A combination of all these terms defines how I am feeling right now.
I was turning the volume down on the TV, but instead I accidentally changed the channel. What I saw caught my attention, little girls (6 years old) in a pageant. Seemed harmless until I sat down and realized the horror of what was really going on.
The show was Little Beauties: Ultimate Kiddie Queen Showdown! On this particular show the girls were in Tennessee for the Little Miss Pageant. I quickly discovered that there was so much that I didn’t know about pageants for little girls.
Do you know what Flippers are? These are pieces that are inserted over the little girls teeth to cover their “snaggle” tooth little faces. Parents pay $200 for the Flipper and an additional $50 to have the flippers fitted to their mouths.
These little girls get spray tans, “because the lighting just doesn’t do anything for the fair skinned little girls,” was the response of one mother. This is what they said regarding one the fair skinned girls, “being fair skinned, we have to make her up from scratch.”
Are you kidding me?? This is a beautiful little girl created from scratch by God as he planned her to be, but obviously not beautiful enough for the pageant circuit.
Then there was the little girl, Aleena who wasn’t winning anything. She said, “I’m prettier than all of them!” Bless her little heart, who has put these thoughts in her head to have to compare herself to others based upon beauty??
After this pageant, the little girls and their entourages traveled 10 hours to Daytona Beach, Florida to participate in the Fabulous Faces Pageant. They showed the setting-up process where someone said, “You are judged by your appearance.”
THEN one of the most outrageous comments: “Then, there are the candy vendors to give the girls their boost!!!” And we wonder why so many people in the entertainment industry and beyond are addicted to drugs. Yes, it’s sugar—but like they said—the sugar is being provided to give them a boost. Sounds more like a high to me. These little girls were downing those really long, wide straw shaped sticks of sugar! I don’t know about the rest of you, but my daughter can barely handle 3 pieces of candy, much less that much sugar!!
Then there was the swimwear part of the pageant: little girls prancing around and dancing on a stage—need I say more!!
People are always telling me that my daughter is beautiful and that I should enter her in pageants. I have considered it—and I’ve learned to NEVER say NEVER—but I hope that I never allow my daughter to be subjected to such a negative environment.
We wonder why unspeakable things happen to our children, but while I was watching this I was thinking that this is one of the reasons that children are subjected to horrible things such as molestation, abuse, human trafficking, etc. These LITTLE girls looked like grown-ups. Yes, they did look beautiful and I could tell that these parents really love their babies, but the reality is that I have to wonder what unknown harm is being done to God’s precious little creations.
Maybe you’ve watched this show and it seemed harmless to you. Maybe you are one of those moms that place your girls in pageants. I do know and support many other mothers who enter their daughters in pageants, but I think that each pageant has to be carefully considered before allowing our little ones to be exposed to some areas of life that are just too grown-up for their little minds to comprehend.
I’m not saying that my baby will never be in the spotlight of some type, I just pray that I never let it become of that proportion. She is more than a fabulous find of mine, she is a fabulous gift from the Almighty and it is up to me to prayerfully consider all that she does and is a part of. I pray that you too will consider all aspects of anything that you allow your child to participate in.
Blessings always,
Tara
"Fabulous Finds by Tara is a site for discovering "fabulous finds" in all areas of life--not just the grocery aisle."
1 comment:
Yikes, that is scary!! Like u we have thought about but that crazy to put your child thru that mess,geeezzz.
So are u going to do any reunion stuff since its so close to your trip??
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