Why isn't this child beauty pageant system not regulated? My lord,

[Skidmore]

I just watched an interview with this mother who gives botox injections to her 8 year old so she won't have smile lines during competitions. She said it is common practice among the mothers of competitors to do the same. How is it that botox is not required to have a chain of possession record like narcotic used in medical care?

I was so disgusted by this woman.

[tammywammy]

1. What doctor would give an 8-year old Botox?

I wonder where the hell that mother's going for that???

[JanMichael]

3. the mother is giving it to her

hang on, there's a link...it's abc...

[tammywammy]

4. Then she should be investigated for child abuse. n/t

[JanMichael]

6. link

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/mom-year-daughter-botox-young-young/story?id=13580804

freakish, isn't it. Read the doctor's comments-

[blondeatlast]

10. Mom insists Britney wanted to have the Botox--but who initiated the idea? Mom, of course.

:puke:

[Hannah Bell]

52. why would it matter in the least that an 8 year old wanted something?

left to themselves, 8 year old would "want" to eat candy all day, not wear clothes, & pet strange pit bulls.

they certainly wouldn't "want" to be in beauty pageants & get injections.

what an idiot.

[Aerows]

76. I'm sure I wanted to jump out of airplanes and

pet strange pit bulls when I was 8 years old. That didn't mean that I was allowed to.

I suppose if the child wanted to snort coke, that would be okay, too, since "she knows what she wants"?

Lord have mercy, this mother is batshit crazy.

[tblue37]

62. Because Britney read about it in her _Weekly Reader_, and all her

third-grade classmates are talking about it in the cafeteria at lunch?

Or because Mommy told her about it and made sure she knew that she would be loved more if she complied with Mommy's wishes?

No 8-year-old asks to have a needle stuck into her face!

[tblue37]

63. When the interviewer asked the child why she did it, the little girl

said, "I don't know."

Then her mother looked down at her and said, in a clearly coaching way, "Do you do it because you see wrinkles?"

Then the child said, "Oh, yeah. Because.. . . . " If the child doesn't know why without coaching, then it was NOT her idea, and she was not the one who thought she saw wrinkles on her face!

Also, the pictures of the child getting injections, her face swollen and her eyes and mouth haggard from the pain, are horrifying. The little girl said the injections hurt, but she has gotten used to them. Poor think has learned to accept all that her mother puts her through, to simply "get used to" everything that is done to her.

Oh, yeah. Poor kid has a great life ahead of her.

[Skidmore]

18. Thanks. I couldn't find a location that wasn't in a viewer and

allowed me to link directly to it.

[tammywammy]

19. She needs to be investigated

And forced to give up the "doctor's" name that's supplying her with Botox to inject her 8 year old with!

WTF is wrong with people????? This is disgusting!

[sarcasmo]

78. +1

[H2O Man]

99. Definitely.

[LetTimmySmoke]

80. And the local DA is doing nothing?

[sufrommich]

2. She should be arrested for child abuse. nt

[Name removed]

22. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[patrice]

39. Arrest would make the problem worse not better. nt

[patrice]

40. Republicans want to arrest everyone for whatever. How does acting like them help the children? nt

[pipoman]

90. What an unadulterated crock o'shit

sometimes the level of dishonesty that spews forth in these parts is stymieing...because someone believes there is a place for law enforcement and the justice system in the protection of children the poster is now akin to a Republican? For fuck's sake...really?

[patrice]

41. The nanny-state does not fix anything, only enables or transfers weakness to other behaviors. nt

[Very_Boring_Name]

57. Yes, damn that nanny state for stopping me from injecting my 8 year old's face with poison

:eyes:

[AlabamaLibrul]

64. Mmmm... Botulinum toxin

Botulinum toxin is a protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and is extremely neurotoxic (note from AL: the same lovely characteristic found in, say, methamphetamine)

Botox suspected in 4 botulism cases
December 02, 2004

Health officials in Florida and New Jersey are investigating whether four people -- hospitalized in those two states -- may have contracted botulism from Botox injections.

http://articles.cnn.com/2004-12-02/health/botulism.botox_1_bonnie-kaplan-botulinum-toxin-botox-injections?_s=PM:HEALTH

Why do you hate freedom?

[Aerows]

79. Clearly our freedom is at stake

We should be allowed to inject our children with whatever we want, including botulism, typhus, and even plutonium, because our kids have to learn how to tough it out! If they glow a little and keel over, well, they just have to pull themselves up with their own boot straps!

[Richardo]

67. Arrested? I say sterilized. Any parent (m or f) who does that to a child has proven themselves unfit

[ProdigalJunkMail]

5. sounds like PARENT needs to be regulated

like MOST of the parents at those freakshows...

sP

[blueamy66]

8. mothers living vicariously through their kids

it sickens me

botox injections???? for real???

[Skidmore]

12. Yes, but someone is getting that stuff for her too.

How is it different than buying crack streetside.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

13. you'll get no guff from me on that point

not like you can just grab the stuff at your local CVS or RiteAid...

sP

[patrice]

23. Not regulated! Educated. Both parent and child. Separate from one another.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

27. she IS educated (anesthetist part time)

she has to know what she is doing to some degree...the fact is she doesn't give a shit what happens to her kid as long as she is HER idea of pretty...and her idea of pretty has been twisted by...well, probably lot's of things. she is abusing her child...causing physical pain...and justifying it with, "Well, the others are doing it too."

sP

[patrice]

30. Suggesting appropriate Mental Health/Psychology curriculum at all levels here. nt

[ProdigalJunkMail]

31. not educate...diagnose. the woman obviously has a problem

she needs a professional to help her...and in the meantime someone needs to protect that child...

sP

[patrice]

33. All appropriate education includes valid & thorough assessment. I personally DO NOT

like the disease model unless it really is necessary. Telling people they are sick, when they may not actually be sick, drives some of the kind of borderline (not in the clinical sense) ones away and makes the rest of them worse. Empowering, positive information is helpful; gives them choices.

You wouldn't want teachers engaging in clinical practice, only doing triage.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

34. ok...you believe she needs to be educated... n/t

[patrice]

36. That's where it starts and only escalates if necessary, i.e. dysfunction is apparent,

which I guess in this case you'd be watching for balance in the child's interests, some understanding of how they perceive their own sexuality and self-worth, relative to others.

[Aerows]

81. Honey - it HAS escalated

She's injecting botox into an 8 year old's face for "wrinkles". If you don't think that's escalation, I'm not sure what your definition of fucked up or escalation might be. Do you wait until the child is anorexic, or paralyzed from the neck up permanently before you say "Oh, well, maybe there is a slight chance that there is a problem?"

You do realize this is illegal drug usage, because last I checked, Botox is not available for those under 18. If the kid is snorting coke, but appears happy and well-adjusted, is that okay, too?

[patrice]

37. The challenge is to get people to make their own choices without warping that through

coercion/pressure, unless necessary.

[Aerows]

85. It's necessary here

[patrice]

43. she/the mom AND the child - separately. nt

[Aerows]

82. This isn't even about education

I can't believe anyone is arguing with you about this. Botox isn't legal for an 8 year old. I have to wonder if the person you are arguing with would be okay with this if the mother was injecting her kid with heroin or cocaine, because what she is doing is just as illegal as either of those things.

[bobbolink]

45. That explains it. Anesthetists have a HIGH rate of addiction. I wouldn't be surprised if she is

giving the child all sorts of things...

:cry: :nuke:

[Aerows]

83. Something is for sure

messed up in that household. I don't know how anyone could argue that this isn't clear signs of unhealthy behavior and a situation where intervention is warranted.

[intaglio]

51. "Aesthetician" not anasthetist

She's a beauty "consultant"

Part-time

Waxing her kids legs and giving her botox so the child can do well in competitions that are a paedophiles delight.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

59. then i misheard...

either way it is very screwed up...

sP

[jmowreader]

98. She's an aesthetician part time, not an anesthetist

Aestheticians do skin care and makeup. They don't do injectables.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

102. and I said in the post IMMEDIATELY above yours that I misheard

to someone who posted effectively the same thing...

do you have some other point to make other than that I did not hear it correctly?

sP

[jmowreader]

103. No...

I think I got in before you posted, sorry.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

104. fair enough...

but you gotta admit, while those two words are worlds apart...they do kinda sound the same if you miss a syllable :-)...

my wife complains about my hearing too but she is convinced it is merely selective.

sP

[Myrina]

7. Regulated? Why does it even EXIST??

:(

[loudsue]

9. It exists for pedophiles, both male and female. It's sick and tragic.

It's as unhealthy mentally as any one thing in our society.

[patrice]

35. True, that. Many participants are more-or-less "innocent" but that strain has to be there and even a

little, proportionally speaking, is absolutely unacceptable, because it is affecting BOTH the pedophile and the child.

[Frank Cannon]

95. I couldn't agree more. Everything about that "hobby" is horrifying and repulsive.

It may not involve death and physical suffering the likes of cockfighting or dogfighting, but I think it causes enough problems and pain to have it banned as those sports are, with the practitioners shunned.

I can't believe there's a reality show devoted to these freak shows and that people actually watch it. I would rather watch a vasectomy performed without anesthetic. And with a dull scalpel.

[Skidmore]

11. Exactly.

I was just focused on the item on GMA. There is a video of this interview on their site but I can't figure out how to link it.

This child is a psychological disaster waiting to happen.

While we're at it, the designers of children's clothing need to be called on the carpet too. Sexualizing small children is reprehensible.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

96. Exactly what I was thinking.

Those kids are creepy and their parents so much more so. What the hell is wrong with people who would put their kids into something like this? They're dressing them like adult hookers and then freak when you ask them why they are whoring their kids because they didn't get any attention as a kid. You'd think this shit would have stopped when that Ramsey girl got killed. Have you seen the TV shows about pageant kids? They are scary and creepy and a molester's dream!
Duckie

[jmowreader]

100. It's so mommy can live vicariously through her daughter

When the media asks the pageant mothers "why?" the answer is almost invariably "for college scholarships."

So let me see here...between the training, travel, entry fees, photos, clothes, hair and makeup, gifts for whoever they're supposed to give gifts to...pageants cost about $30,000 to $40,000 per year, if you're really serious about it and a lot of people are. Four years of NOT doing the pageant trail will pay for a pretty damn good college education.

[MattBaggins]

14. Can't the mother go to jail?

Do you have to be medically licensed to administer botox?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

15. love how the little girl had to keep looking to mom for answers

the whole pageant world for little ones is disgusting...let's justify destroying our kids' psyche because other people are doing it.

sP

[ProdigalJunkMail]

16. waxing leg hair off of an 8 year old???

FFS this woman is a devil...

sP

[Skidmore]

17. I know. I kept thinking it will only be 2 or 3 years until

she gets introduced to a bikini wax.

You know darned well that the child heard "It's not ladylike to have hair on your legs" from Mommy Dearest.

[LynneSin]

20. I'm going to be extremely judgemental here when it comes to these beauty pageants...

I've watched the TV shows - when you flip through the channels and one of those shows are on it's like passing a trainwreck, you almost have to watch to see just how incredibly awful these mothers are to their very young children.

The standard answer any mom will give (even the Botox injecting mom) is this: My child wants to do this, they asked to do this, I'm only fulfilling their wishes.

But any person with a semester of child psychology under their belt can tell you this - a young child doesn't have enough experience in life to make major decisions like this. At age 8 or even younger their experience is things like 'I prefer Carrots over Peas' or 'I like Spongebob better than Dora the Explorer'. To be involved in these adult things means they see an adult do it and they want to mimic it.

And the mothers, these bulk of these mothers who push their kids into pageants probably need serious mental counselling. Many of these women look like they're trying to live vicariously thru their kids. Maybe these moms had issues with self-esteem so they did tried to deal with it thru their young kids "I wasn't pretty enough but I'm gonna make sure people see that my daughter is pretty enough". It's really warped thinking.

[Bunny]

32. I agree to some extent.

I think that it's definitely mommy who is driving a lot of this crap, especially when the little girls are only a coupla years old - there's no way a kid that young is making an informed decision to enter beauty pageants. It's all about momma wanting to dress her little girl up in frilly clothes and make her look pretty.

I do think that as kids get older they can decide what they want, and I think a lot of the girls enjoy the primping and smiling and doing their little majorette routines, or whatever passes for the "Talent" portion of the show these days. And I guess if you like that sort of thing, who am I to say you can't do it? However, the way these girls are presented is often obscene - a pedophile's paradise, and I think it's disgusting that there are parents who expose their kids in this fashion. using dress, hair, and makeup to look like a stripper when they're six years old is fucking disturbed, and THAT'S what should be illegal.

Don't even get me started on botoxing an 8 year old - arrest that mother, at once.

[LynneSin]

49. If these pageants are to continue I think alot of it should be banned

Excessive makeup,
Excessive hairstyles,
Revealing clohtes,
Body alterations including making young kids wear those damn fake teeth or have them getting waxed or botoxed.

But you're right, if a child wants to wear a cute outfit and do talent - why not? Just eliminate the excess and they could be normala again.

[jmowreader]

101. They have "no makeup" pageants but I worry about them.

Last year they had a kiddie pageant in Moses Lake, WA, and we did two stories about it in the Columbia Basin Herald.

The first story was pre-pageant. One of the things they really emphasized was the no-makeup aspect. They first said it was a no-makeup pageant, then they interviewed one of the mothers whose child was in it, explaining that the no-makeup aspect was what got her to let her kid compete.

The second story was illustrated by the heavily made-up winner, heavily made-up first runner-up and heavily made-up second runner-up. So...what happened to the no-makeup part?

What would be okay, I think, is a pageant where the parent pays to rent the various outfits and have her kid's makeup and hair done by staff members. Without that, the excesses will only get more excessive.

[Odin2005]

58. I think the parents that push their kids into the gymnastic scene are the same.

I find it hard to watch women's gymnastics because a lot of the participants are teens with no life.

[TorchTheWitch]

89. it's the same with the arts and sports and entertainment, etc.

Moms that couldn't make it as a dancer or musician or actress or model or cheerleader and a host of other various arts, sports, entertainment, etc. Same goes for dads, yet with dads it's almost always some kind of sport.

The kiddie beauty pageant thing is just another in a very long line of various things parents try to do vicariously through their kids.

Bless my parents for allowing us to become interested in various things on our own and try things and discard things or stick with things on our own while also encouraging us to give each new interest an honest chance before getting frustrated because we weren't really good at a thing immediately (kids have little patience at the learning phase) and throwing in the towel. As a result all of us not only have a very wide variety of talents and hobbies that we enjoy without obsession we also learned to approach a new interest realistically and give it an honest chance before deciding it wasn't what we really wanted.... and we're always quick to jump on something new with confidence yet acceptance without regret if something doesn't work out the way we'd hoped. I feel very sad for people who weren't encouraged as kids to try new things that capture their interest and not be too quick to quit while being supported if it isn't working out... they always seem to grow into adults that don't have any hobbies or talents or even any interests at all or believe enough in themselves to try something and to not care if it ends up not working out. What a very boring and narrow way to experience life and one's own abilities.

[patrice]

21. Why? Because people think they own their children the same way they own property, to do with as they

please.

[nichomachus]

24. How is this any different

than jock-sniffing dads forcing tiny kids to play contact sports.

I drove by an athletic field a while ago and there were all these little boys, little boys, in football gear and helmets almost as big as the kinds were. They were being yelled at by these pot-bellied goons on the sidelines.

We know now that football -- even with protective gear -- is dangerous and can cause all sorts of injuries that show up later in life, including brain injuries.

Just for reference: The average NFL player comes from a poor and uneducated or undereducated background, has a playing life of 3.5 years and dies 22 years earlier than the average American.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

28. Yes, because injecting botulism in to the face of a child is the same as playing sports.

And little tiny kids gain enough momentum and force to cause brain injuries.

Better they should stay home, play video games and get the diabetes.

LOL.

Just for reference: 99.9% of kids who play organized sports don't go on to play professionally.

[patrice]

38. The may not play professionally, but many do have to have medical interventions for knees & such

later in life.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

44. So have all my friends who jog, run, hike, swim and bike.

Life is kinda tough on those joints, eh?

My friends who sit on their ass got the diabetes and heart trouble.

[patrice]

47. That does not mean that no one pushes their children in ways that are developmentally inappropriate

and the fact that there are parents who do push children in developmentally inappropriate ways does not necessarily mean that they should be arrested or regulated.

Dysfunction and harm should be the criteria for our responses.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

48. Not sure if we disagree on anything.

My first post in this thread was to someone with their panties in a bunch over kids playing football - hinting said kids will end up drooling idiots dead before their time.

[Arugula Latte]

42. My son has always been big for his age & has been "recruited" to play football since he was about 9

We've always told the pot-bellied goons "Hell no!" in so many words. But, he does play basketball and baseball, and I've seen some nasty injuries from that (especially basketball, which is a contact sport these days). I know a kid who got a concussion that affected his cognitive abilities for months after getting hit in the head with a soccer ball. However, football seems to be worse than any of these sports. Even though there is "protective" equipment, the chances of getting a spine-crushing injury that leaves someone permanently disabled seem way too high. That's where we drew the line.

[AngryOldDem]

91. Or, little girls who participate in cheerleading?

That is just as bad as contact sports.

[LanternWaste]

97. One is a sport while the other is the injection of a chemical.

"How is this any different than jock-sniffing dads forcing tiny kids to play contact sports..."

In and of itself, one is a sport while the other is the injection of a chemical. :shrug:

of course one may conjecture the consequences of either or both, but that is simply irrelevant to the contrast between the two in the here and now (i.e, post hoc ergo prompter hoc)

[patrice]

25. Appropriate Psychology curriculum should be a part of core curricula at all levels, so that

people have some way of dealing with/processing the shit they are dealt in their lives, so that they stand a chance at developing Mental Health for themselves and dealing with problem others outside of the biases introduced into those dynamics by ChurchCo.

[Rex]

26. Fuck regulation, outlaw the dam things!

And get the moms that do these things into therapy ASAP!

[patrice]

29. What do you want to bet there's all kinds of churchco "fellowship" groups for these mothers.

And then there'd be all kinds of merchants and people like Mary Kay sales persons who know exactly where those little beauty pageant fellowship groups are.

[Keith Bee]

46. I saw part of that interview

If you look up "clueless" in the dictionary...oy!

K&R

[NC_Nurse]

50. that is some sick shit right there. ugh.

[Contrary1]

53. Mom's upper lip doesn't move when she talks...

I wonder why? :sarcasm:

[defendandprotect]

54. kr

[Warren DeMontague]

55. That whole 'scene' is deeply, deeply creepy.

Just strikes me as wrong on several levels.

[Initech]

66. I've seen it in person.

It is incredibly wrong on so many levels. The kids are just doing what they're told - it's the parents who put their kids through this bizarre shit.

[Odin2005]

56. Regulated? It should be BANNED.

[Pithlet]

60. I remember reading a similar story once and thinking "this can't be real"

And it wasn't. It turned out to be a hoax. I really hope this one is, too. If not, she needs to be turned in to CPS.

[Initech]

65. Oh I've seen it. It's very real.

I stayed at hotel in Vegas one time where they had one such pageant going on. You want to talk freak shows... :yoiks:

[Pithlet]

69. I meant the botox. The first case that hit the media turned out to be a hoax.

I know these freak show pageants are all too real. I couldn't believe it when I saw a clip where a woman had her daughter's eyebrows waxed. That, to me, is grounds for child abuse charges, and the salon that did it should be shut down. Just awful. I think the botox is plausible, sadly. I think a few pageant parents, the type that would wax their girls' eyebrows, would be crazed enough to do it.

[Initech]

71. Hoax or not, neither one would really surprise me.

[toddwv]

61. So you can't buy more than 2 bottles of cough syrup w/o raising a red flag

But it's ok to needle up your child's face with a toxin?

We live in such a weird country...

[Philippine expat]

68. They should not

be regulated, they should be banned entirely.

[guitar man]

70. The while frigging thing is ridiculous

My daughter could SMOKE all comers if we decided to put her in one of those things. You know what she was doing after school today? Playing in the dirt with her dump truck like a kid should. I can't see how those parents waste their childrens childhood on that bs. I just don't get it.

[Aerows]

75. And that's what a kid should be doing

Not being shot up with Botox to play out her mother's fantasy of being the beauty queen she never was.

I wonder if this mother would shoot her child up with heroin if someone on the pageant scene told her it would make her child more attractive. She'd probably pass it off by saying "well, she's happy".

I don't get it either, and I'm glad - there would probably be something wrong with us if we did get it!

[guitar man]

88. My daughter dances

She goes to dance class once a week where she spends an hour learning ballet/tap and some jazz dance. They do two recitals a year. Both her mother and I told her if it ever gets to where it isn't fun anymore and she doesn't like it, she doesn't have to do it. She's 5 years old and has a lot of time to decide what she wants to do.

But I know some of these junior beauty pageant moms, they are downright scary at times , there's something not right there :scared:

[WatsonT]

72. How did the first person to suggest this not get chased out of town by an angry mob?

"Ok so I'm going to get all the neighborhood kids to dress up in fancy outfits and makeup and parade in front of me and ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh stop burning me!"

[Aerows]

73. You have got to be kidding me

Botox on an 8 year old!?

Holy Cow, that has got to take the cake for child abuse if I have ever heard it. Does she not realize that it kills nerve endings, and could screw up her child's face, which is still growing, for life?

Almighty - I think I've heard it all now.

[Aerows]

74. I read the article, and I wonder

Would this mother shoot her child up with coke and heroin if it made her a "happy kid" and because someone in the pageant said it would make her child prettier?

This is psychosis on the mother's part.

[Chris_Texas]

77. Counterpoint :)

Preface: My daughter and I are professional makeup artists. Though we began our careers doing theatrical and special effects horror makeup, over the last four years we have transitioned almost exclusively into high-end glamor and fantasy makeup, primarily directed at kids and teens. In the course of our work we meet a surprising number or pageant girls and their moms – surprising because I had no idea there were so many -- and for comparison an even larger group who are NOT pageant parents, but fall into the same economic “class.”

I will not waste time commenting on the woman in this story as she is obviously a nutcase and a danger to her child. Rather, I would like to offer the perspective of an outsider who has spent many hundreds of hours working with pageant girls and their parents.

PAGEANT PARENTS: It probably goes without saying that the vast majority of these are doing okay financially. Further, almost inevitably this is MOM and daughter – you rarely encounter Mom and Dad together with their pageant princess.

Pageant moms and their kids are a joy to work with. Contrary to popular opinion, the pageant mom tends to be far more relaxed than the parents of any other group. Once they see that we are professionals they typically shut-up, allow us to work, and seem genuinely more interested in their kid having a fun time than what the outcome looks like (obviously the assumption here is that we do, in fact, know what we are doing). We can always tell a pageant princess simply based upon how easy to work on they are; they are used to having makeup applied and it shows.

Further, and not to belabor the point, their kids overall seem to be happy well-adjusted kids who genuinely like their parents. Further, these are moms who do not hesitate a minute to both lavish attention and affection on their kids, and they are equally quick to correct them if they misbehave.


Affluent non-pageant Parents: Parents from this demographic are the most difficult. It is from this group that we encounter 99% of the “problem” parents (that’s in quotes because they are paying us and we are grateful to all our customers). It is from this group we encounter our “Helicopter” parents – called this because they hover noisily getting in the way. Here as well we get the nagging parents who seem to feel that their kid requires a constant stream of abuse and negativity (we HATE these people, it’s a constant (and often losing) battle not to tell them to shut the hell up and leave their poor kid alone. These are the ones who offer constant back-handed insults to their kids (“I don’t think my daughter can sit still long enough for you to do all that… she’s difficult you know” etc).

We find as well the “echo” parents, who seem to believe that a whispered direction from us to their child requires them to repeat it before their child will comply (Us: “Close your eyes softly princess, just like you are sleeping…. very good!” MOM: “HE SAID CLOSE YOUR EYES!” Us: “That’s perfect! Softly… softly…You’ve done this before haven’t you...” MOM: “BECKY KEEP YOUR EYES CLOSED! CLOSE THEM! CLOSED!!”)

It is from this demographic exclusively that we have encountered the pure crazy parents. The ones who actually yell at their kids while we are trying to work on them (we have actually had parent’s make their kids cry. We love them all, the kid’s that is, but with some of the parents the only thing we love is their business.

Conclusion: While we do all kinds of makeup, these days we work on and with kids, more often girls, for a living. The impression most people have of pageant parents is that they are domineering bossy naggers who care about appearances more than they care about their kid’s happiness. For what it’s worth our impression is completely the opposite. We see pageant parents and their kids before and after shows, we see the ones who won and the ones who didn’t. I have never once seen ANYTHING that would even hint at the possibility that these pageants are, to the vast majority of participants, anything more than a fun mother daughter activity that BOTH enjoy. And while it is clear that they take them seriously, we encounter that with every parent with a child involved in some extra-curricular activity. Parents of young athletes care a LOT about their kid’s sporting adventures, music and dance parents spent staggering amounts of money on lessons and costuming. Pageant moms don’t want their kid getting dirty or playing rough before the show.

EDIT to add one more quick point: Despite the hundreds and hundreds of pageant girls we have done, neither my daughter nor I have ever actually watched one of these shows. One day I suppose I will. We see the kids before and after. I don't know if this would make a difference in my opinion or not -- honestly I kinda doubt it but you never know. Further, I was told once that there is a reality TV program about the pageant circuits. Haven't watched that either and likely never will (we dont watch TV at all).

[pipoman]

84. Same reason most cities don't regulate ice cream truck drivers?

:shrug:

[TwilightGardener]

86. A little girl whose mom helps her fix her "wrinkles"---anyone want to take bets

on the development of an eating disorder in her near future? Nutz. Child protective services should be called.

[Catherine Vincent]

87. I hope this woman was arrested

I haven't read the article yet but if she wasn't arrested for giving botox injections to her 8 year old daughter then the mother that enrolled her kids in a different school district to get a better education shouldn't have been arrested.

[Vinca]

92. Those pageants really, really bother me.

Sweet, little girls being made up like mini-hookers is wrong on so many levels. There's the image thing - the poor things will fret their whole lives about every little blemish or pound. And the pedophile thing. You have to wonder how many travel the pageant circuit. I'd never heard about botox injections and that's incredibly frightening. Don't these stupid parents know what botox is?

[hamsterjill]

93. Unimaginable. If that's not child abuse, what is?

I cannot imagine a parent raising a child with the underlying message of "you're not pretty enough, therefore you're not good enough". This little girl will most likely grow up with many and varied self esteem issues.

I hate those pagents myself, but the people in charge should, at a minimum, make anything like botox an automatic disqualification.

And where's the father in all of this?

[Skidmore]

94. Updated this earlier on another thread because I couldn't edit it any longer. Link.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1094022