The Use Of Societal Standards In Libba Bray's 'Beauty Queens'

In Libba Bray’s novel, Beauty Queens, the reader follows a group of beauty pageant contestants who find themselves stranded on what appears to be a desolate island in the middle of nowhere. Overcoming all odds, the beauty contestants survive, find their true identities through their near-death experiences, and take down the pageant industry. Throughout the novel, the girls learn to stop caring about societal standards and accept themselves for who they are. Libba Bray uses beauty pageant contestants to illustrate the pressures of social norms that women face. Society’s status quo imposes unrealistic standards and expectations in a society where women are shamed into hiding their sexuality, creating false personas, and adhering to eurocentric beauty

The island becomes the girls’ escape from societal pressures and allows them to express their sexuality without a sense of shame. After consoling Adina for believing she was so stupid for sleeping with Duff, Mary Lou realized, “that the curse was in allowing yourself to be shamed. To let the world shape your desire and love into a cudgel with which to drive you back into a cave of fear. And Mary Lou had had enough” (265). Mary Lou realizes that her only family curse is being ashamed of who you are to fit into the status quo. On the island, she learns to express her sexuality instead of repressing it as a curse. She questions "why do girls have to be all pure and innocent and good" (299)? She illustrates the societal pressures to be the perfect, innocent, pure woman who was taught to be ashamed of her sexuality. This unrealistic expectation and realization allow her to understand that the problem isn't that she isn't pure, but that she is ashamed of her impurity. Her ability to realize and reject the status quo allows her to be free and express herself for who she is instead of the false persona created to appease society. Similarly, Sosie has struggled to find her