What do you think of child beauty pageants?

[The Newswire]

Last night, I was fortunate enough to have dinner with a motley crew of interesting creative people. One of the artists there, who I had not met before, was photographer Susan Anderson. Her book High Glitz has just been published by Powerhouse. According...

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[One Eyed Cat]

I have some ambivalence there. I have not seen the clips mentioned. What occurs that you found appalling? I do believe they may lead to either self-confidence or insecurity. Regardless, I would oppose an actual prohibition. If there is actual abuse, those adults should be prosecuted. My subjective non-preference is not enough. How do I feel? I think there are more constructive ways to build a child's self-esteem. We need better choices in where we send our kids to school. These girls may equally have a passion for science, music, fashion, the arts, theater. Still, I really wouldn't go past finding it a bit distasteful. I haven't really looked into it as an industry.

OEC

[Mr Karl]

well, in case you haven't noticed, the human race is a very disturbed species

[kinkyartgirl]

*hides*

[One Eyed Cat]

well, in case you haven't noticed, the human race is a very disturbed species

It is at that.

[ape descendant]

Personally I think they are a disgusting practice. I think they over sexualize children and such. Also.. instead of spending time letting these little girls play, find and educate themselves about the real world.. their childhood is wasted on the vanity of parents who, quite desperately want to live through their children... beauty pageants should be for adults.. and adults only.

Being beautiful to adults is something that children should NOT have to worry about, especially in a formalized setting. They'll have plenty of time to worry about that shit when they get older.

Seriously what kind of sick fuck tries to make their 7 year old look like Brittany Spears?

[Raza]

I think it's a silly (at best) thing to have a generalized opinion about. Children, as anyone, should do what they want to do. Portraying them as perpetually the suffering object in everything they participate in is discriminatory and cliché.

'Course, the moral crowd is the worst, eager as always to disapprove of anything remotely extraordinary that involves The Children. They're one of those almost universally accepted causes that you can protest anything in the name of and get an amen from the crowd, and people heartily indulge by bringing out and projecting every pet peeve and personal insecurity that they dare not object to in their own name.

[mystoo]

WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!?!?!?!?!

Beauty pageants are stupid no matter how old you are.

[TheDeathKnight]

I saw one reality show about them, and they followed around 3 different families.
2 out of the 3 were totally dysfunctional.
Yelling at the kids, forcing them to perform, bribing the kids, fake smiles, fake personalities, etc.
I felt so bad for the kids, because it was the parents who wanted the validation.
It's like they were living through their children. If they never won a beauty contest on
their own, they would make their kids win, so they feel better about themselves.
Like it was something to brag about to the other moms.
"My daughter won a beauty contest!"
For two out of three, it was the moms who wanted to do it, not the kids.

But one girl LOVED it. She was the one who told her parents she wanted to do it.
She loved to sing and dance and prance around up there. And the funny thing is
that because she was so sincerely happy, and having fun, she would totally win
when competing against the other kids, who were being forced into it...

So as with many other things in life, there are exceptions.

So I don't think these kind of pageants are "wrong",
but many of the parents are doing it for completely wrong reasons...

If you kid does not want to do something like that, don't force them.

[Mr Karl]

however, if the judges were the same age as the contestants..............................that's actualy a little more disturbing than the way things are now

[VoltaireBlue]

WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!?!?!?!?!

Beauty pageants are stupid no matter how old you are.

+1

[BiggTruxx]

Seriously what kind of sick fuck tries to make their 7 year old look like Brittany Spears?

Fo real do.

[MichaelaChaos]

those poor children! not to mention the way they are made-up is scary!! look at this!!! http://www.jasondunn.com/wp-content/...distortion.jpg first off, she looks cute in first pic, second pic WOW!! ima throw up!! have u seen the mothers? they all have country accents, always yell at the girls and basically just seem like they are stupid and have nothing better to do than humiliate and put their kids in danger! its worse when the kids have been brainwashed to like it!

[Ajax Knucklebones]

those poor children! not to mention the way they are made-up is scary!! look at this!!! http://www.jasondunn.com/wp-content/...distortion.jpg first off, she looks cute in first pic, second pic WOW!! ima throw up!! have u seen the mothers? they all have country accents, always yell at the girls and basically just seem like they are stupid and have nothing better to do than humiliate and put their kids in danger! its worse when the kids have been brainwashed to like it!

She looks like she turned into a doll on the second one. Freaky.

[Raza]

its worse when the kids have been brainwashed to like it!

Yes, because brainwashing is the only way they could fail to agree with you on the subject, and uniquely distinct from the social learning you did as you grew up and adopted the culture around you.

Picture looks more like a photomanipulation than a before/after shot of IRL styling.

[kclark]

I, for one, fully support these pageants...how else am I going to line up a date for a slow Saturday night? Not to mention that Tylenol PM is sooooo much cheaper than liquor.