Gotta love the snarky comments
So the pageant moms have come out swinging.
A month after I posted about child beauty pageants, I've had a ton of visits to the post, several... um... interesting comments, and lots of visits to my personal website.
Sorry folks, I still don't buy the argument that the wigs, fake teeth and spray-on tans that some toddlers wear in pageants are like equipment for sports.
The photos, along with dozens more, were on the Total Nockouts website until the discussion on Suburban Turmoil got too hot to handle (link, link, link, link and link). I'm hardly exploiting those kids by posting their public glamour shots on my blog (with limited readership, I might add) to make a point about letting children be children.
Of course most of the girls will say that they like pageants. A 4 year old child just wants to make their parents happy, even if it means smiling on cue and wearing a wig and makeup (but it's worth noting that there are also ones who cry and don't want to perform on stage).
So many girls have body image and self esteem issues. In my opinion, girls in our society are sexualized way too young, and I don't think child pageants help the problem.
Charming Belles
National winners (some of them are so young that they have to be held by their mothers in the group photo!)
Part 1 of the documentary Living Dolls:
(Link - in case the player doesn't work for you)
Posted in: body image, kids, videos on October 19, 2006
Some of these parents have gotten these children to look downright ghoulish...It's disturbing, but I guess that's what happens when a parent wants to live out their dreams thru their kid...Sad.
Pageantbaby, thank you for your opinion on this. It's nice to hear someone speak on this issue who doesn't resort to personal insults and threats.
I think it's wonderful that your pageant experience has been so good. While I can't say that I'm a fan of pageants, I can see that some girls benefit from their experience. It's the toddler pageants in particular that dismay me, because the children are so young. At least pre-teens and teens have a stronger sense of self by the time they enter pageants.
Thanks for sharing your viewpoint. :)
Mole - lol thanks, but I'd rather not read any more than the insults that are coming into my blog comment moderation page.
I agree that the logic behind many of the arguments is twisted. How can you adequately convince people that pageants teach children about friendship and self esteem if you accuse anyone who disagrees of being ugly? That's not a very sportsmanlike quality. The previous poster, pageantbaby14, stated her point of view much more reasonably.
I'm tired of it. Time to move on people!