**With update at bottom
“On any given weekend, on stages across the country…..”
“……… parade around wearing makeup, false eyelashes, spray tans and fake hair to be judged on their beauty, personality and costumes.”
“…..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”
Guess what this is.
Miss Universe?
Miss Landmine (Everyone Has The Right To Be Beautiful)? => My favorite. Don’t you dare read irony in that. There is none.
Miss Plastic Surgery?
Miss Kawaii Gyaru?
Miss I Used To Be A Man, Now I’m A Much Better Looking Woman Than You Are?
In Toddlers & Tiaras, they follow little kiddie beauty pageants all over the country. As told to me by a girlfriend from the States, there’s some kind of system to qualifying at various levels, even some of the tiny affairs in hotel ballrooms count as experience….
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9QzMEyNYoM]
Ok you can tell I wasn’t paying attention at this point… It’s because I hadn’t made it past the bit about a Swimsuit Round in some of these pageants that is supposed to mimic those done in the grownup rounds.
When Rockstar was at some of the playgrounds in San Francisco, we and another Asian family were the only ones with cameras. We got looks. This was a playground which had a sign, “No adult allowed unless accompanied by a child.” We… promptly took a picture of that. Thing is, it doesn’t always occur to some Asians why filming someone’s kids might cause discomfort. Some Asians would just film every darn thing.
At an event last year one of the very local Hongkie bloggers happily snapped away at Rockstar and asked what his real name was, without thinking to ask if she could put all that up (not that I can read her blog anyway, I’m completely illiterate in Chinese). We might have chatted a lot more if my Cantonese vocabulary weren’t so limited and if she spoke more English, she and her family were quite nice and polite. But it simply didn’t strike them as rude to click away at Rockstar, nor why some mums might not like it.
When I recall getting looks as I filmed Rockstar on my iPhone in said playground in San Francisco, especially from a dad who at one point snuck a quick glance at my screen to see if his daughter was in the frame, I realize this is one of the big differences between some local families and some expats. (It’s also why Rockstar’s school reminds volunteers not to film anyone else’s child when we enter the school premises.)
I think local tv has talent shows, I’m not sure if there are any Hong Kong toddler pageants though. It was surprising to discover, given the difference in “tolerance levels” to filming Hong Kong vs American kids, that there’s a whole tv program with all this pageant and behind-the-scenes footage.
Anyway. I download the TnT application form from the website:
16. DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY AT THE PAGEANT. ARE YOU COMPETITIVE?
17. DESCRIBE YOUR PAGEANT KID’S PERSONLITY ON AND OFF STAGE AT THE PAGEANT.
18. DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE A COACH OR ARE YOU THE COACH? (WOULD THE COACH BE WILLING TO GO ON CAMERA?
Heee.
(yes I saw the typo in the form on question 17)
On one hand you want to get all “WHAT’S WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE???,” but on the other hand you continue to watch in a kind of horrified fascination as parents spend thousands of dollars on dresses and makeup and hair pieces and tricked-out 10 year olds go “I’m the most beautiful. I hate all the other girls!” (Haven’t found that clip yet, someone told me about it only, but I did see the one with USD 1800-3000 dresses <feel so good about my shopping expenses> and the Madonna pointy-bra one..)
I was so amazed by this show though. Some of these parents push their children to excel – except instead of piano or violin, it’s to enter beauty pageants and put on eye liner. I bloody hate eye liner. Most of these kids in the “glitz” photos have more makeup on than I did at my wedding.
(I have very low tolerance for these things, even sparkly eye makeup can make me want to claw my eyes out so I’m just looking at all these little kids and going how on earth did they get this stuff on them??? Same way they get kids to practice scales and arpeggios I guess… But I think some of these kids actually have quite a high tolerance for all the makeup and stuff <shame on me>)
And then there are all the people who watch the show <guilty>.
Oh, these sickos. <cough>
Then again pageant contestant parents might have used some of this to get their kids to practice the piano or violin some other such for the talent round, though those scenes might end up on the cutting room floor as less entertaining tv. Late for a lunch appointment at Pacific Place the other day, I almost managed to get a cellphone picture of this little girl (from her back, so no one can scold me) avidly watching the elegantly dressed pianist hired by the shopping center to play in the lobby. I met another mum whose under – 3 year old can ice skate – her motivation was the beautiful costumes.
Shortly after this was posted, I got the following email from a reader formerly from the UK who later allowed me to post her comments on condition of anonymity:
“I saw a trailer for this ages ago & even the shortish trailer got my blood boiling! I’ve never been a fan of pageants (any kind but especially ones that involve children) when I read about them in American magazines but these reality TV shows just made the whole thing worse. For me, those children pageants are all about the mothers and not about the child. The children are preened and primped to an inch of their lives. Their innocence is usually hidden behind layers of fake tan and make up! And some of the clothes that the little girls have worn are simply too shocking – kiddie versions of crop tops, mini skirts and bright red lipstick. If a grown up woman wore a similar outfit, many wouldn’t be thinking she looked cute or nice in that. There’s far too much sexualisation of children already but these pagents seem to make it even worse and especially with all the cameras going click, click. The girls are taught from a very young age that their worth is dependent on how slim and pretty they are. To me it just reeks of stage mum and doing so using her own daughter(s) is simply horrendous. The sad parents who want their piece of fame, at the expense of their daughter’s innocence.
As for taking photos of children in the UK & the USA, a lot of it stems from fears of child indecency and much worse. Far too many children have been taken advantage of and then apparently there are rings of these terribly sick people who trade photos with each other. It’s also another reason why that park in SF that you mentioned had that sign you mentioned.”
Many thanks for the candid response..
