Based on 25 semi-structured interviews, this article examines the racial, ethnic and national identities of second-generation Nigerian immigrants from the San Francisco Bay Area. I elaborate on the segmented-assimilation literature that considers economic circumstances to be a key determinant in identity formation. I show that participants form highly fluid identities throughout the life cycle, pinpointing factors that often get overlooked or de-emphasized in the second-generation incorporation literature such as youth co-ethnic community access, the college integrative experience and transnational social connections, particularly in adulthood. This article extends the black immigration literature that contends that ethnic identity is primarily used as a means of distancing from ‘downwardly mobile’ African-Americans. My findings highlight that respondents embrace a black racial identity that is neither oppositional nor associated with a downward trajectory, lending empirical support for the ‘minority cultures of mobility’ thesis that the minority middle classes share a culture of upward mobility.

Abstract:In the world of Nigerian beauty pageants, the bikini remains a fraught embodied symbol and aesthetic practice. Pageant affiliates, critics, and fans alike strongly debate the question of whether to include bikinis in these events. This article draws primarily from nearly a year of ethnographic observations of two Nigerian national beauty contests in 2009-2010 to show how various stakeholders used personal, domestic, and international frames about women’s bodies, and the bikini in particular, to bolster respectability. Through embodied respectability, women’s figurative and literal bodies were used to strategically situate propriety, social acceptance, and reputability for the self and the nation.

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This article uses a comparative-case research design of two different national beauty pageants in Nigeria to ask how and why gendered nationalisms are constructed for different audiences and aims. Both contests claim to represent “true Nigerian womanhood” yet craft separate models of idealized femininity and present different nationalist agendas. I argue that these differences stem from two distinct representations of gendered national identities. The first pageant, “Queen Nigeria,” whose winners do not compete outside of Nigeria, brands itself as a Nigerian-based pageant, centered on a cultural-nationalist ideal, which is focused on revitalizing and appreciating Nigerian culture to unify the nation. In contrast, the second contest, “The Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria,” utilizes “international standards” to select and send contestants to Miss World and Miss Universe, the top pageants in the world, and promotes a cosmopolitan-nationalist ideal, which remains concentrated on propelling and integrating Nigeria into the international arena.