Childhood pageants pro or con?

CON

I do not believe any one should make a child into a sex object.

How they’re set up now? I find them to be completely disgusting and damaging, in many ways. Dolling such young boys and girls up to that degree is extremely inappropriate. No girls that young need to be modeling bikinis or wearing so much make-up that they look like they’re in their 20s.

Hell fucking NO.

I’ll always wonder what happened to Jonbenet Ramsey!

I’m totally against it as the parents usually put too much pressure on a child. Don’t see an upside. The child should choose it… and 9 out 10 times, it’s a parent living vicariously though their child.

I have never heard of a single thing about the pageants that is of benefit to the child. They objectify the child. I consider it a complicated yet damaging form of child abuse.

Con

No child should be dressed up that way or wear that kind of makeup. I reluctantly watched a show…it was like watching a train wreck. I couldn’t look away… and wound up yelling at the TV for the entire show. One girl was crying and obviously didn’t want to do the pageant. One mother pretty much berated her child for not performing up to par. It was disgusting.

I’d much rather watch kids play in the mud, run around catching fireflies and doing normal kid things. It’s ridiculous.

No. Completely against them. Gross.

I’m against it. Like @cak said, I love it when kids act like kids! It’s so much fun to play with them and just act like a kid for a while again.

I find it repulsive the way mothers dress up their child with all the makeup and the teased hair and put them on a stage.

Against them. It puts too much pressure and emphsis on looks.
JonBenet Ramsey’s mother was highlighting her hair at age 5.

Against. But, I am ok with children entering talent contests. Some kids love the stage.

I don’t like it at all. My grandmother entered me in a pageant when I was little. She thought I would enjoy it. Wrong!
The girls that don’t win think their ugly at a young age and have self image issues. Many think everything should be handed to them. Plus the girls become free game when a horny old man tells them their pretty. It all goes to their head. It’s not right.

Con.

What kind of massage does it send to a girl child about what is important in life or for her or about her?

Not all beauty pageants are the same. The national pageants as shown in the links and on TV are a perversion of the sweet, little fund raisers we have on a local level. The children love to show off, no artificial enhancements are allowed, including no make up or perms. Money is raised for charity and everyone has a good time.

@YARNLADY That sounds so sweet! I’d love to see something like that.