Pretty Babies, Child Beauty Pageants Essay

legion(predicate) of us first learned nearly the world of babe dishful p developants when a 5 yr obsolescent controler queen named JonBenet Ramsey was set up murdered the day subsequently Christmas in 1996. The electric razor was murdered in her Boulder Colorado home and represent in the basement with her men tied, her mouth duct taped, and her throat garroted. Her death was ruled strangulation further t present was also blunt force trauma to her head as tumefy as vaginal injury (Auge, K arn, par. 13-15).Her death brought these pompositys into our minds, conversations and living live and numerous mess were shocked to assure a sister of that age made up standardised an big woman, al about charge verbalize similar a prostitute and accused the flourishs of sexualizing her and the other children. Images and videos of JonBenet with her sensory hair curled, teased, and sprayed, fuddle on heavy make-up and glamorous outfits were splattered across the newssta nds and she pranced across our videos winking, coque canvass and dancing.Any link of her death to the vauntings is speculative since the murder remains unsolved, only legion(predicate) nation could non help but wonder how base hit it was for a child to be made a spectacle of in such a fashion. This past Monday would hold in been JonBenets 22nd birthday. Perhaps it is time that we as a society maintain a entire look at child beauty parades and decide what place if any they have in the future for our daughters. JonBenet was the daughter of a wealthy businessman named backside Ramsey and his wife, a former Miss West Virginia 1977, Patsy.Patsy has since passed away but John Ramsey has writ tenner a book deedd The Other Side of distress and in an interview with Nightline, John has expressed his regret that JonBenet commenceicipated in the pompositys. He states in the interview Only because- that possibly (the pageants) might have wasted attention to us. I simulatet k now. But- I think for- for advice to p argonnts is effective recognize that- regardless of where you live, there could be evil around you. And dont be naive astir(predicate) it. And keep your kids protected (Chang, par. 0).He wonders now about well-nigh of the public appearances JonBenet made and if the murderer was mayhap in the audience. He says Patsy had her sit atop a takeoff boosters convertible in the Christmas parade waving at people lining the streets. Patsys buzz off later t obsolescent me that a grotesque man approached the car during the parade and it made her uncomfortable. I think about these things now and it makes me cringe. We were so naive. I now believe with each(prenominal) my sprightliness that it is non a good idea to put your child on public display. (Chang, par. 7).His words give w eighter to the issue at bargain and initially, it seems, many people felt the same way as child pageants took a financial hit as less people cute to be associated with the publicly tainted industry (Friedman, par. 5). Fifteen years after the tragic death of JonBenet the pageants have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity (Friedman, par. 6) convey in large part to the hit order on The erudition Channel, Toddlers & Tiaras. The show is immensely popular and is now in its fourth severeen (IMDB, 2012).Understanding, of course that this is a television show and not a documentary, that it has been em devastati mavend for drama and to create what is commonly called good television, the show heretofore gives a viewer a look inside this whatsoeverwhat outsider world. In his interview John Ramsey give tongue to that he had never watched the show but had caught snippets that he finds disturbing. It is actually bizarre he states And, it certainly- Patsy and JonBenet didnt approach it that way.We-they righteous did it for fun. (Chang, par. 5). Will the parents or the pageant officials take precaution? Or exit the allure of glamour and profit make the m beg off their actions? Watching the television show you are immediately struck by one fact this is a southern thing. To the people who do this, none of it is impertinent. In fact many of the parents were all oerjoyed to learn they were enceinte with misfires and began to obtain g testifys before their babies were even born.One indemnify back who has a boy and a female child stated that she had been very upset when she found out that she was pregnant with the boy until she found out that boys could participate in pageants as come up. She even stated, on television, that she had only had children so she could put them in pageants. This would seem very strange to many people, but if you watch the show you lead render statements like this over and over, a great dealtimes in front of the children and always on camera (Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012).What is apparent is that this is truly a culture. They call themselves Pageant mass (Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012) and this encompasses not only the contestants and their families but also the articulates, pageant directors and announcers and the many, many profit people used by the contestants from dress designers to make-up artists and hairstylists to spray tanners and waxers and many of the missys even exit facials before a pageants even though their scratch cannot possibly look much younger.The popularity of this television show is evident, anyone using a search engine that types in the name of the show will be directed to literally thousands of articles, opinion pieces and fan ground websites as well as many spoofs of the show starring huge names like Ashley Tisdale and Tom Hanks and has enjoyed the pinnacle of success in the eyes of many, satire on Saturday Night Live. But what about the tiny stars of the show? How safe are they? Is all of this good for them? Watching the show you will see a few kids and moms that seem almost normal, of course these people never get to be the stars.The stars are the children who are bratty, who throw temper tantrums, hit their parents, try to bite other kids and just generally misbehave. The produces who get the most airtime are of course the ones who say the meanest and most bizarre things. Who treat their children like make outing monkeys and seemingly will do anything to get their small progeny to perform on stage. It is remarkable to watch a child transform in just moments from a sparkling banshee into a sweetly rejoicing and composed young lady, or gentleman on stage.The majority of the children feature on Toddlers & Tiaras are teentsy girls but there are a few boys featured as well. It seems unfortunate that the more poorly behaved the people on the show are the more they are rewarded with fame. One strange family has even got their own birle-off show called, Here Comes Honey stumbler (IMDB, 2012). The children often throw fits because they are macrocosm forced to do something they do not want to do. Over and over, in alm ost every result the children state that they hate doing the beauty portion of the competition.For those unfamiliar with how things work it primal to know that the beauty portion is the most important piece of the pageant where girls are judged on their poise, their attire, hair and make-up, and most of all their facial beauty. They are not really expected to perform at this stage of the pageant but only to walk slowly from mark to mark on the stage stopping briefly at each mark to spin and smile sweetly at the judges and the audience and slowly flex from side to side so that all spectators can take in their appearance.One miniscule girl who was seven was criticized by a womanish judge for having too much personality for beauty although of the same girl a male judge stated that he could not take my eyes off her( Toddlers & Tiaras, season 4, 2012). The girl went on to win the biggest chapiter in the pageant and a contract with an agent. The judges of the pageants can often seem harsh and mark the children mow for seemingly acceptable things for the contestants to do, stipulation that most of the girls featured on the show are only among the ages of four and society.A six year older was marked down because her ankle rolled. She was wearing high heels. A four year old was marked down because her misrepresent teeth or flipper send away out during the beauty portion. Another girl was marked down for universe too fake(? ). And in one episode the little girls were competing for ten thousand dollars and some former contestants came out of retirement to compete. They were as old as twenty-one and some were doing very sexy dances the male judge was obviously captivated and would not stop talk about the old(a) contestants.A 20 year old won. Against little girls. (Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012) You will see some moments on the show where the parents are caring and the children seem to be keeping the whole thing in perspective. One of the fathers, who has 3 children in the pageants does not allow his kids to be tanned or wear fake teeth and lashes and says some of it is too far. He also keeps the bills for the pageants a little lower by renting the dresses and says he preferred the essential pageants.Another one of the parents, this one a mother, laughed when her nine year old daughters hair fell down during the pageant, she told her she did so good and reassured her when she began to telephone that it was okay. Then express she was just glad she got a upper side (in many of the pageants every contestant gets some type of crown) and that she did not need to win the ultimate title and the little girl stated after she calmed down win graciously, brook humbly.Another little girl who won a high title stated that the title she had gotten was really good because Theres a lot of girls here and they tried hard too. One mother who had seemed very perfect during the beginning of the pageant seemed to have an epiphany at some point during t he pageant and said that this would be her seven year old daughters last pageant and that her daughter was beautiful on her own. (Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012). In one touching episode, a mother had only boys and it seemed that her six year old son and her had a very special relationship based on the pageants.The father, in spite of creation supportive, was done with his son being in the pageants and wanted this to be his last one. The boy seemed happy to do the pageants and seemed to have a very special relationship with his mother. At the end of the show they were songing and hugging each other and it was actually hard not to be sad for them (Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012) Most of the other parents are not like those ones and the majority of the shafts shown depict these women as bitter and jealous. The way they chatter of the other children is disgraceful.They say mean things in front of their own kids about the other children, especially if the other children win and their d aughter did not, like that the girl who won did not deserve it and often say that the pageant was unsporting or rigged. One mom on the sidelines said about a girl on the stage If she wins, she better go get some cellulite treatment done(Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012). The little girls definitely pick up this maliciousness from their mothers. Many times over these children say that they are better or prettier than the other girls.One six year old girl knew from her mother that one of the other girls was her biggest competition at the pageant. The other girl was well known for her continuing pacifier dependency and first girl said that she had a secret weapon for her opponent so she could beat her and held up a gag pacifier that had funny looking teeth on the front of it and then snickered. In one sad scene there were sister aged ten and eight who were competing in the same pageant, the eight year old stated that she was going to beat her sister and if her sister started crabing sh e would beat her to he ground. When the older sister started to cry and said that it was because she was being mean the younger one told her to Stop crying, youre embarrassing me (Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012).If you think the tiger moms would be less cruel to their own offspring you would learn that often that is not the case. Over and over when the children cry because they are hungry, tired, something being done to them hurts or they lost they are told not to cry because they are on camera or that the pageant is not over and their make-up will be ruined.One mom talking about her daughter said that she, the mom, had been better at cheerleading and that her daughter just cant get it like her. Her daughter was nine. One child was forced to stop doing gymnastics because it was making her muscles too big for her costumes and her mother told her that was sucky when she came off stage. Over and over the children are cruelly disregarded or ignored when they state that they are in pain, feeling sick, hungry or tired. In a heart stopping scene a nine year old girl went missing in full hair and make-up and was no longer in the hotel.In every scene shown by the television show the mom was worried about her being late for her age line up and not concerned for her sentry go. Luckily, she was found in time, and her standing in the pageant was unaffected. That the girls often cry when they lose is no surprise when you take in that the mothers often cry or state they are going to throw up and berate their daughters for blowing on stage by forgetting to smile at the judges or forgetting part of their routine. The moms let their daughters know that they lost too if their crown is not big comely and does not come with a high title prone to it.The moms will tell their daughters who are smiling and holding a crown that they lost and the crown they have is for losers. One mom while sitting in the audience was pissed and going to cry and listed what the other little girls got and that her daughter didnt get anything. No wonder the little girl had a tantrum and screamed that she wanted a crown (Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012) Many of these mothers are, like Patsy Ramsey, former beauty queens themselves and will stop and nonentity to ensure their daughters success in the pageant world.sometimes it becomes so primitive that it makes the news. In 2011 ABC News did a story on a mom who gave her 8 year old daughter Botox injections because she had wrinkles (Hagan, Kunin and Ghebremedhin, par. 5). The mother was not a doctor but an esthetician, which is basically a cosmetician for the skin. She claims her daughter wanted to try it herself because her wrinkles bothered her. This is hopefully a obsolete case but more commonly these young children have their eyebrows waxed, they find out spray tans, even if they are African American or bi-racial.They have acrylic nails put on, they are fitted for fake teeth to go over their own teeth called flippers, they have h air extensions put in because often their baby fine hair either is not thick enough for the large hair-dos or not strong enough to take the light up and styling. Some of the girls have their hair bleached before a pageant. Sometimes these things hurt or are uncomfortable and the children complain. There seems to be a particular hatred amongst the little girls for the false eyelashes.Many of the girls scream and cry and beg to not have to wear them to no avail. These are typically services reserved for very high maintenance women and many adult women would not have the patience for them. The FDA has not done studies on the safety of these chemicals for use on children either. How does it feel to sit in make-up and hair for twain hours for a child of say four? On pageant day the real magic begins. The girls are up early in the morning in their hotel rooms. They are fed breakfast and then the beauty regime begins.The pageants last all day and usually include several(prenominal) outfi t changes and the performance of practiced routines. The girls, some very young, are not allowed to eat or nap so their hair and make-up do not become ruined. To make up for this, the moms have found some magic. On pageant day the girls have sugar cubes and Pixie Stix poured into their mouths all day long and are fed through a wheat high caffeine and sugar drinks like Mountain Dew and some vehement Bull energy drinks. There is some serious concern over the safety of these drinks (Ostrow, 2011).One mother asked her daughter before the pageant if she wanted to quit doing them. The girl nodded yes and the mom said Lets look at your crowns Doesnt that make you feel better? (Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012). One of the reasons many of the parents say they do it is often for the prizes, money, bonds and scholarships. Indeed, some of the pageants featured on the television show do boast some large prizes. But most of the parents admit that they have spent many times over what their child has received.Several of the moms admit to lying to their husbands about how much they spend and one single mom has moved in with her parents so they could continue to pay for pageants and it is common for the mothers to take a pageant job (Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012) to cover some of the expenses. Some of the parents spend lavishly on the pageants. Many of the pageants have a top prize of only several hundred dollars yet the girls will show up in 2500$ dresses. In one episode two sisters have their very own trailer for pageant accessories that have their pictures emblazoned on the sides.One very enterprising mother has published a pageant book about her daughter, recorded a song and had a doll made in her daughters image. In an episode where they went to the Tonight Show she was axiom how she was planning to get her daughter and agent and a two million dollar contract so she could quit her job and move to Hollywood. It seems as if the parents either have delusions about some pay off that will eventually come if they keep plugging away or they really have just found a very expensive habit that they justify for other reasons.