I agree with all of the above; and especially with rockin robyn – I think “Momma” is hoping her beautiful baby girl is her ticket to riches and stardom – “Hollywood – and anyone else who wants to pay us a gazillion dollars — here we come! I’ll sell my soul (and my child) for it.”

Mallory sounds like a smart little girl. Good for her, and thank you, Mimi!

I’m so glad I had boys!

When my oldest daughter was about 5 or so she had a friend who had done lots of pageants. As a result, she got a little fascinated in it. She kept begging me to let her be in one so she could “get a big trophy like *****’s.” I finally relented and signed her up for a small low key local pageant. As luck would have it, they moved the date and I had to be out of town. Not to be thwarted, she decided her Mimi could take her. The day arrived and they loaded up her gear which was basically one of her Sunday dresses (not the lampshade variety) a casual outfit and a hairbrush. While backstage preparing Mallory saw little girls being pushed and prodded and being barked at to “sit still” while their layers of mascara were applied. She looked around the room, and leaned over to her Mimi and said, “let’s get out of here.” And so they did.

Moral of story: It’s so twisted even a 5 year old can see it!

Tori, I honestly am convinced that on those type shows… the children and their mama’s are already acting and getting paid and you are the one getting suckered into watching – because of the controversy they put in the shows. If it was just a boring little girls pageant with no drama pulled into the show, you wouldn’t be watching it and talking about it on your blog – perhaps pulling in an audience to check it out.

But I guess I’m naive in that I just thought those type of “real” pageants for little girls are a way of gauging their talent to get into “show-biz”. Whether it is in commercials or acting in plays or in hollywood. In fact, I just read an interview of a soap opera actress. She is well grounded and established and respectful in her craft and she said she was involved in pageants since she was 6-months old.

Some of us go on job interviews to prove our talent and skills for a specific job. To me these pageants just push the outwardness of the talent for that child to advance in acting and not get to the “job” and then shy away – wasting productions time and money.

That’s my take on it. I would like to think that these mothers wouldn’t put their children out there in danger or harms way. That maybe they just see an actor or actress in their child because of their forward personality or mimicking something they saw or heard.

Now I truly don’t go for dressing little girls in provocative or “mature” clothing. That’s just wrong.

To watch a child under the age of 18 parade herself in a provocative manner turns my stomach.

How do we change this? Because we, as women, should.

I have never been able to watch any of the programs about these pageants. Just seeing the ads for them as I am flipping through channels is more than I can stomach. This has to be child molestation…as part of ritual or ceremony, or sexual misconduct, or sexual trafficking of child under 12, or child pornography, or something equally reprehensible and/or disgusting. What they are doing to these small children does not even come close to the actions of a healthy, normal, loving parent. In the ads, these little girls behave in a blatantly sexual manner that is enhanced by the way they are dressed. I heard one of the little girls say, “I look good,” one time. She said it in a womanly way…drawing out the word good and making it a sexually teasing comment.

I’m sorry. I’ll get off my soap box. I think the whole thing is horrible and should not be allowed. It also should not be on television.

I totally agree with all that’s been said. It’s what happens when a society has gone way past struggling to survive and is is at the point of becoming a caricature. It is a sad indictment of life in the west.

but when i came across sexy thongs in girl’s size 6x in a catalog we ordered from, i tasted bile. french-cut low-cut leotards in child primary sizes, sounds to me like candidates for child pornography. sorry, not in every case, but like you, most often discretion passes by, and diva-ness is not an attitude of humility, one that honors the Lord.

seems to me to be an act of the flesh to judge people based on their luck in the gene pool . . . i’d rather hold up beautiful women like Mother Teresa and Eunice Kennedy Shriver and more as the winners in my world. and our daughters, neighbors, friends kids, and the orphans in third-world countries, children raising children giving in love from the nothing they have.

our kids are bright enough to know that “participation” trophies are loser’s awards. i’m all for arts and cultural disciplines and sports in our children,but teaching grae and humility and shared credit are attributes that responsible parents and coaches should emulate and encourage.

again.

ah, done for now lol. thanx for sharing your view on this, and the rest of the gang here too! think i’ll switch to decaf for the rest of the day =P

stay close,

sammi =)

Is that strong enough?