Thoughts/opinions on child pageants?

It is nothing more than parents living vicariously through their children. Which is a phenomenon that I truly despise. I remember some parents like that when I was a kid, but they seem to be everywhere now.

The first time that we’ve agreed on something, @josie.

Exploitative and roundly ill-conceived jump to mind.

It isn’t just an American thing.

I would really like to hear from the now grown-up children that participated in this type of environment. Surely they are the ones that can shed some insight on the pros and cons. Wouldn’t that make for an interesting documentary.

@bkcunningham I had no idea. Still sad.

@bkcunningham Curious as to where you’re from (where in the U.S?). :)

@bkcunningham Also, what are your thoughts on them?

@Mama_Cakes
What a hideous kid. Even the ton of makeup on its face can not completely cover its ugliness.

I don’t personally know anyone like the people in the video, but I guess they are out there. I have seen some video clips like the one that you posted, but I have never watched the shows.
I can’t stand all that crap, I think it’s sad and disgusting.

I still wonder why its going on considering some of the history on the stuff. It’s disgusting and should be banned.

I think what I find so revolting about it is this: we accept that as an adult, you’ll have to cultivate some kind of public persona and modify your behavior to create impressions, but there’s a sense that in doing that, we’ve lost something authentic. Kids have that authenticity that we wish we could fully reclaim. There’s something extremely refreshing about how kids couldn’t care less about being presentable. A scroungy kid makes me smile, and I’m glad for him that he can still get away with that.

To see a kid like Honey Boo Boo there already schooled in these scripted, pandering behaviors makes me angry for her. It’s like she’s had some evil spell cast on her.

I think pageants range from silly to inappropriate. If the kids enjoy them and are told by their parents that “it’s only a contest for the fun of it and may have no affect on your future success” so be it. But when the mothers are being aggressive and loud when training the children what to do when the kids are worn out then the parents are just wrong; they’re living their empty lives through their children. As with Hoarders and Honey Boo Boo, television seems to be starting to capture viewers who are attracted to the obscene, dark and disgusting aspects of “society” and I think that’s sad and embarrassing. These shows make The Bachelor appear to be Shakespearean in comparison.
I watch very few shows now. When it gets to the “makes me nauseous” stage it’s time to change the channel or turn the whole thing off.

I was born in Virginia, @Mama_Cakes. I live in Florida now. I’ve lived all over the Eastern US.

I honestly think it is a personal decision for the parents to make. I think there are any number of things that people do which we are not familiar with and which may seem queer on the surface unless you understand the details and their thinking. Maybe it will still seem odd after knowing the minds and intentions of those involved, but I really make an effort to understand and leave the judging to other people.

I watched parents at Little League practice and games that I thought needed to have their heads examined. The same for parents I knew when my daughters were in soccer and cheerleading and competition cheerleading. I’ve thought that some people I knew who had children involved in the ROTC were just as strange.

To each his own. I’m one of those people who loves to talk to other people. I’ve discovered some really amazing people who I would have written off as kooky for their beliefs or their activities if I hadn’t gotten to know them and understand them a little better.

@bkcunningham Thanks for your response.

You are welcome. :~)

A pageant can be constuctive for any child as long as the environment is kind and supportive. If your mother is forcing you to do it then it will do FAR more harm than good.

It makes money for the people who run the pageants and for people who sell the products involved. I think the whole idea gives a child an unreal outlook on the importance of how you look and move. Some of those mothers looked like they were not attractive as children and didn’t want their girls feeling like they did as kids. I don’t think their choice of solution is a good one.
I’d also like to hear from people who were involved with pageants when they were kids

They just seem so unsophisticated to me…it’s the kind of thing people who only eat at meat’n’potatoes restaurants love…I just can’t shake off that kind of faux-fancy highly contrived nature of it. Not to mention the fact that some of them (I’m sure there are some who are not) are forced into it against their will and it’s nothing but a way for parents to live through their children. Not that there aren’t plenty of other ways for parents to do that; this is just one example.

Revolting.

It all makes me want to vomit. What’s even worse is this child now has her own TLC show where they need subtitles because their English and accent are so horrible!

I am curious to see how many of these kids grow up to be normal :/