Beauty Pageant Moms

[Ida Noodleman]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 9:57am

I was watching this E show last night entitled "Beauty Pageant Moma Unleashed." It followed this group of girls, six and seven years years old, who compete in beauty pageants and are encouraged (pushed) by their mothers.

It was unbelievable to see children at that age wearing dentures to cover missing teeth, make up that put Jay Hernandez to shame, hair extensions and "sexy" outfits.

I wonder what goes through the mind of any parent who deludes themselves into believing that this is the childs dream and they are just being supportive of it.

These poor kids go through enourmous amounts of stress and harsh evaluation of their looks so that they can be paraded on stage in front of adults who judge them to who is the prettiest.

The whole thing seems like a form of child abuse that is solely for the purpose of a stage mom getting attention. It was really rather disturbing and sick.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 11:07am

We've had threads discussing this in the past, and I believe that most of us agree with your opinion, but there are a few who support those pageants.

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 11:48am

Haha, my favorite is the fake teeth that they wear

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 11:49am

I worked with a pageant mom (who's daughter is now 15) and it was unbelievable. Every weekend, it seemed that she had her daughter in some pageant or another and she was ALWAYS sick with something (probably from stress and exhaustion). Also, the 15 year old looked like a 30 year old with all of that make up and the clothes and stuff. Insane.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 12:00pm

the best is when an infant, like under a month old, enters a pageant and is sleeping through the whole thing, and gets a tiara for winning.

[DG]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 12:04pm

Posted: 12/1/07 at 12:09pm

*shudders*

I refused even to go that far for my prom.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 12:10pm

DG, those gowns cost upwards into the thousands. The parents take extra jobs to afford them.

[DG]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 12:22pm

In 1976, my mother entered my sister in one of these - when they were just starting to gain in popularity. My mother did it because she was steeped in the Miss America tradition, which she associated with talent and scholarships.

What she found was a world dominated by gorgons. Abbusive, vengeful, spiteful and mean creatures who thought nothing of using their children like property. It really was a horror show. She didn't even let my sister finish out the process.

I can't even imagine what it's like now, 30 years later.

[blueroses]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 12:24pm

Ida, you MUST get your hands on a copy of Living Dolls.

[DG]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 12:29pm

I recommend DROP DEAD GORGEOUS

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 12:48pm

Whichever one was on HBO was pretty definitive and disgusting. I recommend it!

[Ida Noodleman]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 1:00pm

Sorry for starting a thread that's been discussed already, but I just watched this last night and was appalled by what these children are made to do. The mothers will say it's the childs decision, but a child of six or seven isn't capable of understanding the negative aspects of a decision like that. Maybe when they are teens, you can allow them to make the decision and try it out.

It's really all about the mother who wants the attention.

DG, I love "Drop Dead Georgeous."

Was "Living Dolls" the one that was on HBO a while ago?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 1:36pm

Living Dolls is the one with the girl Swan and the gay couple training her.

I'm a bit obsessed with pageant documentaries. Sadly, the community is pissed at all the bad representation they're getting and many of them refuse to allow their pageants to be filmed. They publically claim it's out of concern for pedophiles, but it's really just that they know they're ALWAYS going to look bad.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 2:14pm

i remember Living Dolls! the mother used to make the little girl wake up buttAss early to train for the competition and her excuse was: "i'm from the military! i know how to keep my kids in line!"


Updated On: 12/1/07 at 02:14 PM

[StageManager2]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 2:19pm

Swan's an orphan now. Her mother died a few years back, and her father (with whom she lived with afterward) passed not long after.

[blueroses]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 2:20pm

folkyboy, that was Swan's mother and she was a nightmare! She died a couple years ago.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 2:41pm

I think this is the same family that had the older brother in trouble all the time and who was currently in jail. They seemed to be focusing all their money and attention on Swan and the pageants.

[blueroses]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 3:09pm

Jane, it is! And Swan's mom went into hock for close to $75K. That blows my f-cking mind! It's not only wealthy people--the Ramseys, etc.,--who compete in this stuff. How do people who are struggling to make ends meet (A) manage to get CREDIT for that amount of money and (b) blow it on that white trash tacky pageant bull****? It's not like taking out a loan to invest in a home, a college education or for (God forbid) a medical emergency. These people are actually hanging their hopes (and flushing money down the toilet) on their kids winning these pageants for some big payoff, hoping they will become Miss America someday.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 3:15pm

Blue, also, in some cases, it's not even for the kid. The mother somehow feels validated or is living vicariously through the kid. When the kid wins something, it's the mother who is jumping and screaming out of her mind, as if it's she who won.

[blueroses]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 3:18pm

Oh, it's never about the kid.

These parents (not all, but many) are nothing more than pimps. I just think about all of those idiots in their Quacker Factory finery, gluing eyelashes and hair extentions onto their six year olds and screaming at them.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 3:20pm

And in the HBO special, which was taped with incredible candor, you saw how miserable the kids were.

[blueroses]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 3:26pm

The mother in Showbiz Moms and Dads was a nightmare, too.

These washed up people forgot all about their own dreams, or were too lazy to go after them, so they pop out some kid--live through them vicariously-- and parade them around to be leered at and judged. And they ALWAYS say it's the kids who want to do it. And when the kids are asked, of course that's what they'll say. When they do pageants, they get love and attention from their parents. Their brothers and sisters who don't are virtually ignored.

Updated On: 12/1/07 at 03:26 PM

[DG]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 3:56pm

They really named their daughter 'Swan'?

[justagirl2]

Posted: 12/1/07 at 3:57pm

^That was my first thought, too...Swan? That's already asking for trouble.