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Gender and Sexualities

More than Crowns and Gowns: County Fair Queen’s and the Performance and Construction of Feminine Gender Ideals Zoe Chambliss*, Zoe Chambliss,

This presentation draws on findings from my master’s thesis research examining the construction and performance of feminine gender ideals by county fair queens. Although women’s participation and visibility in agriculture have expanded in recent decades, institutional norms often continue to reflect traditional expectations of femininity. While existing scholarship has documented women’s labor and structural inequalities, less attention has been paid to how gender ideals are actively produced and reproduced through agricultural organizations themselves. Focusing on the Pennsylvania county fair queen program, this study asks how femininity is defined, embodied, and narrated through the fair queen role and how these expectations are institutionally maintained. The analysis is based on 25 in-depth qualitative interviews with participants in the state fair queen system, including 15 reigning county fair queens and 10 coordinators and program leaders. Drawing on theories of doing gender, gender performance, and gendered organizations, findings show how the program constructs a highly visible form of normative agricultural femininity through rules, narratives, and public performances tied to agricultural representation and community engagement. By examining the cultural and symbolic dimensions of the county fair, this research contributes to broader conversations about gender, legitimacy, and institutional reproduction in contemporary agriculture.