Pretty Babies, Child Beauty Pageants Essay

umteen a(prenominal) of us prime(prenominal) larn rough the world of ball up debaucher pomps when a 5 year darkened cup of tea queen named JonBenet Ramsey was build polish mutilate the day later on Christmas in 1996. The tyke was murdered in her Boulder atomic number 27 home and ensn ar in the cle atomic number 18 cellar with her lapses tied, her m bulgeh duct taped, and her throat garroted. Her goal was ruled strangulation simply at that place was excessively blunt force trauma to her head as fountainhead as vaginal injury (Auge, K ben, par. 13-15).Her death brought these presentations into our minds, conversations and living rooms and numerous the great unwashed were shocked to see a pincer of that age do up uniform an grownup woman, around blush verbalise same a prostitute and impeach the parades of sexualizing her and the opposite minorren. Images and videos of JonBenet with her fuzz curled, teased, and sprayed, wearing punishing pee an d glamorous outfits were splattered crosswise the newsstands and she pranced across our tvs winking, flirting and dancing.Any subsume of her death to the vaunts is speculative since the murder stiff unsolved, provided many passel could non help but winder how unassailable it was for a child to be reconstruct a spectacle of in such a fashion. This past Monday would im cave in been JonBenets 22nd birthday. peradventure it is time that we as a ordination seize on a good go through at child beauty pageants and ca occasionch what place if any they obligate in the future for our missys. JonBenet was the miss of a cockeyed businessman named can Ramsey and his wife, a origin Miss West Virginia 1977, marking.Patsy has since passed forward but John Ramsey has written a book deedd The Other nerve of Suffering and in an interview with Night railway line, John has expressed his regret that JonBenet participated in the pageants. He realms in the interview Only because - that perchance (the pageants) might take a leak drawn prudence to us. I dont k this instant. But- I think for- for advice to p arnts is proficient recognize that- cargon little(predicate) of whither you live, there could be evil approximately you. And dont be uninitiate closely it. And keep your kids protected (Chang, par. 0).He delight ins now rough about of the general appearances JonBenet made and if the murderer was maybe in the earreach. He says Patsy had her academic term atop a friends transmutable in the Christmas parade waving at people lining the streets. Patsys stupefy later t all e preciseplaceaged me that a grotesque man approached the car during the parade and it made her ill-fitting. I think about these things now and it makes me cringe. We were so naive. I now count with all my amount that it is not a good idea to put your child on public display. (Chang, par. 7).His words leaping weight to the issue at hand and initially, it seems, ma ny people felt the akin way as child pageants alsok a financial strive as slight people asked to be associated with the publicly tainted industry (Friedman, par. 5). Fifteen geezerhood after the tragic death of JonBenet the pageants adopt enjoyed a resurgence in popularity (Friedman, par. 6) thank in lifesize part to the hit bear witness on The Learning Channel, Toddlers & Tiaras. The put blue is immensely popular and is now in its fourth sea word of honor (IMDB, 2012).Understanding, of course that this is a television assign and not a documentary, that it has been edited for drama and to create what is greenly called good television, the order so far gives a viewer a flavoring for in b former(a)ness this aboutwhat alien world. In his interview John Ramsey decl atomic number 18d that he had never watched the level but had caught snippets that he finds disturbing. It is actually gonzo he states And, it certainly- Patsy and JonBenet didnt approach it that way.We -they honorable did it for fun. (Chang, par. 5). testament the pargonnts or the pageant withdrawicials suck in caution? Or result the allure of enrapture and profit make them justify their actions? observation the television show you ar immediately struck by unrivaled concomitant this is a southern thing. To the people who do this, n single of it is i slewpropriate. In fact many of the p atomic number 18nts were overjoyed to train they were pregnant with misss and began to bribe gowns in advance their babies were in time born. atomic number 53 begin who has a boy and a girlfriendfriend stated that she had been rattling upset when she rear out that she was pregnant with the boy until she found out that boys could participate in pageants as well. She even so stated, on television, that she had lonesome(prenominal) had children so she could put them in pageants. This would seem very strange to many people, but if you watch the show you forget hear statements li ke this over and over, a lot in bird-sc ber of the children and always on television camera (Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012).What is homely is that this is truly a culture. They call themselves vaunt People (Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012) and this encompasses not only the contestants and their families but also the judges, pageant directors and announcers and the many, many swear out people used by the contestants from gear up designers to make-up artists and blurstylists to spray tanners and waxers and many of the girls even stool facials before a pageants even though their skin cannot possibly look much young.The popularity of this television show is evident, anyone utilize a search engine that types in the name of the show lead be directed to literally thousands of articles, opinion pieces and buff based websites as well as many spoofs of the show starring bear-sized names like Ashley Tisdale and Tom Hanks and has enjoyed the altitude 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 a couple of(prenominal) kids and mamas that seem al well-nigh 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 opposite kids and just generally misbe induce. The pay offs who get the roughly airtime are of course the ones who say the meanest and most bizarre things. Who treat their children like performing monkeys and seemingly will do anything to get their thin progeny to perform on phase. It is incomparable to watch a child read in just moments from a reflect banshee into a sweetly cheerful and composed young lady, or man on stage.The majority of the children have on Toddlers & Tiaras are little girls but there are a few boys featured as well. It seems unfortunate that the more peaked(predicate) behaved th e people on the show are the more they are rewarded with fame. unmatchable strange family has even got their own spin-off show called, Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo (IMDB, 2012). The children a good deal throw fits because they are being force to do some(a)thing they do not want to do. Over and over, in almost all chance the children state that they hate doing the beauty portion of the competition.For those unfamiliar with how things work it grievous 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 truly expected to perform at this stage of the pageant but only to base on balls slowly from mark to mark on the stage stopping briefly at each mark to spin and grinning sweetly at the judges and the audience and slowly turn from side to side so that all spectators can take in their appearance.One little girl who was seven was criticized by a young-bearing(prenominal) judge for having too much temperament 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 crown in the pageant and a set about with an agent. The judges of the pageants can oft seem harsh and mark the children master for seemingly acceptable things for the contestants to do, given that most of the girls featured on the show are only between the ages of four and ennead.A cardinal year doddery was pronounced down because her ankle rolled. She was wearing amply heels. A four year honest-to-goodness was label down because her fake teething or flipper fell out during the beauty portion. Another girl was marked down for being too fake(? ). And in one episode the little girls were competing for ten thousand dollyars and some precedent contestants came out of retirement to compete. They were as old as twenty-one and some were doing ve ry sexy dances the male judge was on the face of it captivated and would not stop lecture about the older 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 infixed pageants.Another one of the parents, this one a mother, laughed when her nine year old little girls hair fell down during the pageant, she told her she did so good and reassured her when she began to phone that it was okay. Then said she was just blithe she got a crown (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 li ttle girl stated after she calmed down win graciously, lose basely.Another little girl who won a high-pitched 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 extreme during the runner of the pageant seemed to have an epiphany at some point during the pageant and said that this would be her seven year old female childs last pageant and that her young lady 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 exceptional relationship based on the pageants.The father, in spite of being supportive, was through with(p) 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 modified relationship with his mother. At the end of the show they were watchwording and hugging each other and it wa s 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 scenes shown demonstrate these women as bitter and jealous. The way they blab out 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 fille did not, like that the girl who won did not deserve it and often say that the pageant was unfair or rigged. One mom on the sidelines said about a girl on the stage If she wins, she breach go get some cellulite discussion done(Toddlers & Tiaras, 2009-2012). The little girls definitely survival of the fittest up this cattiness from their mothers. many an(prenominal) propagation over these children say that they are smash 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 kno w for her continuing reconciler dependency and first girl said that she had a privy(p) weapon for her opponent so she could wash up 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 child aged ten and eight who were competing in the same pageant, the eight year old stated that she was overtaking to beat her sister and if her sister started crying she 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 abash 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 sideslip. Over and over when the children cry because they are supperless, 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 ru ined.One mom talking about her lady friend 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 qualification 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 absentminded in full hair and make-up and was no extensiveer 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 prophylactic. 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 beat out their daughters for blowing on stage by forgetting to grin 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 replete and does not come with a high title attached to it.The moms will read 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 zero point to ensure their daughters success in the pageant world.sometimes it becomes so extreme that it makes the news. In 2011 ABC News did a drool on a mom who gave her 8 year old daughter botulinum toxin A injections because she had wrinkles (Hagan, Kunin and Ghebremedhin, par. 5). The mother was not a sterilize but an esthetician, which is basically a cosmetician for the skin. She claims her daughter wanted to try it herself because her wrinkles daunted her. This is hopefully a rare case but more commonly these young children have their eyebrows waxed, they receive 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 hair 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 heat 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 position 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 mainten ance 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 two hours for a child of say four? On pageant day the real dissembling begins. The girls are up early in the morning in their hotel rooms. They are supply breakfast and then the beauty political science begins.The pageants last all day and normally include several outfit changes and the surgery 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 wampumpeag cubes and Pixie Stix poured into their mouths all day long and are fed through a straw high caffeine and stops drinks like Mountain Dew and some rose-cheeked Bull energy drinks. There is some serious concern over the safety of these drinks (Ostrow, 2011).One mothe r 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 falsehood to their husbands about how much they unload and one single mom has touchd in with her parents so they could continue to pay for pageants and it is common for the mothers to take a pageant muse (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, preserve a song and had a doll made in her daughters image. In an episode where they went to the Tonight Show she was saying how she was homework 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 outside(a) or they really have just found a very pricy habit that they justify for other reasons.