Does it make anyone else mad to see these 6 yr old girls in beauty pageants wearing swimsuits

[Owachi]

Ok, I was up last night with my sick dd and was channel surfing and was watching a show on little beauty queens. The kids started at like age 3 or 4. I think it is wrong of the parents in general to do this to their kids, especially when half the kids on the show say they don't want to be there, and want to go home. They had a lady spraying a tan on her 6 yr old daugher, and said its great for the swimsuit competition. They also had fake teeth for the girls when they start to lose theirs. I turned it off when it got to the swimsuit competition. Why on earth would they have a competition for 6 yrs olds? 6 yr olds should not be worrying about what they look like in a bikini. And the only people I can think of who would want to watch it are pedaphiles. I just want to slap the parents, just because they could never be a beauty queen doesn't mean they need to make their child be one. I would never put my 6 yr old in a bikini and have her do the runway walk in public or on television. Are these parents going to be shocked when their daughter gets raped or kidnapped by age 12? Ahhhhhh, it made me so mad I went to bed angry........does anyone else think this is wrong. If the child really really wants to be in these pageants it is one thing, but it looks a lot like the parents are the ones pushing it.

[limabean]

I'm not a fan of any type of pageantry/modelling for young children.

I know not all "stage moms" are necessarily this way, but I used to have neighbors who had a 4yo daughter with scoliosis who was supposed to wear a brace for 23 hours a day (only taking it off to bathe). Her mother would constantly shuttle her to cattle calls for modelling jobs, and when the girl would land a job she'd be out of her brace for up to 6 hours at a time during the shoot. The mom never expressed distress about this fact -- you could just see the dollar signs in her eyes when she'd tell us about her daughter's new gig.

[angie7]

Yep, irritates me to NO end...I just dont get it.

[Petersmamma]

I SO don't get kiddo beauty pageants, anyway (although scholarships and such are a good thing!), but putting little girls in swimsuits and having them parade around? Craziness!

Maybe we need more "Little Miss Sunshine"'s out there!

[mirthfulmum]

Those child pageants simultaneously fascinate and sicken me. I can not understand why a person would exploit their own children and set them on a path of narcissism, inadequacy and such deep unhappiness. And at the same time I am truly fascinated by them. The way they operate in the world is so far removed from how I choose to live and raise my family I wonder about how the stage moms got to that place in their lives.

But a swim suit competition!?!? That's going too far!

[Demeter9]

The whole thing grosses me out.

[Imogen]

I saw a show about one of these pageants a couple of months ago, I sat there horrified and fascinated at the same time. I felt a lot of disgust at the parents for allowing their children to be portrayed as sexual objects. It's not something which I can understand.

The same show was on a couple of nights later, Ste came into the room and I told him to watch for a couple of minutes. He sat and watched and then went absolutely nuts about the show. He was even more disgusted than I was.

No, we cannot comprehend it.

Peace

[Arielle]

I dont understant parent exploiting their innocent and fragile children like that.

[kblackstone444]

My little girl wants so bad to be in beauty pageants. (And in commercials. And on tv.) Luckily, her Mother can't transport her all over the country for beauty pageants and even if my Hubby and I were able to, we would not be willing to, because of the swim suit issues and because of the whole "you have to have your hair done perfect, you have to have your makeup done perfect, you have to dress like a little... woman" attitude about beauty pageants. Why would anyone want to teach their little girl that the prettier you are, the more you "win"? Why would anyone even care hoe a CHILD looks in a swimsuit, for that matter? My little girl has some really cute suit suits, but no way would I dress her in it and parade her around in front of God knows how many strangers and possible pedifiles! :Puke

[prettypixels]

Harley, maybe community theater kinds of things would be a better option for your little one, if she really wants to....

I think these pageants are so disgusting. Come on... how many women put their hair in curlers every day and spray it with three pounds of hair spray and cake on the make up until their face cracks? It's hardly what being a woman is about. : And the swimsuit competition... don't even get me started. Apparently no one learned anything from poor little JonBenet.

[kblackstone444]

Originally Posted by prettypixels

Harley, maybe community theater kinds of things would be a better option for your little one, if she really wants to...

We're currently looking into it.

Originally Posted by prettypixels

Apparently no one learned anything from poor little JonBenet.

My first thought on reading this thread.

[mtiger]

Be aware that community theater is a HUGE time commitment. And no, the kids don't get cut any slack on the hours.

[becoming]

This kind of thing makes me sick. And I have an insider's view.

I stupidly entered my DD in three little community beauty pageants when she was a tiny baby. I did pageants when I was little (small, fun pageants in our hometown), and I just thought it would be something fun for she & I to do together. The first two we did were sweet and fun, everyone won something, very non-competitive, etc.

The third one we did was called a Candyland pageant, and I had been told that it was a very natural, relaxed pageant. We got there, and it was like something you'd see on one of those documentaries. There were girls there with SUITCASES full of makeup and hair products and $2,000 dresses. Two of the girls in my DD's age division (0-2) were wearing hair extensions! Against my better judgment, I decided to stay since we had already paid a $60 entry fee. My DD won her division wearing a $15 Wal-Mart dress, no makeup, no hair accessories or anything. Those mamas were ready to throw me down, I could see it in their eyes.

Anyway, when we got up on stage for the "overall" competition (DD was "nominated" for overall best smile), there was a mama & her 2-year-old next to us on stage, and she was whispering to her DD in a very mean voice, "Shake your butt, Haley! Shake your booty RIGHT NOW." I wanted to RUN from that stage.

I have never even considered doing another pageant since that day, and I am horrified that I ever thought it was okay to do them in the first place. *shudder*

[gargirl]

Originally Posted by becoming

Anyway, when we got up on stage for the "overall" competition (DD was "nominated" for overall best smile), there was a mama & her 2-year-old next to us on stage, and she was whispering to her DD in a very mean voice, "Shake your butt, Haley! Shake your booty RIGHT NOW." I wanted to RUN from that stage.

I have never even considered doing another pageant since that day, and I am horrified that I ever thought it was okay to do them in the first place. *shudder*

I am so disgusted with that mom.... how could she say that to her sweet baby girl??????

[happyhippiemama]

Originally Posted by Owachi

Are these parents going to be shocked when their daughter gets raped or kidnapped by age 12?

I agree with everything you wrote in the OP, except the above statement.

Kidnapped, perhaps, since they're being paraded in front of strangers. And I guess that perhaps rape sometimes is part and parcel of kidnapping..... but this whole thing is a stretch.

And as far as rape on its own? I strongly doubt that being in a beauty pageant makes you any more or less likely to be a survivor of rape than the 1 out of 3 women that are sexually assualted over the course of their lifetime anyway.

I don't care for the cause and effect tone of the above statement, as if anything that the parents or the child does is somehow at fault for a rape that may occur in the future. That's like saying that girls who wear short skirts are asking for it.

JMPOV.

[Sionainne]

Why people are disturbed seeing little girls wearing makeup

I have a theory about why people are disturbed by seeing little girls wearing makeup. Sometime ago, I read that the whole effect of facial makeup on a woman is to mimic the appearance of a woman having an orgasm: flushed face and blood-swollen lips, dilated eyes. This "look" on any Cosmo magazine cover is what western society has grown to value as beauty. It seemed to corroborate what I know, separately about ,makeup and sex.

My theory is that the connotations of this "look" is ingrained in everyone. So when 98% of people see a small girl painted in this manner, it inherently feels wrong and is mentally disturbing to acknowledge. So this is why I don't admire child beauty pageants.

Anyone with knowledge of feminist theory chime in? (I could extend my theory onto why bikinis on little girls is wrong too. Bikinis are supposed to show off big boobs and wide hips -- coming of age hallmarks of birthing ability and fertility.)

[kblackstone444]

Originally Posted by mtiger

Be aware that community theater is a HUGE time commitment. And no, the kids don't get cut any slack on the hours.

Oh. Not good. My stepdaughter is only with us 30% of the time and we couldn't count on her Mother supporting her in an extra curricular activity the rest of the time. I'll still look into it, but I guess I shouldn't let her get her hopes up too much.

Originally Posted by becoming

Anyway, when we got up on stage for the "overall" competition (DD was "nominated" for overall best smile), there was a mama & her 2-year-old next to us on stage, and she was whispering to her DD in a very mean voice, "Shake your butt, Haley! Shake your booty RIGHT NOW." I wanted to RUN from that stage.

I think I'm gonna be sick. :Puke

[kblackstone444]

Not for the faint of heart.

Living Dolls: Part One

Living Dolls: Part Two

Living Dolls: Part Three

Living Dolls: Part Four

Living Dolls: Part Five

Living Dolls: Part Six

Living Dolls: Part Seven

Living Dolls: Part Eight

[crazydiamond]

I saw that HBO documentary a couple of years ago. Very sad Unfortunately, it was the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread. . .it's stuck with me that long.

[Joyster]

Some of the men in the documentary posted were really creeping me out. Like the father and the guy who was singing to the girls. The mothers were just plain scary, they all looked like they were living out their dreams through their kids. I say this as nicely as I can, but none of them look like they would ever be up on that podium (and hey, I'm pretty dowdy myself, but I'm not pageanting).

And lastly, good gravy, does that documentary ever take me back, it felt like being at a dog show again, except in many cases, we were a lot nicer to the dogs. If we had a tired puppy, we would not yell at it to wake up, we'd let the dog sleep unless they were actually in the ring-which only usually lasts for a few minutes, unless you have an exceptional dog.