Creepy, creepy, creepy!!!

From a reality show documenting the life of children's pageants:

"In the swimsuit competition we allow both one piece and two piece suits to be worn by the girls, but the two piece suits cannot be of the thong variety. There just aren't many girls who can pull a thong off."

So it's not about it being morally questionable, but about the girls looking good in a sliver of fabric or not? WHAT?!

These things creep me out so badly.
I love Little Miss Sunshine, when she actually gets to the competiton and the other girls are terrifying. There was also a documentry on BBC three called Baby Beauty Queens about the first Miss Mini UK pageant which you can watch here. That was pretty scary, it's getting to the UK! ARGH!!!
No way would I let my child compete in such a thing.

I find the child barbiedoll look really disturbing, and not in the cool surreal way.

It's just wrong...

I don't see how people think these things are good for their children. To me it seems to put the ideas that if you're pretty everyone likes you, you can be as bratty as you want without getting in trouble , also that to get what you want you can use your bodies.
I read a story about a woman that buys her 11 year old daughter everything she asks for (designer clothes, shoes, pedigree dog, etc) and encourages her to go for dream which is glamour modeling. It really worries me that a woman will consider buying her child breasts so she can take her top off when she hasn't even hit puberty.
I sometimes wonder what happened to mothers who encourage their daughters to become doctors, vets, artists, etc rather then hoping they'll be the new Jodie Marsh or X Factor reject.

^ Her name was Brogue or something wasn't it?
I'm watching baby beauty queens at the moment. Oh my lorddddddddd.

Yes it was. It creeps me out.

How can any sane mother put her child into somehting that is, basically, child pornography?

Le Ick. That describes it.

Lady Misery wrote:

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How can any sane mother put her child into somehting that is, basically, child pornography?

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For their own selfish reasons. Maybe they wanted glamour but too old to achive it or want their child to be the best cause they're the best therefor use their child like a pawn.

 

Yes, I think you're right. I was watching a program about it the other day and one mother was syaing 'Well, I can't do it anymore, but she can and she will win.' Alos, I was horrified by another mother who said 'if you don't like it then you must have an ugly child' which I think is a horrible thing to say.

I know. I think it's happiness that makes a child seem bright and pretty (seeing them play and laugh) rather then a weeks worth of spray tan, 3 inch fake nails, etc. All that fakery makes them look sad and like a unwanted doll.

I forgot to put it in the article, but there is a really interesting documentary if you're interested in finding out more about child pageantry that aired on HBO called "Living Dolls." It follows a little girl who participates in child pageants, showing the pressure put upon her to succeed by her overzealous mother. It can be found on YouTube.

It's like they're training a dog, not raising a child!!!

Did anyone watch that program on BBC3 last year called something like "Sasha: Beauty Queen at 11" or something similar. It followed this little girl and her family as they went to America so she could compete in a beauty pageant. This 11 year old girl looks at least 21, and wants to be just like Jordan. My steps-sister is 10, and the thought of her turning around and saying she wants to be like Jordan makes me feel a bit sick :/

I just watched the Baby Beauty Queens thing on BBC iPlayer and it was almost too difficult for me to watch. The girl called Madison clearly didn't want to be in the competition, and it was horrible watching her mother pluck her eyebrows and spray tan her when she was so obviously not THAT interested. When she said she wanted to win you could tell it was 'I want to win because Mummy wants me to win'. It really bothered me. And the whole thing about God giving her beauty as her 'talent'. Eurgh. As for Tyla, when she was saying how her glasses were more comfortable but her mum would shout at her for not wearing her contact lenses, jesus christ! What kind of a mother puts her daughter through that? The third girl, I forget her name, I like how she seemed a bit more natural than the other girls and when she wore makeup, she did just look like a little girl playing dress up. I'm glad it helped boost her confidence even though she didn't win. The woman running the pageant absolutely disgusted me when she said something along the lines of 'I don't care how much your hair cost, your money should've been and would've been better spent on that little corrective surgery' in response to a woman with crossed eyes :/

As for beauty pageants in general, I just don't support them. I like the idea of the talent round as it's much less superficial than the other rounds, but because the talents don't seem to range any further than singing or dancing and it's always in some skimpy outfit, I still can't say I like it.

edit: that last paragraph sounds like I don't consider singing and dancing a talent. They definitely are, but in these pageants it seems to be just another opportunity to show of an unsuitable outfit for a young girl.

-- Edited by loserbuttercup on Tuesday 15th of September 2009 03:00:42 PM

I don't think it's just beauty pagants that are the problem, it's our attitude towards "beauty" and "style" in general. Every day when I ride the bus I hear little girls talking about makeup and clothes, they're worried about their sizes already and they're still in elemtary school! it's insane how we've warped their view of themselves and made them think that beauty is being a size two with plastic lips.

It breaks my heart to hear them talk like that and I can't imagine putting a child through the stress and pressure of competing. It really does nothing for them.

^ That is actually a brilliant point. It IS our attitudes towards what is 'beautiful' which warp these pageants. I think that maybe if these pageants were focused on the child actually having a talent as I mentioned in my previous post and in the 'beauty' sections, the child was dressed as a child should be, none of this ridiculous makeup or spray tans, they wouldn't be such a topical issue. I don't believe that children should be judged on how they looked but I'd be much more comfortable for a child to win a pageant because they looked like an adorable little child rather than winning a pageant because they are the miniature version of their mother.