Litte Miss Perfect, Toddlers and Tiaras....

[goofy!]

My kids are all into sports and activities, many of which are very expensive; ie travel club teams. One of them even requires "hooker makeup" as we lovingly call it. But all the activites are extremely athletic, aerobic and focus on health, fitness, and team work. They are rewarded for the effort they put in, not how pretty the outside of them are.

Never in a million years would I put my child in something that teaches a six year old that they are not good enough unless they use fake props (those flipper teeth, fake tans, hair extensions, fake eyelashes, etc), to be accepted and "win." That the outside is more important that the inside. How can a kid possibly feel when the girl standing next to them is crowned "most beautiful?" Do they feel they are not beautiful then?

I am beginning to believe that plastic surgeons are behind the pageant craze, knowing these little girls are going to grow up believing they need enhancements to be beautiful.

The natural pageants aren't that bad, but the "glitz" ones are disturbing.

 

[Jynohn]

I've been strangely fascinated with these pageant shows ever since I saw a documentary on A&E several years ago (does anyone remember the one that featured the little girl, Jenny, who later passed away from cystic fibrosis?)

In my opinion, the ONLY ones benefitting from these pageants are the directors and coaches, who are raking in thousands at each event, at the expense of these poor exploited kids and their deluded mothers. At each of the shows I've seen the top prize is usually about $1,000. After all the fees, costumes, hair, makeup, tanning, lessons, photos, etc. the parents put in, they'd be lucky to break even, even if their child ends up winning the Ultimate 'Lil Pretty Miss Grand Supreme prize.

How much money do you think it takes to rent a crappy ballroom for a day and hire a few "judges" and some creepy guy with a molester-vibe to sing sappy songs to these kids? I bet these directors are laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[dzee]

It seems to me these mothers are trying to live their dreams through their daughters!! Some of those mothers are down right nasty to their kids when they don't perform the way they think they should!! Lighten up!! Some of those poor little girls seem so miserable and forced to parade down the runway like painted dolls! It's truly disturbing!! Not to mention the sickos that get their thrills by watching these LITTLE girls parade around looking like full grown women!! You never know where these sick people are lurking!! There are tragic stories in the news almost every day about a pedophile taking a child and hurting them in the most vile ways! It's like giving them a personal invitation!!! It really bothers me that these children are so over exposed and are being ogled in this manner!! Whether its real or made up for the cameras they are still children!! Whats the reward for this,winning a trophy! Go and buy them one!!!

 

[eh24fan]

My best friend's daughter used to do pagents as a baby.This was before I knew them. She stopped when her DD was 2yo I think. We watch these shows every week. Me for the train wreck factor... her for old times sake. I love to hear her "insider" take on things.... that dress would never win, the hair needed to be ___, etc.

If you want to see something scary go to www.tonioverby.com and look at the color photo's etc. They are step-ford like. This is what you have to do to your kids pics to win Most Photogenic etc.

They are photoshopping the eyes or something because they just look bizarre.

 

[janey99]

Guilty of watching Toddlers and Tiaras. Like everyone else, I just can't look away!

2 things I wonder -

Why do the outfits cost upwards of 1500$? They look like the cheapest fabrics around sewn together with fishing line. Is there some manufacturer laughing all the way to the bank because he's cornered the market and set the price whereever he wants, knowing those loons will pay for it?

What's with the fake tan spray. I don't know what chemicals it's made of, but certainly it can't be good to be spraying your 5yo with it twice a week. One mom was spraying her kids face, and all I could think was oh no - her eyes!

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but there was a little girl on a show several years ago - Swann Bruner? Her mom was a scary drill sergeant about pageants. A couple of years after the show, the mom had a heart attack and died. Swann and her siblings were farmed out to various family members - very sad. She left them with nothing, but I wonder how mush she spent on pageants over the years.

Jane

 

[CF'er]

They are photoshopping the eyes or something because they just look bizarre.

My point exactly. They don't look like that in real life at all. I know that the fake tan, teeth, hair etc isn't "natural" but those pics creep me out. And they spend $$$$ on them.

 

[friendofgusgus]

Okay, I couldn't resist and checked out the link to the photo website.

Those are NOT photographs! They have been retouched so much (and those eyes, as a PP said...) that there is just no resemblence to an actual human child. Dollhouse, anyone?

Yuck!

 

[live4christp1]

I watched the show for the very first time last night. Wow! I agree with what everyone has said here. Here are a few of my thoughts:

--All of the girls look like they come from lower-middle class families. The outfits are incredibly expensive. The Mom's don't look like they work and traveling around must get expensive too. How could the cost be worth the benefit???

One night while I was watching the mom said she paid $800 for a dress for her two year old that was so teeny tiny it looked like maybe a yard of fabric.

On another one on parent mentioned that it cost them about $8000 total and if they won they got something like $1000.

 

[live4christp1]

--Why weren't there any people in the audience except family members? It seems really weird that they have a pageant and nobody is there.

If you watch many of these you will notice (even amongst different show titles) that it's the same group of pageant directors (who many times are coaches, etc. for hire) and judges......in my opinion it is a money making gimick for them. "Hey travel around from place to place hosting these events......get to count all my travel, expenses as a business expense.......get businesses to sponsor the actual awards, etc. I'm sure some of them are making a pretty hefty chunk of change doing this.

When I was in grades 6th-8th I took baton/dance/modeling lessons with a group that had a similar gimick. It was only open to their students. But almost every weekend they had a competition. When you got there you decided how many routines (could be any combination of as many as you'd like) that you wanted to be scored on at $4 each (this was early 80's so I'm sure if it was today it would be more) so 10 routines = $40 x (at least) 50 kids = $2,000. Then each group, beginner, intermediate, advanced competed for a trophy in each catagory (pageant modeling, dance, or baton). The trophies were bought bulk so I'm sure they got them real cheap. We never ever competed against anyone outside the students of this particular group. They would hold what they called "State Pageant" each year.....the fees for it were $100 and up depending on what all you entered.....still same circumstances. It was operated by two sisters who used college age former students for judges (they didn't make much one of my friends stayed in and did some judging for them). Not to mentioned all the $$$$$ they made off teaching classes each week to learn the routines to enter said pageants..........

About 8th grade I finally figured out that when it came to big titles, they picked favorites. You could score highest for weeks on end but when it got time for a big title it went home with the older sisters favorite student. So I had enough and left. Now it makes me sad to think about how much money my poor mom & dad sunk into that stuff. But no.....my mom never acted like those ladies on this show. I did see girls who would burst into tears upon dropping their baton.....because the mom threatened them prior to in the bathroom.....

 

[tinkgurl]

I watch both of them. Like a PP said, I can't turn away. I especially like Little Miss Perfect when that host guy (Michael?) sings. LMAO

"There are citrus colored rainbows..."

Blech!

Ugh, please do not ever sing that song again! Michael is a creepo.

If you want to see something scary go to www.tonioverby.com and look at the color photo's etc. They are step-ford like. This is what you have to do to your kids pics to win Most Photogenic etc.

Whoa, creepy. I kept saying to myself "Must not look at their eyes..Must not look at their eyes." I felt like if I did, I was going to be possessed or something.

 

[glitterkittyy]

Ugh, please do not ever sing that song again! Michael is a creepo.

You mean you don't wanna jump on the magic carpet "And takeeee a wildddddddddd rideeeeeee!"???

 

[tinkgurl]

You mean you don't wanna jump on the magic carpet "And takeeee a wildddddddddd rideeeeeee!"???

When he started singing and got to that part, I actually spit out my drink.

 

[glitterkittyy]

When he started singing and got to that part, I actually spit out my drink.

I rewind it and play it twice to torture my husband.

 

[AmazingGrace]

A few weeks back, Little Miss Perfect had this oddy adorable little girl Jayne. She was a serious trip. She said that she liked pageants because they made her feel like a princess on a butterfly wheel. This girl was totally breaking the whole pageant mode!!
Check her out!!!

 

[glitterkittyy]

A few weeks back, Little Miss Perfect had this oddy adorable little girl Jayne. She was a serious trip. She said that she liked pageants because they made her feel like a princess on a butterfly wheel. This girl was totally breaking the whole pageant mode!!
Check her out!!!

Ahhh yes...The Sniffer as we called her. lol

 

[bethbuchall]

My kids are all into sports and activities, many of which are very expensive; ie travel club teams. One of them even requires "hooker makeup" as we lovingly call it. But all the activites are extremely athletic, aerobic and focus on health, fitness, and team work. They are rewarded for the effort they put in, not how pretty the outside of them are.

Never in a million years would I put my child in something that teaches a six year old that they are not good enough unless they use fake props (those flipper teeth, fake tans, hair extensions, fake eyelashes, etc), to be accepted and "win." That the outside is more important that the inside. How can a kid possibly feel when the girl standing next to them is crowned "most beautiful?" Do they feel they are not beautiful then?

I am beginning to believe that plastic surgeons are behind the pageant craze, knowing these little girls are going to grow up believing they need enhancements to be beautiful.

The natural pageants aren't that bad, but the "glitz" ones are disturbing.

Do you have a synchronized swimmer by any chance?

 

[starrzone]

I'm guilty of watching this show, but purely for the entertainment value! I kind of feel sorry for these little girls, being sprayed and painted and wearing these god-awful-looking dresses. Has anyone noticed how big some of these hair extensions/wigs are??? They make Marge Simpson look like Bruce Willis! And all that can't be halthy for the poor girls' backs and shoulders. Just wearing a headband gives me a headache.

 

[lilmissdisney216]

Guilty of watching Toddlers and Tiaras. Like everyone else, I just can't look away!

2 things I wonder -

Why do the outfits cost upwards of 1500$? They look like the cheapest fabrics around sewn together with fishing line. Is there some manufacturer laughing all the way to the bank because he's cornered the market and set the price whereever he wants, knowing those loons will pay for it?

What's with the fake tan spray. I don't know what chemicals it's made of, but certainly it can't be good to be spraying your 5yo with it twice a week. One mom was spraying her kids face, and all I could think was oh no - her eyes!

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but there was a little girl on a show several years ago - Swann Bruner? Her mom was a scary drill sergeant about pageants. A couple of years after the show, the mom had a heart attack and died. Swann and her siblings were farmed out to various family members - very sad. She left them with nothing, but I wonder how mush she spent on pageants over the years.

Jane

The outtfits cost so much cause of the stone work and detail placed on them. A lot of those seamstresses have to put on those stones by hand (some use tweezers and glue and individually glue on each one). Being a figure skater and pageant girl it is costly but that is what happens with the whole paying for the stoning of the dress and then its made exactly to the child's measurements to ensure it fits well. Plus for some you have to factor in shipping and handling. Mostly its labor and fabrics. Those fabrics can be as expensive as like 35- 50 dollars a yard depending on the quality and type.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

The outtfits cost so much cause of the stone work and detail placed on them. A lot of those seamstresses have to put on those stones by hand (some use tweezers and glue and individually glue on each one). Being a figure skater and pageant girl it is costly but that is what happens with the whole paying for the stoning of the dress and then its made exactly to the child's measurements to ensure it fits well. Plus for some you have to factor in shipping and handling. Mostly its labor and fabrics. Those fabrics can be as expensive as like 35- 50 dollars a yard depending on the quality and type.

It does look quite intricate - the beadwork that is. On Youtube there are videos of Jayne Dolinisky figure skating (the sniffer mentioned above from LMP). I wonder how many kids do both activities.

 

[Aisling]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but there was a little girl on a show several years ago - Swann Bruner? Her mom was a scary drill sergeant about pageants. A couple of years after the show, the mom had a heart attack and died. Swann and her siblings were farmed out to various family members - very sad. She left them with nothing, but I wonder how mush she spent on pageants over the years.

Jane

I saw a recent photo of Swan Brooner that someone dug up from an Alaskan newspaper where she now lives. She won second place in a school essay contest. After her mom died, she went to live with her father in Alaska, who died shortly after that. She lives there with relatives now, won't talk about the pageants, and seems to be doing well. She's still a beauty, too.