just would enjoy learning a little more about the history of Atlantic City will find something to love in Drag Queens and Beauty Queens. Dr. Greene spends more time investigating the Miss’d America Pageant, the drag-younger-sibling to the Miss, which you’d expect as the much lesser known history, and some pages on the intersection of the two as well. While this book would definitely be a good non-fiction summer read for anybody, every so often you’re reminded that the author is a professional anthropologist with an aside to discuss a concept being explored that’s related to the field – because it’s definitely a book that could also be used as one of the texts in the coolest of college classes. Go ahead and judge this book by its cover because there’s a lot going on beneath the surface, you won’t be disappointed. — Chloe

“Great story of old Atlantic City in the late 60s through now. I was apart of the 60s and 70s spending all summers around New York Avenue so it’s all very familiar. Beautifully written and right on target. I love owning this book.” –Bruce

“Having grown up near Atlantic City, I was always aware of the Miss America pageant being a part of local culture that seemed both tacky and outdated, much like the city in general. This book cast a new light on the complexities of pageant culture and its implications for feminism, as well as the vibrant queer culture that has existed in Atlantic City for decades (and which I was never aware). The most memorable part of this book for me was Greene’s account of the not-as-well-known, but equally important Miss’d America (drag) pageant, and how queer culture has influenced the Miss America pageant over time, a subject that is well known among the local LQBTQ community but has never been written about before. I also found extremely interesting the role that physical place has played in the evolution of both pageants, along with the Miss America organization’s attempts to modernize the pageant and divorce it from local culture, all the while alienating most of its original fans. Meanwhile, the Miss’d America drag pageant has gained a broader appeal, in large part due to the mainstreaming of drag through RuPaul’s Drag Race, even as much of the original “campiness” has been lost. This book is an ethnography that has something for everyone. Greene places her research in the context of contemporary gender theory, but successfully avoids slogging down the prose with jargon. It is a fun and elucidating read even for someone who has never studied anthropology. And she was extremely thorough in researching her most central subjects, drag queens! At times, the long interview excerpts make you feel like you’re just hanging with the “girls” after a show. A great mix of history, theory, and good old fashioned fun!” —Naomi

“I thoroughly enjoyed this ethnographical work by anthropologist Laurie Greene. If you are looking for a book that effortlessly blends theory with ethnography, then you will delight in this work. Greene, through the medium of story, reclaims and reconstructs the histories and relationships of Atlantic City’s LGBT community and its Miss’d America Pageant to the Miss America Pageant. Greene, and her interviewees, demonstrate the ways in which the drag queen Miss’d America Pageant and the cis-female Miss America Pageant co-exist, commingle, and sometimes challenge each other. The tone of the work is conversational. During my reading of the book, I felt like I was sitting around listening to the icons and legends of Atlantic City’s drag scene share their stories. I was a voyeur to their memories, and I was loving every minute of it. Greene’s involvement in and love for this community that she is writing about is palpable in every word of her work. This work evoked a mixture of nostalgia, loss, grief, and hope. It also touches on ranges of topics from camp, HIV/AIDS, and gender theory. In listening to the memories that are shared, it is difficult to fathom “what was” versus “what is” the reality of Atlantic City and its LGBT community. Through the stories of these queens, we are offered a glimpse into that world of yesteryear. As a glutton for Theory, I enjoyed Greene’s conversations with theorists like Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, and Michel de Certeau. While I may not have been convinced by Greene’s critique of Butler’s Performative Gender Theory, this did not distract from my overall enjoyment of the story that is being told. Greene is also able to discuss theory without distracting from her overall narrative. I was particularly interested in Greene’s utilization of de Certeau’s concept of “place” as it relates to memory for the Atlantic City LGBT Community and the Miss America Pageant. Greene’s stories of New York Avenue and “Snake Alley,” the place of Atlantic City’s gay community, are especially timely considering the recent attempt to develop this area as a hangout for hipsters. Many of New York Avenue’s current patrons remain blissfully, and intentionally, unaware of the blood, sweat, and glitter that was spilled on these storied streets. In a very digestible 167 pages of narrative, Greene offers a lot. This work could certainly be expanded, it covers a lot of history. Throughout its chapters and sections, it offers plenty of jumping points for what I hope would be further sites of research and exploration. I also enjoyed the photographs that were included in the work. The maps and images helped to enrich the stories being narrated. Through Greene and her Queens, New York Avenue and her spangled specters are manifested and offered a chance to once again bring joy to the masses. ” –-Hunter

“I’ve been reading Laurie Greene’s book and I want to visit Snake Alley and the Civil Rights Garden in AC. I was a lifeguard at the hotel pool in Snake Alley one summer. What a hilarious story that is!!! I forgot all about it until I read her book.” –-Jacy

I just finished reading your book. Thank you! I am a lesbian from Philly that moved down to the area in 1989 and I had no idea.Embarrassed to say I had No idea of the history behind Miss’d America or Miss America for that matter. I used to go to the gay bars and been to drag shows in AC. Hell, I first kissed Bobbie at the Brass Rail . I now have a different appreciation for both events and the history behind the stars . My next drag show will be viewed differently and with more respect for the trade. Thanks again and have a great day!” —Michelle

“Greene’s prose is delightful and imaginative. The work standing out as both an illustration of the horrors of hegemonic oppression and the beauty of an adaptable subculture. Drag Queens and Beauty Queens adds to the growing body of work that provides insight into the development and practice of gender norms and their influence on the tapestry of national identity formation, maintenance, and adaptation. Greene interweaves interview responses within the story of Atlantic City and the queer subcultures therein, offering illustrative writing conducive for academic and philosophical grappling. This work would be productively placed into conversation with scholarship investigating gender as an intersectional and evolving sociocultural identity as well as with scholarship exploring place-specific impacts of drag on national identity and cultural formation. As such, Greene’s work is of interest to those studying the importance of place on sociological and anthropological investigations of identity formation, especially those interrogating queer culture and the impact of artistic performance on identity-based communities -” —Gender in Society