The Pink Dress: A Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen

• Title: The Pink Dress: A Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen
• Author: Jane Little Botkin
• Website: https://janelittlebotkin.com/
• ASIN: ‎ B0D3FKXPTC
• Publisher: ‎ She Writes Press
• Publishing Date: Sept. 10 2024
• Print length: ‎ 277 pages
• ISBN: ‎ 1647427401
• Genre: Memoir

Book Description (Amazon.ca)

Growing up in West Texas, Jane Little Botkin didn’t have designs on becoming a beauty queen. But not long after joining a pageant on a whim in college, she became the first protégé of El Paso’s Richard Guy and Rex Holt, known as the “Kings of Beauty”—just as the 1970’s counterculture movement began to take off.

A pink, rose-covered gown—a Guyrex creation—symbolizes the fairy tale life that young women in Jane’s time imagined beauty queens had. Its near destruction exposes reality: the author’s failed relationship with her mother, and her parents’ failed relationship with one another. Weaving these narrative threads together is the Wild West notion that anything is possible, especially do-overs.

The Pink Dress awakens nostalgia for the 1960s and 1970s, the era’s conflicts and growth pains. A common expectation that women went to college to get “MRS” degrees—to find a husband and become a stay-at-home wife and mother—often prevailed. How does one swim upstream against this notion among feminist voices that protest “If You Want Meat, Go to a Butcher!” at beauty pageants, two flamboyant showmen, and a developing awareness of self? Torn between women’s traditional roles and what women could be, Guyrex Girls evolved, as did the author.

My Thoughts

First off, what an interesting story. It was really cool to get the history of El Paso and the “behind the scenes” of a beauty pageant. As a watcher of the Miss USA Pageant in the 70s/80s it was interesting and a bit shocking to see how it was “fixed” in the very early days. You definitely didn’t realize it. Ms. Botkin’s story and the trials/tribulations she went through are definitely relatable at least for me, especially the relationship difference between mother/daughter and father/daughter. What was more interesting to hear was about her first marriage even though it was just a little glimpse into her life. The storyline did flow nicely.

I was a little shocked that there was a loss in contact with the Guyrex group and I am glad she gave a little brief update as to what transpired. Overall, it was well rounded memoir. I would have like to hear a little more of her story but I know the focus was about the pageant life albeit a reluctant one.

Reviewed by: KellyR

Rating: 4