Every year, girls from across the country converge on the small town of Kewanee, Illinois, hoping to win the title of “Miss You Can Do It.”
But this is no ordinary beauty pageant.
The Miss You Can Do It pageant celebrates girls with physical disabilities, and gives them a chance to achieve and compete. As one of the young contestants explains in a new HBO documentary, “What I like about this pageant is that it gives me a chance to tell other people that I can be anyone that I want to be and I can do anything that I like to do.”
Abbey Curran, a former Miss Iowa, was born with cerebral palsy and created the pageant in 2008. “Miss You Can Do It,” the eponymous documentary, premieres tonight on HBO. John Hockenberry spoke with Curran at an HBO event last week.
Stay updated on the latest from The Takeaway–become a Facebook fan & follow us on Twitter!
The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!