Until the 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey, many of us were unfamiliar with the child beauty pageant circuit. As JonBenet’s murder was horrifying and shocking, so too were the pageant pictures that immerged of the innocent little girl. Since that gruesome time in 1996, we have come to learn much more of the bizarre subculture known as the Glitz Child Beauty Pageant Circuit.
8-year-old Britney Campbell is the latest name to hit the headlines in association with glitz child beauty pageants. Britney’s mother Kerry was injecting Botox into the little girl’s face and also performing “virginal” waxing to inhibit hair growth. Kerry Campbell is allegedly a licensed beautician and justified her actions by stating, “Lots of [pageant] moms do it.” Um, okay. I think that Kerry was injecting Botox into her own frontal lobe, that aside, Britney’s story aired on Good Morning America May 12th and as of May 16th, Britney had been removed from Kerry Campbell’s care by San Francisco’s Child Protective Services.
TLC now produces the reality show “Toddlers and Tiaras.” The reality show is one of the few avenues for normal people to get an inside view into this bizarre subculture. TLC describes the show: On any given weekend, on stages across the country, little girls and boys parade around wearing makeup, false eyelashes, spray tans and fake hair to be judged on their beauty, personality and costumes. Toddlers and Tiaras follow families on their quest for sparkly crowns, big titles, and lots of cash. The preparation is intense as it gets down to the final week before the pageant. From hair and nail appointments, to finishing touches on gowns and suits, to numerous coaching sessions or rehearsals, each child preps for their performance. But once at the pageant, it’s all up to the judges and drama ensues when every parent wants to prove that their child is beautiful.”
What TLC leaves out in the description of the show is the painful process that these children endure to morph into pageant “readiness.” From a grown woman’s experience, I can share with readers that full makeup, false eyelashes, spray tans, hair extensions, fake nails, and waxing are all painful processes. Although not all procedures are physically painful, some require one to sit or standstill for a significant amount of time. Whether the procedures are physically painful as is the case with waxing, fake nails, and hair extensions or require a child to be still, both are forms of abuse. Not to mention the hours of practice these kids log in for the “talent” portion of the pageants for which many “pageant parents” attempt to justify with equating it to children who practice sports.
In an interview with 20-year-old Daney Meyer of Florida, she had this to say about her time on the glitz child beauty pageant circuit, “My mom wanted to be a pageant queen and she put me in them [pageants] when I was 9 months old. By the time that I was 8, I had done over 400 pageants. When I was 12 I broke my leg at a pageant and that actually saved me. I used that as an excuse to stop and my mom was really angry with me. I hated doing them. I hated everything that I had to do to look the part. It was painful and I would never do that to my child.” Daney has an 18-month-old daughter and she shared that her mother wants to place Daney’s daughter in glitz pageants. Daney’s mother has stopped speaking to Daney as a result of her decision not to allow her daughter to participate in beauty pageants.
There is also an extremely exploitative element to these pageants. Why would anyone with a granule of common sense put their 4 year old on a stage in a bathing suit and have that 4 year old shaking their bum? Between the full makeup, the outfits, and the “talent” acts, how can any sane human being describe these pageants as anything less then exploitive? Perhaps “pageant parents” should stop living vicariously through their children and child protective services should investigate these glitz child beauty pageants.
