@JilltheTooth _ I also agree that they are creepy really really creepy but I would like it, @Hypocrisy_Central if you could find a “pro” view to cite for some balance._ I have not found one yet, though the hunt goes on. Unless it comes from those in the biz or the likes, the only voices you can readily find are those who are dead set against it. Logically all the money in it and the fact that no matter what generation that comes up there are a new crop of wiggly toddlers, tween and teen girls strutting their stuff on the stage that there has to be supporters. I think those supporters are like those who advocate prison reforms even for sex offenders; they are out there but to speak their mind will get their car keyed so they stay closed mouth.
If I take away all emotion and look at the logic of it I can see possible advantages of it some being:
• Teaches the girl structure, how better to keep a schedule or make a deadline.
• Memorization, be it a routine or speech.
• How to act polite in a social setting.
• Certain grooming details.
• Handling of nerves.
Not to say pageants are the only way kids can gain these skills but pageants logically do bring that to the table. As I said, can’t find any blogs etc. that support any of that logic or supporting pageants in general.
@mattbrowne I prefer music or sports contests. You can find bad examples there too. Kids rising before dawn taking an hour drive to the pool or rink to get in a training session before class them ore afterwards, the private coaches, etc all to win the tournament or to get a state or national ranking or dreams of the Olympics. One could say behind those kids is a faded QB or a figure skater who never got selected to the big show at the Olympics hoping to do it through their daughter, or a has been fighter hoping to get the WBF championship belt by way of his son. The pageants themselves are mostly a vehicle (as other activities can be) the parents are the ones driving it and society provides the road.
@sakura toddlers and tiaras twin girls… I felt so sorry for both girls I think the way the mother is going about it is a bit unsympathetic but no matter what, grades, athletic ability, etc every family knows how is not equal to the better one in the family that done it. I have coached in soccer leagues where the kids were a year apart and ended up on different teams or were on different teams because the kids just would not play on the same team as their siblings as kids like having ”their own thing”, which can pit them against each other if they are in the same division or different division and both make the play offs. That is just the way it is but there are ways not to play it up to the child that is not as crafty, athletic or in this case as cute.
@Scooby That father should grow some bigger balls & stand up to his wife… friction indeed! Too what end? As a man I can see his position, stuck between a bad or worse situation. He can put his foot down and say “The pageants or me, make a choice?” and if she don’t blink then he becomes a ”Disneyland Dad” that instead of having his girls in his life everyday gets them on weekends and 2 week in the summer. He can win the battle and lose the war big time. Unless the mother wants them wrestling gators or something physically dangerous I say he whittle slowly from the inside than trying to take an ax to the outside.
@wundayatta Sure, beauty is important in our society. It’s an advantage to be beautiful in some ways, although it is a disadvantage, as well. It can open doors, but it can also lead people to think you are dumb. Being pretty has always opened more doors and created more opportunity than not. This nation (the US) strives off beauty 1st all other things second no matter how it is framed. Look at the face selling you this or that in the media, magazine especially? Beauty and sex is used to sell us everything from breath mints, cologne, burgers, jewelry, close, cars, eyeglasses and then some. We don’t look across the punch bowl at a party and say ”I surely would love to meet him/her I bet he/she has a great personality or sense of conversation”, conversation and personality can’t catch your eye, beauty does. If you are on vacation and see someone in the ship’s lounge it will be how they look and what they are wearing that will catch your eye before you walk in there and start thinking who has the same love of books as I do.
20/20 and even What Would You Do? Had segments were they tested out who would get more help if lost or in some other sticky situation and to my estimate 60% of the time the pretty women or hansom man got more help and got it quicker than the less handsome pretty and or overweight. People don’t want to come off as liking “pretty” but we are all hard wired to do so 1st even with cars we buy, pets we own etc.
One 20/20 segment I can remember they had a line up of men from short, around 5’ 6” to tall, over 6ft and asked a panel of young ladies who would they want to go out with. No one picked the short men, when the host said that one of the short men was a CEO of a Fortune 500 and made 7 figures, that peaked the interest of some and even changed the mind of one but off his height alone he was getting nowhere. Another man in the line up was of regular height but not as handsome. When asked why any of the women didn’t pick him and it was clear he was not as ”man pretty”, however, mention the fact he made upper 6 figures he became more ”interesting” to a handful of the women. The show guest expert says that a less handsome man will have to earn at least $20,000 more than his more handsome counter part to garner the interest of the same caliber of women.
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