Book Review: "Here She Is" By Hilary Levy Friedman

"A fresh exploration of American feminist history told through the lens of the beauty pageant world."

As a graduate of John Casablancas Modeling School in Philly I can attest to much of what was stated in regards to the pageantry, helicopter parents, costly participation, and the behind the scenes action that involves some of the biggest names in the competition.

It's always about appearance and the pageant began with men utilizing women to keep others entertained in Atlantic City while staying longer and spending more.

The appeal and interest soon progressed to allow more women of different races and nationalities to participate and showcase not only their bodies but their talent, their intellect, their voices and more.

While courage, posture, and confidence may have been the partial takeaways in participating for me it was the comaderie, the excitement, the hope for something more.

Sure, many of us go on to achieve the highest accolades but as a young woman without that female lead I needed that confidence, that reassurance, that bit of hope that there was more out there in this hard, cruel, crushing world.

What I found was that while women can be catty many of these pageants were not only about the external but internal experience. If you weren't a chronic smiler you best not enter as you'll be told to smile every single time and not just the comfortable smile but that glamorous smile that lights up the room and dazzles everyone you meet.

For me it was also about the money, the expenses, the ability to venture out into casting, cold calls, head shots, interviews, and acting while reading screen plays for commercials in front of the camera.

It was being on point when the camera crew barked an order for a specific image such as if you were doing sporty, or casual, or athletic, or professional . Each photo shoot required a specific image that needed to be portrayed and as a model you must hit the mark and portray that shot.

Also, there's the experience of all things hair, makeup, fashion, and tutorials. I was born and raised a tomboy so for the girly girls this wasn't my thing. I'm not into skirts, dresses, or skimpy leg showing material but pants, suits, and the like so it was an experience to go outside the norm.

All in all I'm glad this shy gal was placed in this environment to break that mold but it was a scary adventure to not know would I be that gal that was approached by those crooked guys in lure of an exclusive promotion.

It was also scary in that the desire to stay rail thin led to many eating disorders for women and that self confidence was easily shattered when the blonde, blue eyed, tall, leggy, stick figure wasn't in and instead they wanted more diverse young women.

It's a rough business and I'm glad I read this new piece that illustrates just how rough it can be but also the positive sides as well and everything in between that showcases the pomp and circumstance.

Thank you to Bibliotheca for this e-read in exchange for this honest review.