kiddie beauty queens....

Stifler's - posted on 11/07/2010

I'm Australian too.

Stifler's - posted on 11/07/2010

I don't really know anyone who puts their kid in them. I know heaps of people that do the whole posed photos with a professional every year and recently there has been facebook competitions and I'm just so not into it. I know my kid is cute, I don't need the validation of others voting mine the cutest. I don't think it's sexualising little girls at all though, if they want to do it that is. I'm against women living vicariously through their children. Most little girls want to dress up and wear make up and stuff and I don't see anything wrong with it but it shouldn't be so competitive just for fun.

Joy - posted on 11/06/2010

Everytime I see an ad for "Toddlers & Tiaras", a picture of JonBenet Ramsey goes through my head. I try my hardest not to use the word "hate" but I seriously HATE those shows and the pageants. No matter what those mothers say, I don't believe for one second that those little girls WANT to be doing that. Eventually, after enough brain washing has taken hold, yeah, they THINK they want to be doing it. The one time I actually watched part of that show, there was this little girl (maybe 5?) getting severely scolded and verbally lashed by her mother for not getting her shoes on fast enough or something. The poor baby was exhausted and no amount of make-up could hide it. The little one started crying and did the mother console her child? Nope. She chastised her for crying. Grrrrr......

Kate CP - posted on 11/06/2010

Yep. Creepy. Pedophile's wet dream. Not down with the whole making young children look like prostitutes.

Corinne - posted on 11/06/2010

I'm English, and have unfortunately seen one of these programmes. I can honestly say, that the sight of these poor babies being paraded in full make up, skimpy outfits, false hair and eyelashes, makes me feel physically sick. I don't understand the mentality of the parents, surely dressing your child like a glamour 'model' and showing her off is some form of child abuse? It's not natural, it's not beautiful, it's totally fooked in the head.

Fiona - posted on 11/06/2010

I am also Australian and find the whole concept of these glamour beauty pageants foreign and a little disturbing. Not even so much for the creepy, pedophile bait aspect that others have raised, the violation of the girls innocence or even the parents living vicariously through their children's achievements at the expense of their kids childhood (although I do feel for these poor kids and find all of that concerning too). What I find really distressing is the term 'beauty' pageant teamed with the behaviours and accoutrements that accompany these shows. All the kids that I have seen on these shows are already beautiful naturally, what kind of message does it send that they are being judged on 'beauty' that is demonstrated by use of spray tan, make up, false eyelashes, hair extensions, posed and pronounced unnatural gestures and behaviours etc etc. That is not beauty in children, that is a false representation of their external selves. These beautiful little girls being told that their natural beauty is not enough and needs to be enhanced by extraordinary lengths to 'win' some approval from a panel of judges. Strange concept indeed.

Amanda - posted on 11/05/2010

I have seen the shows as well. I live in Iowa in the US and personally I think it's the parents choice to put their daughters or sons in these pagents. It is good decent money and it does bring income to some of the families. Some of the children really enjoy doing the pagents. It boosts self esteem and teaches the children the reality of losing and winning and not to give up when they lose. As for the spray tanning and fake teeth, I am definetly a fan of that! I don't think making a little girl look way older than her age is right but if you have ever seen a little girl or boy in dance they do the same thing? I don't know. I think there is two ways this could go. I am definetly not against it. My youngest would love to do pagents but I wouldn't allow it just because she doesn't deserve to be judged by anyone but God himself! :)

Janessa - posted on 10/25/2010

I have watched those show it is disturbing. Any how have anyone of you notice the majority of those childrens parents are ungly. Those kids were blessed with beauty and i see their ugly parents trying to live through them sad.

Dana - posted on 10/25/2010

It's totally creepy and although there are show(s) (I've never actually seen one myself) on TV here in the States, it's not common practice. Most people you will find think it's disturbing too.

Kimberly - posted on 10/25/2010

I've seen a couple of those shows on tv. They are very creepy. I feel so sorry for those poor little girls.

Lindsay - posted on 10/25/2010

I was in pageants as a kid. They were nothing even remotely close to what these are that they show on TV and I would say those are on the far end of extreme. The pageants I was in were local fair type ones. There was absolutely no make-up, no routines to learn and no riduculously expensive clothes. We wore sundresses or sunday best at the fanciest of pageants. They were fun.

Now I have a daughter of my own and she has never been in one. She has seen the shows on TV and has fell in love with their super dressy clothes and has asked if she could be in one. I've pretty much ignored her requests and given her a "we'll see". Then it gets forgotten quickly. I won't even enter my daughter in the local pageants. It's not because I necessarily think they are bad or that she wouldn't win. She is prissy by nature and while there's nothing wrong with that, it would be a fast slippery slope of her becoming way too superficial to do her any good. I can not stand the glitz pageants. All of that time and money that goes into them are such a waste. By the time they finally get to the pageant day, the parents and kids are way too stressed out to enjoy themselves. Kids should be out having fun. There's way too much work going into making these beautiful little girls look like plastic dolls.

Sal - posted on 10/25/2010

i think that the way the kids are treated and portrayed is pretty off, i mean little girls bumping and grinding in a swim suit, i know the parents claim the bahaviour isn't sexy but really- what one one mum called "stage attitude" was just a baby attempt at sexy smoulder.......but i am now also wondering how much the parents of these children are exploited by the indusdustry surrounding pagents, it is costing these families thousands of dollars, and the prize pool seems kind of small and only goes to the top few girls, i do wonder how a spray tan operator, hair dressers, the guy who invented the teeth tray or what ever it is called and makeup artists feel taking advantage of clearly deluded parents in order to grab their money. One mum on the show was saying how the dress she bought was so expensive that the whole family helped buy it....get a grip lady, or how another mum said the little girls winnings went into the bank so she had a college fund, if she banked the cash she spent i bet it would add up a whole lot quicker....i really am very confused by it, i am equally as appalled by side line parents that push their kids too hard but at least those kids doing normal kid stuff...there is nothing i can see as normal about the pagents..

Becky - posted on 10/25/2010

Wow, Tracey, that's horrible! Talk about stealing the kid's childhood from her! That is the exact reason why I don't like these pageants. I would be okay with a parent once in a while entering their child into something like a mall pageant, just for fun, but for too many parents, they become an obsession.

Tracey - posted on 10/25/2010

Can't stand the shows, I remember taking my baby to the Dr for a jab and the woman next to me was complaining about the possible loss of income if her child had a reaction from the jab or got a rash as she did beauty shows. She also said proudly that her child (age 4) was not allowed to play with hard toys in case she got a bruise and had never run about in the garden in case she fell and cut her knee.

Bonnie - posted on 10/25/2010

Like Nikki, I have watched 'Toddlers and Tiaras' a couple of times. Not only is it a violation on these little kids, but it is so much pressure on them as well. Some of these parents are so infatuated with the whole thing and their child winning, that they make their children cry.

Erin - posted on 10/25/2010

Aussie here too, and I think they're gross. I've heard there are 'natural' and 'glamour' categories but it's all exploitation if a child is being forced or coerced into doing it. And the glamour ones... yuck. I can't help but think about the damage all that makeup and hairspray and fake tan is doing to these babies' skin and hair. Horrible!

Becky - posted on 10/25/2010

I know someone who puts her 2 year old daughter in these pageants! She's been putting her in them since she was under a year! I find it gross, to be completely honest. The little girl is adorable, but when she is all done up for the pageants with her hair extensions, spray tan, make-up (on a 2 year old!!!!), etc, she just looks fake, and it's really creepy! She has to practice routines for the pageants, and her mom posts on facebook about how she didn't win the pageant because she was so sick. It really bothers me! I can understand if you have an older child, like a teenager, who chooses to enter these contests, but when they're 2, it's totally about the parent's wants and "needs" and not the child's! and I think the child's needs often get neglected. They most certainly are being neglected when she's being forced to perform when she's sick!

Charlie - posted on 10/24/2010

Im another Aussie and i think its disturbing and creepy .to make a little girl look like a plastic mini transvestite all so mummy can get the glory she never earned on her own .

Kathy - posted on 10/24/2010

Like Nikki, I'm from Australia, so the whole thing is completely foreign to me. It's just not done here. I'm also going to be harsh - I think the veryi9dea of dressing up these little girls as some sort of fantasy is just plain sick. I can't imagine the motivations of those parents who subject their daughters to this sort of thing. The whole thing is creepy.

Johnny - posted on 10/24/2010

I find this so weird. I'm like the OP, when I see these child beauty pageant shows, I can't stop watching. It's like a train wreck, so disturbing but I can't tear my eyes away. It's like watching a little girl be twisted and turned into her mom & some creepy judge's version of a doll. I'm not a big fan of pageants in general, but I'm not too bothered by the ones where they just wear pretty dresses & sing cute songs. But the glamor pageants with the make-up, fake teeth, fake hair, fake skin, sexy outfits and routines to match are just totally wrong. I'm fairly sure that there is nothing people could say to change my mind about that.

I live in Canada, and I have never met anyone who even considered putting their child in a pageant. When Expo was here in 1986, I remember seeing Miss Pre-Teen USA. Everyone starred at her like she was a freak, because no one had ever seen a 12 year old girl with fake eyelashes and a crown before around here. Yikes!

Nikki - posted on 10/24/2010

I think they are disgusting, I am Australian too, so they are rather foreign to me. I watch toddlers and tiaras now and then and the first thing that comes into my mind is paedophile bait, I know that sounds horrible, but sexualising little girls from such an early age is disturbing, who is it for, the parent because they are ugly and want to live vicariously through their child? at what cost? These girls have pictures of them posted all over the Internet and the tv, of course there is some disturbed seedy guy somewhere jerking off to pictures of these little girls. Yeah I am harsh, but it is so true.