Pageant Kids: A Rant

[Brefie]

Sooo cute!

 

[openminded1]

Okay, I don't have a lot of time, but I just got off the phone with the mom I know with the little girl who does pageants. I wanted to get some information directly from her on what we were discussing here.

There are all kinds of pageants. There are pageants that give away cars, trips, and prizes that are clearly for the parents, not the children. There are "cliques" of pageant moms for whom this is big business. Pageants are put on by these cliques and it is usually someone's child from the clique who wins. Those are not the kinds of pageants she would have her daughter in. The pageants her daughter is in have very strict guidelines about what the girls can wear, how much makeup, etc. If a girl comes on stage overly made up, it will actually take away from her score. Little girls have to wear short dresses, not floor length, so they don't look like grown up women.

I asked her about what she thought of Jon Benet and her participation in pageants. She said that the JonBenet case actually caused a rise, not a decline in child pageant participation. She says that from what she has seen on TV, Jon Benet was participating in both reputable and "industry" pageants. Those industry pageants are what she described as the clique type.

She also told me some horror stories you guys will just love about things she has heard about the industry pageants. Moms stuffing their little girls tops so that they "fill their dresses out" better, moms doing little girls makeup while blowing puffs of smoke in thier faces (which we kind of saw in some of thise pictures), moms sabotaging costumes so at the last minute another little girl couldn't go on stage. She has never put her daughter into these kinds of pageants and these are just things she has heard secondhand.

What her girl does is not like this. There are very strict guidelines in place to keep the children from being exploited. She asked me to find a link to the Little MIss NC pageant, and while she understands that pageants aren't for everyone, she wants people to see that there are pageants out there where the girls don't look like JonBenet.

http://www.littlemissnc.com/

 

[southcitymom]

Okay, I don't have a lot of time, but I just got off the phone with the mom I know with the little girl who does pageants. I wanted to get some information directly from her on what we were discussing here.

There are all kinds of pageants. There are pageants that give away cars, trips, and prizes that are clearly for the parents, not the children. There are "cliques" of pageant moms for whom this is big business. Pageants are put on by these cliques and it is usually someone's child from the clique who wins. Those are not the kinds of pageants she would have her daughter in. The pageants her daughter is in have very strict guidelines about what the girls can wear, how much makeup, etc. If a girl comes on stage overly made up, it will actually take away from her score. Little girls have to wear short dresses, not floor length, so they don't look like grown up women.

I asked her about what she thought of Jon Benet and her participation in pageants. She said that the JonBenet case actually caused a rise, not a decline in child pageant participation. She says that from what she has seen on TV, Jon Benet was participating in both reputable and "industry" pageants. Those industry pageants are what she described as the clique type.

She also told me some horror stories you guys will just love about things she has heard about the industry pageants. Moms stuffing their little girls tops so that they "fill their dresses out" better, moms doing little girls makeup while blowing puffs of smoke in thier faces (which we kind of saw in some of thise pictures), moms sabotaging costumes so at the last minute another little girl couldn't go on stage. She has never put her daughter into these kinds of pageants and these are just things she has heard secondhand.

What her girl does is not like this. There are very strict guidelines in place to keep the children from being exploited. She asked me to find a link to the Little MIss NC pageant, and while she understands that pageants aren't for everyone, she wants people to see that there are pageants out there where the girls don't look like JonBenet.

http://www.littlemissnc.com/

Thanks for the information and the link.

I had a best friend who did the pageant thing for a while in the South around the age of 12. We had some fun with it but she outgrew it. I do not think that all pageants are alike!

 

[Honibugs]

I agree that any child can be at risk. However, what if JB had not been in the limelight? Would she have been less of a risk?

As in business, I think the image one projects is important. JB as a Vegas showgirl was not an image that sits comfortably with me. Maybe Karr had nothing to do with this; it's possible that her participation at pageants made her more of a target. While I'm not saying that a child should be hidden away as a recluse, why parade a child in a sexual way before an audience?

I truly believe that if it wasn't Jon Benet it would have been someone else's child. It could have been one in any one of the members here neighborhood.

 

[wenchie]

I'm the one who asked about the quantum physics, but not because of any allusions the original author had made about her daughter.

I was wondering at what age one decides that their kid has no talent for such a thing. I would think that a person should be at least 30 before it's decided that they can't "get it".


I'm amazed at that pageant site. Not at the pageants themselves, but the costuming that's for sale.

Hundreds & hundreds of dollars for used little dresses.

I guess the kids who's family is living on $50,000-60,000 can't participate in those things.

 

[LoneDuck]

I truly believe that if it wasn't Jon Benet it would have been someone else's child. It could have been one in any one of the members here neighborhood.

I agree, but it's easier for people to point to pageants as the reason JonBenet was stalked/murdered. It also provides them with another reason to say the Ramsey's were absuing their daughter when there's absolutely no evidence Jonbenet did not want to do the pageants. This way they can continue to live with a false security that they're better parents whose kids will never be murdered.

 

[sillyhead]

Yep. I agree, Duck, which is one of the reasons this ticks me off. And, personally, I wonder about the ones who think it's some sort of "excuse" to do this to a child. Srsly.

 

[narlacat]

I don't see anything sexual about JonBenet's participation in pageants, no more than I see dressing my own daughter up in glitzy recital costumes with makeup is "sexualizing" her. There is a lot of hard work that goes into preparing for those pageants. The girls must learn a piece to present for the talent competition, they have to learn how to walk and speak properly, how to spot the judges when the walk past, etc. The prizes are not given to the girl who is merely the prettiest. Poise, talent, and speaking ability count toward those scores. There are also pageants that are no-makeup and do not allow pro-am style modeling. The girls model playclothes and party dresses. "Pageant" does not automatically translate to girls in full makeup and glitzy costumes.

While pageants are not an activity that I would chose for my daughter, I think the work and talent it takes to compete in them is admirable- never mind the amount of time it involves and the money the parents spend on costumes, stylists, and photographs. When there are so many parents who only spend a few hours a day with their infants or young children, or those who let kids watch cartoons and do whatever they please all day, I commend any activity that involves the parent devoting considerable time and resources to their child.

One thing I *am* horrified by is the trashy clothing that is marketed to little girls. This is not meant for pageantry and for show, but to be worn every day by little girls. I see little girls my daughter's age walking around with shirts that say "Spoiled Brat" and "Little Hottie". *That* is trashy IMHO.

Here's an example of the stuff I have to wade through everytime I go shopping for dd's clothes- notice sizes 4,5, and 6X are sold out
http://www.klassykidsclothes.com/kashtenskirt1.html

At least JonBenet's pageant outfits didn't look like something you would see a streetwalker wearing!

As for the toilet training issues, I knew a 6yo girl that had frequent accidents and bedwetting. She never competed in pageants or anything else for that matter. Some kids are simply that way, and it is no fault of the parents.

Well, you are certainly more open minded than me.
There is nothing appropiate about a 6 yr old using her microphone to pretend to masturbate with.
I'm sorry but what PR did to that girl was not okay, the poor kid was robbed of her childhood.

 

[narlacat]

Maybe not normal to you, but pageants are the activity of choice for some children and their parents. It is no less normal than sports, or music lessons- children don't NEED those things. Posting on internet crime forums isn't exactly normal either, but here we are:dance: lol.

What's normal anyway.
Youve bascially just told everyone here that they are not normal.
Speak for yourself, but don't do it for everyone else, I consider myself quite normal and here I am posting on the net.

 

[openminded1]

What's normal anyway.
Youve bascially just told everyone here that they are not normal.
Speak for yourself, but don't do it for everyone else, I consider myself quite normal and here I am posting on the net.

OMG! Blow your nose, then try once again to smell the sarcasm. Posting on the net is perfectly normal, however, when I get a survey with "please check your hobbies" on it, "posting on internet crime forums" never seems to be one of the choices listed. :waitasec:

 

[narlacat]

There is no comparison Dance is a discipline, like piano or violin. The children have to learn & practice the steps and then the routine. Everyone is involved and all work together.

In fact, a recital is actually just for the family - to see where their money is going and that the child is actually learning something. At least....that's what the original idea was.

When I was a kid (admittedly, a long time ago), we worked all year to get in that one recital.

Those pageants aren't recitals....nor are they talent shows. They are about (IMO) teaching kids a vaccuous, shallow set of values about themselves, other people, and what life is all about.

Yep.
You got that right Wenchie.

 

[wenchie]

Normal, yeah................for parents who can afford $900 little dresses that will be worn once or twice (and apparently the children wear several of these costumes during the pageant).

That's not exactly a level playing field, especially for a kid who might have some genuine talent but doesn't have the big bucks to spend.

Sports don't cost that kind of money.

No comparison, IMO.