Teaching girls their value is in their physical beauty
Many readers will have seen the documentary Toddlers and Tiaras revealing the child exploitation that is the US beauty pageant industry. A five year old begging not to have her eyebrows ripped out. Little girls preening, strutting, pouting, beckoning to the judges ‘come here baby’, kissing their finger and pressing it to their backsides in a gesture indicating they are smoking hot, the suggestive dance routines and sexualised costumes, parents investing thousands of dollars to turn their daughters into big haired, grotesquely made-up sexy dolls. In the words of Melissa Wardy of Pigtail Pals:
Teaching young girls a very narrow version of beauty, transforming their bodies so that their beauty can be measured and judged, or to use their sexualized bodies to earn money for the family is disgusting…When you add to this the chemically dangerous spray tans, butt glue, nail glue, eyelash glue, hairspray, and cosmetics applied to these tiny, developing bodies, it is not a stretch to say these pageant programs are both emotionally and physically abusive.
After viewing some of the episodes online I thought – at least this is one toxic US export that hasn’t infected our shores.
I can’t think that any more. Because this toxic pageant culture is on its way to Australia. Universal Royalty Beauty Pageants will open for business in Melbourne in July.
As Elissa Doherty and Kate Jones at the Herald Sun report:
The July pageant, for babies to adults, costs a minimum of $295, which
includes a compulsory beauty competition, modelling and make-up workshops.
Optional extras include tanning, dressing like a celebrity for $50 and a photo and autograph session with American beauty pageant star, five-year-old Eden Wood…
Melbourne-based Kristin Kyle, helping organise the event, said it was already attracting interest from across Australia and New Zealand. The winner will take home a laptop, a rhinestone crown, a 1.5m trophy, an “official supreme royalty banner” and a stuffed teddy bear.
In its marketing material, the event claims to foster a “positive, fun-filled atmosphere” by encouraging self-confidence, education and “striving to be your very best”.
Making girls conform to stereotyped norms of female beauty
Here’s what I had to say about child beauty pageants on Channel 7’s Morning Show today. Naturally I disagreed with the pageant mum who said it was about “Playing Barbies” and “It’s what girls should do” and the Sunshine Coast pageant organiser who likened pageants to “sport” and said they were about being “beautiful and having fun”.
Collective Shout is planning action against child beauty pageants in Australia. Check the website for details and updates.
Available now
Now in its FOURTH printing!
March 28th, 2011 at 11:41 pm
I so hope Australians boycott these ridiculous pageants, they are wrong on so many levels!
March 28th, 2011 at 11:45 pm
To the pageant organiser: they’re not ‘young ladies’ they are ‘LITTLE GIRLS’.
To the mother who thinks (a) she’s just like a sports mum: Crap! At least if your child loses at sport, or any other talent based competition, she can go home and enhance her skills. This is a BEAUTY pageant (regardless of how it’s packaged), not a healthy competitive sport. Her looks are being judged using a very narrow (and Americanised) beauty ‘ideal’ – ummm, how is that self-esteem building exactly?
And (b) her daughter is just playing Barbies and loves to dress up: Pahleease! I’ve never seen girls play dolls and dress ups where they compete with their friends to win sashs, trophies and cash (unless they’re exposed to pageant life of course). Most little girls do love dressing up and applying makeup, but in THEIR own creative way. Not exploited by pageants arranged by adults (making bucket loads of money I might add!) with professional make-up artists, beauticians, photographers complete with photoshopping, cosmetic surgery procedures, etc.
Well done Melinda – again you nailed it, and were the only one speaking any sense.
March 28th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Unbelievable that this pageant thing would get any following here in Australia.
I have a six year old daughter and I couldn’t stand the thought of her being tarted up and strutting around to please a crowd and win prizes. It’s just plain wrong!
Maybe everyone should sit down and watch “Little Miss Sunshine” to realise how stupid the kiddy pageant thing is (and for a damn good laugh!)
Let kids be kids for goodness sake!
March 29th, 2011 at 7:07 am
I think the question for pageant parents is ‘Are you happy for your children to be pedophile fodder?’ I’m sure pedophiles love events such as these, where they can anonymously purchase a ticket, sit in the crowd and enjoy the show. Your kids deserve to be protected not flaunted in a sexual and exploitative manner. Please think carefully about who you’re unknowingly exposing your children to.
March 29th, 2011 at 11:03 am
I grew up in an environment where I was regularly told that I was fat, ugly and worthless. Since then I have sometimes wondered whether beauty pageants are really all that bad – I mean, surely being told you’re beautiful is better than being told you’re ugly? I have realised that being told I was beautiful wouldn’t have done me much good either, if it was just about physical appearance. What I needed, and what these little girls need, is for someone to talk about, and develop, inner beauty. Character, worth, value that is NOT external. Talking about beauty in terms of hair, eyes, teeth, strutting and sexiness can be every bit as damaging as telling someone they’re fat and ugly. Little girls deserve so much better than that.
March 29th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
You’re so right, Emily Sue. This isn’t a case of ‘you’re beautiful because I love you’. This is ‘you’re beautiful if you do this, wear this, act like this’. And beautiful (external, judged, imposed by other people) is what it’s all about. At 4 years old. This has nothing to do with feeling loved and lovely, but feeling inadequate and worth precisely the sum of as much falseness as can be forced onto their little bodies. It’s certainly not about being valued for who they are and will grow to be.
These contests sicken and amaze me. I cannot understand how these mothers can believe that they are doing something good for their children. Leave aside the self-esteem issues, can they not see that by colluding in the sexualisation of their children, they are playing into the twisted minds of paedophiles, who claim that children want and like their sexual attentions? And what about the Dads? Are they not horrified by this presentation of their innocent little girls? Or are we so saturated with the idea of women as visual and sexual playthings that co-opting children who haven’t lost their first baby tooth into that role is seen as okay?
March 29th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
If it’s not all about “facial beauty” how come we don’t see anyone “plain” looking little girls wearing sashes? These people must think the general public are idiots. Of course it’s about facial beauty.
Your responses were great Melinda.
Our little girls have enough garbage to navigate their way through as those grow up.
Let’s make sure that this ridiculous and poisonous rubbish stays far away from our shores.
March 29th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Gosh, Melinda, if you’d actually *done some research* you’d clearly see that all of your views are wrong! Does she really expect you got to be an expert in the field by just making things up? There are so many other ways to develop poise, confidence and grace than parading around in a puffy dress (and that is coming from someone who didn’t own a dress until she was fifteen).
March 29th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
The girl in the picture used above looks like a Las Vegas showgirl. Enough said!
March 29th, 2011 at 10:51 pm
I felt your frustration Melinda! My daughters will learn good posture and how to walk (hmmm, yeah, they learnt that before they turned one) by the example and expectations I place on them as they grow up. They won’t learn it whilst being dressed in tarted-up clothes, and sending inviting smiles to strangers. There is nothing more ‘beautiful’ than seeing my daughters play dress-ups at home in oversized dresses, shoes and fire fighter hats, ‘cooking’ playdough in the toy oven with chocolate-smeared faces from the baking we have just done. That’s a childhood!
March 29th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
Beautifully expressed Faith.
March 31st, 2011 at 8:55 am
Can they wear the $1000+ dresses on the trampoline, in the sand-pit or cook cup-cakes with mum while wearing them? No? Then why the hell are you putting your child in them? They are CHILDREN – or have we forgotten what that means? It means scraped knees, fairy bread, dress-ups, imagination, tea parties with dinosaurs, mud pies with friends, kicking a ball, running , skipping, hopping, leaping, climbing. It means they have bucketloads of FUN while being totally UNAWARE of their appearance. Way to go Melinda. Keep Fighting!
April 8th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
Emily,it’s clear that you did not pay close attention to what Melinda said. She did say that there are so many ways to delevop poise,confidence and grace.Melinda said that there are better places than child beauty pagents to teach them. Take modelling agencies for instance– they very often run classes to teach child models how to pose for magazines,tv commericals and so forth. These kids are taught properly how to walk, smile,be graceful,use poise and thus delevop confidence. And these people are professionals! Melinda is a professional speaker against child expolitain and knows what she is talking about. l’ve been to one of her talks and her knowlegde in this area is delevoped far more than what she given credit for.l was blown away!! l recomend her book’Getting Real’. lt’s a great read. Dianne
May 11th, 2011 at 6:07 pm
What a disgusting way to treat your children.
I would have thought that Kristin as a self confessed child abuse survivor would not turn around and treat her daughters like this. Is her son being dressed up and paraded around too?
June 2nd, 2011 at 5:24 pm
I am enraged at the thought of these pageants coming to Australia. They are nothing more than money making exercises for the company who promotes them. They have nothing to do with helping our little girls develop long-lasting positive self-esteem but the complete reverse. They should be banned as they are a form of legalised child abuse. I have never liked seeing images of the poor little girls in the U.S. beauty pageants – what they must have endured to look like “perfect little dolls” and the way they are taught to behave and flaunt themselves to the judges, general public and paedophiles in the audience. ASUSTRALIA SAYS “NO WAY” TO CHILD BEAUTY PAGEANTS!!