pagents

[jessgray]

with all the talk about jonbenet and the fact she was in pagents. alot of people on tv and in the media have been scape goating pagents.
i would like to know if anyone has any thoughts on pagents. i would also like to know if australia has the same style pagents here.
the closest i know of pagents here is baby show comps. do people view them as bad, like they do pagents?
and what about the children who do modelling, is that as bad as pagents?

[the_queen]

***This is just my opinion, feel free to disagree with me, but please don't take it personally****


I would never ever put my children in pagaents, baby competitions, modelling agencies, anything like that. I don't want people ogling my kids, I don't know who is looking at those pictures or who is attending the pagaents. Also I don't want to teach my children that physical appearance is that important. Beauty comes from within, and outward appearance has nothing to do with it.

[jessgray]

my ds1 has just joined a agency and the agency's site is very secure, it requires a login and password.
if my little girl was 12 and said she wanted to go in a pagent i would let her.because she chose to do it, i would never force her to do it. i think as long as you keep baby show comps,pagents and modelling fun for children there is no harm in it.

[luckymama]

i think its ok once your kids are old enough to say what they want to do, and if they want to then let them :yes:

[jessgray]

did anyone see sunrise yesturday or this morning? a american mum spoke to sunrise about pagents and a few pis of her daughter where shown. she was 11 when they were taken and she is now 14 but in the pics i could have sworn she was older then me and i am 20 lol

[~EmsMum~]

***This is just my opinion, feel free to disagree with me, but please don't take it personally****


I would never ever put my children in pagaents, baby competitions, modelling agencies, anything like that. I don't want people ogling my kids, I don't know who is looking at those pictures or who is attending the pagaents. Also I don't want to teach my children that physical appearance is that important. Beauty comes from within, and outward appearance has nothing to do with it.

i agree with you queenie 100 %

[FourAngelKisses]

I totally disagree with pageants. The fact that 5-6yr olds are being judged on appearance sends them the totally wrong message and they end up thinking that looks are everything. And the fact that they are dressed up like little.........well, you know. Provocative looking. Don't agree with that at all. And make up on kids makes them look cheap. JMHO.

[Foxy]

i agree with you queenie 100 %

Me too! :thumbsup:

[JATS]

I don't see the harm in these things at all unless the child is being pressured into it.

You never know what perverts with phone cameras are attending childrens sporting events, swiming carnivals, local pools and beaches, parks, takeaway chains, etc. I don't intend on keeping my kids away from those places if they want to participate!

[Holly_Golightly]

I don't think we have pageants to the extremes seen in the U.S.

I don't think you can compare them to general school events or concerts or even child models. It is the sexualisation of young children that becomes the concern. Dressing up as a fish or fairy at a school concert is childlike and I don't think any parents would want to take that joy away from a child. Pageants however, go to extreme lengths to alter the appearance of the child to look like a little adult. Showgirl outfits, prancing on stage, hours of hair and makeup, cosmetic enhancements such as veneers, contacts, bleaching, hair removal etc is not by any stretch of the imagination a normal childhood.

The overt preoccupation with appearance and sexuality imposed on these kids by parents is frightening and I can't imagine scraping through years of this without some ramifications even if it was just having a precocious child. I think we may have seen some evidence of this in Australian Idol!

At times. I find child talent quests, acting and modeling nauseating but when it is appropriate and in context I guess it is needed. Seeing a Pumpkin Patch or Target brochure shows kids playing not posing or presenting themselves as something they are not.

Scary people exist and I won't be excluding my child from normal childhood experiences but would never expose her to the scary world of pageants. If it was something she wanted to do, I would encourage her to pursue dance and singing or whatever skill she excelled in, in preparation for when she is at a more appropriate age.

[Tannie]

I would never ever put my children in pagaents, baby competitions, modelling agencies, anything like that. I don't want people ogling my kids, I don't know who is looking at those pictures or who is attending the pagaents. Also I don't want to teach my children that physical appearance is that important. Beauty comes from within, and outward appearance has nothing to do with it.

I agree 100%.
I think it's disgusting how these little girls are coached and paraded around.........truly disturbing.

To argue that they WANT to do it? PLEASE - they have NO IDEA of what it all means in the adult context and I'm sure many little girls would think it very exciting initially to "play dressups" and be fussed over whilst being preened and posed etc.........but as adults, we can ALL see how overtly sexual it is and how by doing this, we put our little children at MUCH HIGHER risk of being exposed to perverts and weirdos.

How on earth could a little girl develop a real sense of self when she is being judged on her appearance constantly? and winning or losing based on how she looks? Boy oh boy - think about some of the adult female models who have self esteem issues and only started when they were late teenage years?? What would this do to a 4, 6, 10 yr olds mind??

How anyone can argue it's okay and harmless fun is beyond me. It's revolting to the max to exploit children like this. Childhood is SO short anyway......why do parents these days find it so necessary to push their kids into such adult behaviours and things which are bad enough for adults, let alone kids?

Okay - so obviously SOME kids have to model childrens clothing.......but it's a fine line for me. I wouldn't ever get my child into any sort of modelling - but I suppose it's okay to if it's the basic Pumpkin patch etc stuff.......but I'd be VERY careful what sort of clothes and how they did it - I wouldnt' ever let them do it on a catwalk either - only photos.

As for little JonBenet - I don't care if her parents DIDN'T do it - from what I've read of the case over the years, what they put that girl through and how they treated her and paraded her around was absolutely atrocious and CHILD ABUSE if you ask me. They deserve to go to gaol for what they did with her anyway........they put her out there to be ogled and treated like some sort of pedophile fantasy.......I hope they are tortured by what they did for the rest of their lives....I know her mother has died and I hope she died with all the guilt of the world on her shoulders........although I doubt it -she was by all accounts the main instigator of it all and probably had no remorse whatsoever:mad:

Y

[natasha]

Great post Yeti! I agree 100%!!!:thumbsup:

[Mischief]

I dont agree with them either....I back what Queenie said 100% also.

We look at a baby on the cover of a magazine wearing nothing or just a nappy and think....awww how cute....What a pretty little girl, or what a cute little boy!

Some sickos out there look at it and see Penthouse! :barf:Its a very very sick and sad fact of life. When I see the old video footage of Jonbennet that is all over the TV now...it makes my skin crawl....she looks so *sexy*...its sick.

Just my personal opinion, lets face it, we all want to show off our babies! :) They are cute and they are our pride and joy! I do feel that baby comps are totally different to Beauty Pagents (ie JB style).

But just the same...I'd sooner no sickos are oogling my baby!

[MissSparkle]

WHen I was little I used to watch shows about pageants n tell my mum I wanted to do them!! I wish they did have pageants in AUstralia. I would have LOVED doing them as a child!

[hippee]

I totally disagree with pageants. The fact that 5-6yr olds are being judged on appearance sends them the totally wrong message and they end up thinking that looks are everything. And the fact that they are dressed up like little.........well, you know. Provocative looking. Don't agree with that at all. And make up on kids makes them look cheap. JMHO.

I agree

[BOSS302WMOM]

I agree with Queenie and Yetti...........I would rather my child be judged on the arts, knowledge or sporting if they had to do something competetive.

I honestly believe there is way to much attention placed on beauty and being the perfect size, these are issues that will be faced in their pre/teens without exposing them to it at such a young age.

[Natsmummy]

I totally disagree with pageants. The fact that 5-6yr olds are being judged on appearance sends them the totally wrong message and they end up thinking that looks are everything. And the fact that they are dressed up like little.........well, you know. Provocative looking. Don't agree with that at all. And make up on kids makes them look cheap. JMHO.

These comments represent exactly how I feel about pageants. I don't have a problem with baby or child modelling if it presents them as children but to do little girls up in the way that JonBenet was in the photos shown on the news is just so wrong.

I caught the end of something about this on Today Tonight this evening and there was an expert saying that when children are presented in this way it creates 'societal paedophilia' - we are forced to view these children as sexualised whether we want to or not.

Its disgusting.

Childhood and innocence lasts for such a short time as it is.