Viewing Pageants From Both Sides

I read the online article called, “Living Dolls: inside the world of child beauty pageants” from a website called The Guardian. This article is about girl named Amber who is seven years old. She is like many other children her age and she has a love for beauty pageants. When Amber was asked if she enjoyed pageants she responded “yes” after a pause to think about the question being asked. This lead the person who was speaking with her to think that Amber was uncertain, but she knew what her parents would like her answer to be. Amber is from the UK where several beauty pageants are held every year, but they claim the fame of beauty pageants aren’t as big there as in the United States. A typical beauty pageant consists of several rounds, often including an "evening wear" section, where children parade down a catwalk swathed in taffeta and Swarovski crystals, and a talent round, in which contestants will display a particular gift, such as singing, dancing or baton-twirling. They are very similar to the pageants in the U.S. Spray tans, fake nails, and bleaching of hair are all things that take place before a pageant. These beauty pageants are huge debate with the public and there are strong points made on each side of the argument.

             Critics say pageants are exploitative. They feel that children are being pressured, made into something they are not, forced to adopt semi sexualized adult mannerisms, grow up too fast, and most importantly they are taught that appearance is the most important factor for winning and being the “favorite.” Many people argue that these children are being taught at a young age that humans are not judged as a whole, they are being shown that others only focus of the physical aspect of people. Although there are strong arguments against the idea of these pageants, others believe that they give children self confidence and boost their self esteem. According to this article, “In 2009 a poll of 3,000 teenage girls showed that more than a quarter would spend their money on their looks rather than their studies, while one in five had considered plastic surgery. An Ofsted study of almost 150,000 children aged ten to fifteen found that 32% worried about their body, while a recent BBC survey highlighted the fact that “half of girls aged eight to twelve want to look like the women they see in the media and six out of ten though they would be happier if they were thinner.” Many people believe that since pageants are strongly based around physical appearance, children feel like they have to have the “perfect” body, skin tone, hair, and body parts.

Katie Froud is founder of Alba Model Information, a modeling service in the UK. She states that "I'd rather these girls were concentrating on keeping themselves fit, eating healthily, having good deportment and putting their hard-won pocket money into an outfit for a pageant than spending it all on the lash, out on the street." The instant fame of reality television stars and image-conscious glamour models, demand for child beauty contests has risen exponentially. Pageants may give away excellent prizes such as large amounts of money, scholarships, vacation packages, vehicles, and many more options. This seems to encourage families and their children to enter the pageants hoping to come home with the prize. There is a beneficial side to well run pageants. Many pageants will donate a portion of their profits to charity. Contestants can promote "grace and good manners and wanting to do well. The girls who enter learn about focus and they can start to learn better behavior." This helps young children realize that they can help their community and they feel like they do so when the pageant they are in contributes to different charities.

There are both positive and negative views on children being in pageants. Many factors take place in how an individual feels about children being on stage such as, the role their parents play in it, the costumes they wear, entrance cost of pageants and the amount of money put into them, prizes given away, and if the pageant is donating to a charity or not. There will always be a strong argument on each side of this subject due to the different roles pageants play in each family’s lives.

Brittany Krause—Second blog post

Pretty in Pink: Gender Themes and Stereotypes in Beauty Pageants

After reading about society’s gender expectations and themes in my WGS 105 class, I feel that the controversial subject of beauty pageants hits the nail right on the head with this topic. According to my professor, gender is defined as characteristics or qualities that are assigned to people or things based on an assumed correlation to sex. The most common example in American society is that it is widely assumed that little girls would rather play with dolls over trucks, and prefer the color pink over blue. Being born with the biological organs of a female does not automatically mean that one will be more attracted to the color pink than blue, but it is society that constructs this gender theme.

Another theme that society has constructed is the participation of young girls in beauty pageants. The world of pageants is extremely feminine focused. As depicted in the hit TLC series, Toddlers & Tiaras, little girls enter into beauty pageants with the driving force of their “stage moms”. Here, they are molded into epitomes of the ideal female, straight-jacketed into over-the-top fluffy dresses adorned with abundant amounts of sequins, glitter, and lace. Their innocent baby faces are painted with lavish blush, eyeliner, lipstick, and more glitter. Ever-present are the pageant essentials of false eyelashes, false teeth, and wigs or hairpieces. These tots, who look more like extremely short women in their early twenties, are taught to grace the stage with their movie-star smiles (thanks to that famous set of fake teeth, aka “flipper”) as they prance around in circles finished off with curtsies. They are escorted back into the dressing room after their initial performance, and polished off with more makeup, hair, and glitter. The girls enter their first of many outfit changes, and are rushed back onto the stage in another exuberant tutu, bikini, or excessively glittered getup. By the end of the day, after a tumultuous series of showoff, the girls are exhausted and cranking. The three-year-old in them finally begins to show through as they piss their mothers off with a toddler-like tantrum filled with tears. But can you blame them? A room full of exhausted toddlers are forced to wait impatiently as their mothers wait for the coveted superficial titles of “Most Beautiful”, “Best Smile”, “Best Hair”, “Best Dressed”, “Prettiest Eyes”, and “Miss Grand Supreme”. Sashes, trophies, and mile-high tiaras are piled onto these sleeping beauties, many times at the envy of fuming mothers who seem to think that they are competing themselves instead of their daughters. After a weekend filled with sparkles, competition, endless gender stereotypes, and the color pink, the toddlers are finally able to return to their normal preschooler life.

Regardless of the moral and ethical challenges surrounding this controversial lifestyle, pageantry shines a whole new light on societal gender expectations and stereotypes. When little girls are judged in beauty pageants on their looks, femininity, and poise, they are being forced to act like dolls and exhibit the most “proper” feminine behavior. These pageants reinforce the stereotype that girls need to look, dress, and behave in a specific manner. The goal of such pageants is to “accentuate” womanly qualities, and only womanly qualities. As a result, young girls who participate in them are forced to grow up with the misconception that they must consent to what society stereotypes them as.

For example, the pretty dresses, sophisticated shoes, and mature swimwear are complemented by a talent portion that usually consists of singing and dancing. Although the talent presented is not necessarily required to be “feminine”, a contestant will usually never stray from girly dancing or singing because a more traditionally masculine act like self-defense moves or sports will not receive as many points on behalf of the judges because they do not exhibit as much poise and beauty. Also emphasizing society’s stereotypes of women is the interview portion of that is usually more popular among the older teenager age in pageantry. The goal of the interview portion is for the candidate to reinforce their eloquence and intelligence. In society, women are expected to be “agreeable” and to not hold strong opinions, let alone voice them. While competing in an interview on stage, the girl must act “ladylike”, in the sense of not debating or arguing widely publicized topics with a judge, and holding moderate opinions, rather than liberal or conservative ones.

With that being said, while pageant parents argue that the experience will empower their daughters and boost their confidence, it actually seems that pageantry only empowers girls to be as feminine as they possibly can and makes them confident in the fact that they are a “lady”. Beauty pageants play a prominent role in reinforcing the gender roles and stereotypes constructed by society. The reason you don’t see many boys participating in pageants is because they go against the societal norms of masculinity. For more on boys in beauty pageants, please look forward to my next blog!

Katie Duff - 1st blog post

Sources:
Toddlers & Tiaras. The Learning Channel.
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/toddlers-tiaras

http://sc2218.wetpaint.com/page/Gender+themes

http://sc2218.wetpaint.com/page/Gender+themes

The Way Pageants Change Beauty-Queen's Lives

            I read an article from the website called The Sunday Times. The title was “The child beauty pageant-queens who grew up.” This article is about two five year old beauty-queens. One’s name is Asia who is from Louisiana, and her arch rival Brooke who is from Tennessee. Both girls who competed in the Southern Charm pageant held in Atlanta, Georgia. The reported made a documentary of these two girls and met up with them thirteen years after the Southern Charm pageant to see how their lives have changed.

            Both girls were used to the same routines done every day before pageants. They competed in talent (singing and dancing), beauty, swimwear, western wear, and many other costume changes. Layers of makeup were worn, fake eyelashes, spray tans, glue on teeth, tons of hair spray, and anything else that will make them fit the Barbie doll image. Little did these girls know that with their skimpy uniforms and layers of makeup, people were referring to them as “mini-hookers” and many other names. Hours of practice was required to make sure they had the perfect dance routine and were able to hit every note correctly in the song they were performing, which ended up being sexually suggestive adult songs.  

            Brooke already won seventy-five titles and over $10,000 at the age of five. Her daily training schedule was compared to that of an Olympic athlete.  Her mom spent tens of thousands of dollars on outfits and sequences, and would drive Brooke to Nashville twice a week for singing lessons, which ended up being a four hour trip. Brooke’s mother stated that “I want her to look like a Barbie doll—she is a Barbie doll.” When Brooke lost her first three teeth, during pageant, her mother glued on some false teeth to keep her daughter’s image the same. Once the reporter meant again with Brooke, she stated that she lost interest in pageants at the age of eight. She no longer has her determination and was burnt out. She said that her mother used to bribe her during each competition to keep going. She was in her final year of high school and was a sporty girl who rarely wore makeup. Brooke was mature and self-contained; she didn’t have any problems fitting in with the social life at school. Brooke states “I got tired of pageants and wanted to move on and do adult things. Change is good,” she said. “The pageants helped me . . . gave me confidence, helped me focus.”

            Asia also spent most of her time rehearsing for her moments on stage. The reported filmed Asia pouting in her mother’s car because she was tired practicing her routine. Her father says “We didn’t think we would get addicted, but we did.” This family admits that they do these pageants for money. They hope that they pick Asia over any other girl because they are going for the prize of a car. Her grandma often wore a t-shirt that said “I’m Asia’s grandmother.” She always talked highly about her granddaughter and was very interested about the prizes she brought home just like the rest of the family. The reporter met up with Asia when she was seventeen years old. During that time she was preparing for the Darling Dolls of America pageant, with the first place prize being $10,000. She has continued with her pageants and has won eight titles in the past two years. Asia jokingly told the reporter that “Some heads are just meant for crowns.” In the article it states that “she disputes any notion that a lifetime of pageants has harmed her. It’s cute when little kids tackle those adult songs. And I regularly teach pageant techniques to young neighborhood girls.”

            With similar childhood between Brooke and Asia, their future plans are opposite. Brooke wants to get marriage, but no kids. She says she doesn’t like kids very much but may change her mind someday. It is possible that her exposure to competition against five-year-old peers has made her cynical about small children. Asia says that she want to be an x-ray technician and can’t wait to get married and have children, maybe five or six. The reporter who followed these girls states that “the two shocking little Dolly Partons whom I had filmed all those years ago had both become poised, decent and disciplined young women. Who knows? Perhaps some of that is down to the beauty pageants. They certainly think so.”

Brittany Krause—First Post