Thinking back on my childhood days, I adored dressing up, playing in my mom’s makeup and strutting down the catwalk (also known as my hallway). For children who participate in beauty pageants full time, however, problems including fake eyelash glue and fake tans that do not look real pose serious problems for the girls and even more serious problems for the parents.
In 2009, a new Halloween costume—a little pageant girl—was created due to the beginning of the TV show, Toddlers and Tiaras. The show displays the unruly outbursts, the spray tans and the expensive trips; however, the show fails to recognize the good that could come from pageants.
My aunt introduced my five year old self to America’s Most Beautiful Baby Pageant. Although one might assume I was shoved into the light of a stage, I enjoyed doing pageants. Putting curlers in my hair and wearing frilly dresses was exciting! I got to feel what it was like to be important, to be recognized, something young girls often do not experience. I felt important. Pageants made me feel as if I could conquer the world even prior to attending kindergarten. Walking down a catwalk gives one a sense of confidence, and knowing that I had my whole family there supporting me and watching me made it a million times better.
I did not proceed with pageants after I was five years old, but I feel that competing as I aged could have added benefits as well. Ashley Berry, a thirteen year old pageant goer in Colorado, holds the title of spokesmodel for a national anti-bullying campaign. At thirteen, this girl is doing things some never get to do. Pageants hold the ability to give girls self-assurance, a quality many young teens lack today. Pageants can also benefit girls and boys in the form of
scholarships. Berry’s mother, Anna Berry, competed in pageants herself and explained that her daughter takes the pageant life seriously, but she still gets to act like a teenager. If a pageant had made me miss the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds Tour of 2010, we would have had many problems.
Although I adored my pageant days, I quit for multiple reasons. The cost was a huge burden on my parents, from buying costumes to the transportation. Pageant coach Victory Mohamed noted to National Public Radio’s website that the average cost of participating in a USA sponsored pageant ranged from $810 to $2,900 just for costumes, makeup and coaching, which does not even cover the cost of transportation as well as the possible cost to participate in the pageants themselves. Dorothy Poteat, Director of Southern Elite Pageants in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, noted that pageant fees range from $50 to $500 per pageant, and when competing in multiple pageants, the price adds up big time. I also quit because I had to begin kindergarten, and my parents were against me driving to Myrtle Beach and missing school. Imagine missing the day you dressed up as pumpkins or the class zoo trip? You might never forgive yourself! These pageants can pull children away from school. Some children involved in pageants resort to online schooling, which can leave out social aspects young children require to learn and to develop. This showcases the children who take their pageants as a full time job. At seventeen, school is my full time job, and once I introduced a part time job along with that, I noticed changes in my social life and grades. In a nutshell, I could never imagine traveling all over the United States and learning fractions at the same time. Pageants can provide amazing experiences for children, but when pageants interfere with other aspects in their life, they must know it is time to move on.
While pageants may seem too “flashy” for some, I enjoyed the time I spent doing them. I gained self-reliance and fulfillment at a young age, and it stuck with me later in my life. My parents’ interference early on, however, prevented any complications that could have risen from the pageant life. I got what I would get out of America’s Next Top Model without dealing with an itchy weave or half-shaved head (whatever Tyra would assume fits me best), and I never had to worry about missing the lesson we learned nouns.