The Miss Australia Awards are about to be examined by a University of Queensland researcher, who is currently seeking contributions from the public.
“I want to speak to people from across Australia who were involved in the awards in anyway during their existence,” said Professor Kay Saunders from UQ’s School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics.
“They may have been entrants, family members, supporters, chaperones, sponsors or those associated with the Spastic Centres of Australia. I particularly want to speak to people affected with cerebral palsy who were involved in the running of the awards.”
Professor Saunders is examining Inventing Perfect Australian Womanhood: The Miss Australia Awards and the Role of Disability in Postwar Australia.
Next month she will embark on an Australian-wide four-month research trip. She will interview people about such things as their involvement in the awards, personal highlights and how they viewed the competition.
She said she planned to use the findings and any loaned memorabilia to produce a book for the general public as well as several journal articles and conference papers. The book and suitable loaned memorabilia may also form part of a proposed Brisbane City Council Museum touring exhibition in 2005.
“An analysis of the Miss Australia Awards will allow interrogation of the role of fundraising for charity, the construction of celebrity, the nature of idealised young womanhood and interstate rivalries,” she said.
“The awards articulated the concept of a perfect white womanhood in the postwar area. They sought to locate representatives of conventional womanhood who had exemplary appearance, poise and moral virtue despite bodily perfection running counter to the sponsoring organisations which assisted people with cerebral palsy.”
Professor Saunders said an examination of the award’s history charted Australia’s evolution to a more inclusive, multicultural nation.
She said this was particularly evident by the progression of winners. They included Miss Australia 1961, Chinese-born Tania Verstak, whose parents were Russian, and Miss Australia 2000, Catherine Doggett, who was of Aboriginal descent.
She said the awards helped increase Australia’s international profile and was an important annual fundraiser, raising more than $87 million between 1954 and 2000.
“Through this research we hope to resurrect the good deeds done by the Miss Fundraisers and Miss Australias, who were highly intelligent, competent women, many of whom achieved further success in later years,” Professor Saunders said.
“We also hope to highlight the efforts of thousands of volunteers involved in the awards at a local, state and national level.”
The research is funded by a three-year (2002-2004) Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery grant covering expenses including a senior research assistant and travelling costs.
People interested in participating should email missaustralia@uqconnect.net or write to Professor Kay Saunders, Room E330, Forgan Smith Bldg, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072.
Media: For further information contact Professor Saunders (telephone 07 3365 6556), senior research assistant Julie Ustinoff (mobile 0403 337 508) or Joanne van Zeeland at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2619 or email: communications@uq.edu.au).
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