Married to a Pageant

Since the start of 2009, 27-year-old Deirdra Harris has spent all of her free time shopping, working out and searching for sponsors. These sound like fairly typical pastimes for many people (minus the sponsor search), but the reason for Deirdra’s behavior is different than most: She’s shopping for a formal gown and working out to look good in her swimsuit—both in preparation for the Mrs. Missouri pageant.

Deirdra first heard about the Mrs. Missouri pageant from a commercial that ran on Women’s Entertainment Channel more than a year and a half ago. “I remember seeing it, but I didn’t think much about it at first. I kind of forgot about it for a while,” Deirdra says. But early last summer, Deirdra decided to give the Mrs. Missouri Pageant another look.

She had all the requirements met. She was 26 years old (participants must be at least 18) and had married Caleb Harris in March 2006 (you must be married for at least one year), she had moved from Tishomingo, Oklahoma, to Springfield to attend college seven years ago (you must be a Missouri resident), and her college studies and past work and life experiences provided her with a platform she feels very strongly about: empowering women that are in situations of domestic abuse. Deirdra took a chance to participate in the pageant in August 2008, and shortly after, she was notified that she won the title of Mrs. Springfield.

On March 28, Deirdra and 13 other women from all over the state will head to The Mansion Theater in Branson and compete for the crown and title of Mrs. Missouri. The woman who wins will go on to represent Missouri in the Mrs. America pageant, which is the only televised beauty pageant for married women in the country.

But Deirdra’s ambition to participate in the pageant is much deeper than a desire to show off her gorgeous brown eyes and great figure. Rather than entering the Mrs. pageant as a beauty contest, Deirdra says she entered it as a chance to represent married women in a well-respected way. “The Mrs. pageants are about so much more than how you look in a dress and how skinny you are,” Deirdra says. “It’s more about how you are as a wife and the values you have for your family.”

Deirdra has an undergraduate degree in psychology from Missouri State University. She is currently a graduate student at the college, where she carries a 4.0 grade point average and is eagerly learning how to become a therapist. She hopes to study in the doctorate program soon after. Deirdra and Caleb have two children: a 6-year-old son named Luke and a 2-year-old daughter named Brooklyn. The family enjoys activities with James River Assembly, where they are members, planning mini-trips together and having picnics at the Nixa Park. She is also the coach of the Venom girls, a cheerleading and dance team for a minor league football team in Springfield, and she is the chair parent of her son’s kindergarten class.

Deirdra’s platform, titled “It’s Time to Fight Back,” will be one of the main things she speaks about during the interview portion of the pageant (which is worth 50-percent of her score). She was inspired to choose this topic for several reasons, including an abusive relationship she was in, being enrolled in a counseling program at school and seeing abusive homes through her job at the Burrell Center for Child and Adolescent Development. “I chose this platform because it allows me to have a voice for woman in those difficult situations—I was in that place at one time,” Deirdra says. “I want to be able to tell [the women], ‘There are such endless possibilities for you. This isn’t all there is,’” Deirdra says.  

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