"A GREAT DEAL OF FEAR FOR OUR WORLD"...

1969

When Wendy Dascomb, Miss Virginia of 1969 won the Miss USA title, she seemed like a great girl for the job. A statuesque blond with a dazzling smile, she was a cheerleader and the girl voted most popular in her school. When she took her victory walk that night no one could have predicted what one year as Miss USA would do to Miss Dascomb. We were to find out at the 1970 Miss USA Pageant.

1970

As was the tradition, the outgoing Miss USA was asked to make a farewell speech before the new Miss USA was crowned. Throughout the pageant, Wendy had been seated onstage with Jackie Loughery, Miss USA 1952; Maria Remenyi, Miss USA 1966; Gloria Diaz, Miss Universe 1969; and Cheryl Patton, Miss USA 1967. As soon as the evening gown competition was over, Wendy was called forth to center stage to make her speech. It was a speech that few who witnessed it will ever forget and most likely was the catalyst for all future farewell speeches to be taped in advance. Here in its entirety is Wendy Dascomb's historical farewell speech:

"Well, a year has past since I last stood on this stage. A lot's happened. A lot of...um...should I say...uh...experiences. I don't know how to explain them...but they were something. Also, I learned a lot while traveling this year...the places...the people...it...some of it made me very very happy and the rest was just sort of discouraging."

"I have a very very strong hope for the girl who's the winner this year. I hope that she can stand in this place, at this time and relate to the all the viewing public a year of beautiful and meaningful experiences rather than my year's occupation with fear...a great deal of fear for our world."

The applause followed, but it seemed nervous. As Wendy returned to her place of honor, one could not help but notice the look of shock on the face of Gloria Diaz. Wendy had just "dissed" her year as Miss USA in front of millions.

1972

Wendy Dascomb is now Wendy Long. She is married and a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In an interview she gave to MS. magazine in September 1972, we finally got to find out what was behind that memorable speech. Wendy was quite frank about her experience competing at the Miss USA pageant in 1969. Here are excerpts from the interview:

The Judges: "The judges were always trying to catch us unawares to see what we were really like. They really got a kick out of it. They'd go in disguise to our practice sessions in the auditorium, watching all the girls on the sly. They would wear glasses and wigs. It was like the Marx Brothers- but of course you could tell who they were."

Rehearsals: "We practiced the opening production number, and each girl practices being a semifinalist, finalist and Miss USA. So she'll know where to walk. And we are supposed to practice the Looser's Dance - that's the song and dance everybody does while the semifinalists change from their swimsuits to their evening gowns. Some girls are certain that they're going to win, or at least be one of the finalists, so they don't bother to learn it. Then here comes the night, and they don't even know how to do the Looser's Dance. That's why its always so terrible."

The Weigh-in: (editors note - there had been a few falsie scandals in some recent pageants and in order to prevent this from happening again the following took place according to Wendy). "The girls had to be 'certified' by a handful of women connected with the the pageant. By twos, the contestants filed into a room in order to face 'Certification.' It was humiliating, just humiliating. We went in, and they told us to take off our clothes. That didn't bother my until they said to take off my panties! 'My God,' I told them, 'add an extra inch to my hips. I don't care, but not my panties.' But I had to take them off. No one ever explained why. Humiliating."

The Contestants: "They were so competitive that you could not break through that shell. You couldn't relate to each other as human being. We were in a struggle against each other. You ought to try and change clothes in front of that many critical, competitive eyes. It makes you feel ugly."

The article in MS. goes on to tell us that Wendy was no typical beauty queen. She supported Women's Liberation (our younger students may want to research this subject...), she opposed the War in Viet Nam, and had even experimented with pot. She was not afraid to speak her mind on subjects some might have thought too controversial. She challenged reporters to ask her about Cambodia instead of the Pill, and turned around questions about the morality of sex by asking in return about the morality of war and poverty.

Wendy did the job asked of her by the organization, which seemed to be endless appearances in stores dressed in a swimsuit. Of these she said, "I'd walk down the runway in these swimsuits, and I'd see all these women with rollers in their hair, their children all around them, looking at me, gritting their teeth, hating me. They had to believe there was some idealized existence, some perfect life, and that I was living it. I'd feel so much sympathy for them...they had to believe in the myth of the beauty queen. I was just another way that people use to run away from their problems, just another means of masking what is wrong with our lives. They needed the fantasy, but they hated me for living it."

The article in MS. ends with a rather sad quotation from Wendy: "I have these dreams where I'm competing and people begin to beat me. They hit me and hit me. And then I'm walking down a runway, and people begin to tear me apart; they rip my clothes and then they scratch and claw me. I wake up crying."

We do not know where Wendy Long is today, but we hope she is living a happy and fulfilling life. We now understand what she said in her farewell speech.