What's the point of beauty pageants for little girls?

[bass12]

There's a book called "Girls Gone Skank: The Sexualization of Girls in American Culture". It contains a chapter dedicated to child beauty pageants that's disturbing to say the least.

[blastoff99]

Well, at the very least we've reinforced what the OP was thinking and feeling, and probably made him feel even worse.

OP, your post #32 sheds a whole lot more light on the general situation than your first one did. I guess I (stupidly) had it in my head that this was a "happy healthy family" with this one weird quirk. The fact that things are dysfunctional, especially with dad, makes this even worse. Little girls get much of their view of how the world views them through how their dad views them. (Small example from personal experience: my dad was never around when I was growing up. He'd rarely show for his every-other-weekends, and never call between times. I'm 43, and I *still* have this notion that once I leave the room, nobody thinks about me any more.)

Dad doesn't sound like he's in a position to be strong and in-all-the-right-ways supportive for her. This is sad for both of them. At a distance, there just isn't much you can do for either of them except maybe e-mail or call both of his daughters, just to let them know in a non-specific way that you care. Sometimes a little male attention of the positive kind can go a long way.

[fdeck]

Originally Posted by Lady Kayri

Not into adult beauty pagents or body building pageants either. I find the 'tots on parade' pageants a bit squicky myself. Should I note there doesn't seem to be 'tots body builder' pageants that are equivalent to the baby beauty pageants?

Biology. Body building has to wait until puberty.

[6jase5]

I have a daughter that turned 2 a few months ago. NO way would I put her in the pageant or even kid modeling circuit. It would be easy for us too as I have friends that scout and hire kid actors, models, but I really have no need for her to be in the working world. I want her to have fun and feel loved, nothing else.

People pay thousands trying to push their kids in to show biz, and don't even realize that the industry really doesn't hire unsolicited kids. My friends twins were on tv when they were around 2, cost them nothing to get started as our friends in the industry just brought them in. Rules protecting kids on set are pretty amazing, but when the kids starting hating going on set they smartly pulled them out and never looked back.

Parents and ego can be a bad mix. When I hear "My kid did this, my kid did that, my kid".....I just say "My kid is swinging and isn't that your little Heidi Clum/Einstein with a mouthful of mulch over there?"

[JFOC]

Buy him a copy of "Little Miss Sunshine" for Chrisma/hana/kwanza

[Unprofessional]

Human beings have lots of mental problems which manifest themselves in unexpected ways.

[Lady Kayri]

Re kiddy body building...technically, the little girls haven't gone thru puberty, have not developed, either... But our society - well, some parts of it, anyway - seems to find it easier, or at least more acceptable, to sexualize little girls than little boys. It is also probably easier to make up little girls into looking like beauty contestants than it would be to make little boys have big muscles. Not without massive use of biochemicals, anyway. So I guess I have to cede the point. I still think the concept is squicky.

[kanonfodr]

It's American culture: girls need to be prim and pretty, boys need to have fun; female teens need to be sexy, male teens need to be the Quarterback of the football team; female adults need to be beautiful, male adults need to be smart and have a job that pays them $70k a year to support their woman.

The best thing you can do is begin burning down the venues the night before these beauty pageants occur. Maybe that will stem the infection.

Peace,
Greg

[JacoLesFlea]

Originally Posted by bassistjoe93

It's hard for me to imagine that these girls that participate in major beauty pageants can grow up without some psychological effects. From my perspective, it seems like these girls get told "hey, were gonna decide your worth as a person based on your looks and your ability do do a dance routine." To me, this sets these girls up to, later on life, maintain an ever fleeting level of beauty as a way to continually prove their worth.

I just don't think anything good comes out of it. I rest my case:
Attachment 300564

Like Joel Mchale said she looks like a thumb with a face.

[pie_man_25]

Originally Posted by JacoLesFlea

Like Joel Mchale said she looks like a thumb with a face.

damn the fact that you're right. Also, as a sidenote, I've seen the first ten minutes of an episode of honey booboo. The only thing I can say is: TLC, you used to have good shows that used to educate, then you started going downhill, and now this drivel that's made to make stupid people feel better about themselves without actually doing anything. What happened?


to avoid de-railing too much though, I'm also going to say that this kids in beauty pageants stuff creeps me the heck out. Maybe it means more to the parents and to the kids involved? I have no idea, but from the standpoint of cultural relativity, it would be kindof unfair to judge a culture using the perspective of a different culture. Perhaps you could try talking to them about it and try seeing why it is that they do it in order to gain a better understanding of it first? Although you've probably already done that. Aside from that, I've really got nothing on the topic.

[hbarcat]

While I personally believe that beauty contests for women necessarily perpetrate harmful attitudes about female worth, at least the adults who participate know what they're getting into, and they shouldn't be condemned for it by those of us who disagree with it.

But for children to be made to participate, regardless of whether or not they seem to enjoy it, I think is an outrageous form of child psychological abuse.

Even the parents who obsessively force thier kids to compete in sports or other types of competitions are doing better by their children because they're at least sending a message that recognition for personal achievement is valuable rather than some excessively exaggerated, painted on and choreographed adult, sexual image, projected onto a child.

Sick.

[JacoLesFlea]

Originally Posted by hbarcat

While I personally believe that beauty contests for women necessarily perpetrate harmful attitudes about female worth, at least the adults who participate know what they're getting into, and they shouldn't be condemned for it by those of us who disagree with it.

But for children to be made to participate, regardless of whether or not they seem to enjoy it, I think is an outrageous form of child psychological abuse.

Even the parents who obsessively force thier kids to compete in sports or other types of competitions are doing better by their children because they're at least sending a message that recognition for personal achievement is valuable rather than some excessively exaggerated, painted on and choreographed adult, sexual image, projected onto a child.

Sick.

Well said.