Embracing My Journey ~ Living with passion & purpose!

Earlier today I caught a television commercial for a show entitled “Little Miss Perfect.”  I had to look twice and even hit the replay button to see if what I thought I saw and heard was really what had been on the screen.  What caught my attention was the man ‘prancing’ and I use that term very literally, across the screen as if on a run way, telling the little girls sitting on the side lines that they had to “work-it” and “sell-it” to him, as his arms were flailing and he wiggled his hips as if he was hula or belly dancing. Immediately Sean Hayes’ character of Jack McFarland from “Will and Grace” came to mind.  Follow this up with the little girls’ mothers talking about their flippers which in pageant terms are fake teeth that the girls wear while they are missing their real teeth.  Now according the prancing man, if the judges comment on or are attracted to the girls’ teeth then their flipper is not well constructed as it should look natural…  fake teeth on a five year old looking natural?  Is he serious?  Apparently the flipper is a very important item to have if you happen to be a pageant participant sans teeth.  Add to this the spray on tans, four inch high hair and make-up that Tammy Fay would be envious of, and you have a little pageant princess.

If this wasn’t enough, flash to the moms and girls keeping themselves energized with so called nutritional foods.  “Sugar keeps them moving”  mom says as she hands her daughter (who isn’t wearing her flipper as we see her missing front teeth) something to eat.  The little one puts it into her mouth and says “chocolate for breakfast is yummy.”  Cut to the other mom who is handing her daughter pure sugar in the form of pixi-stix candy. Is this what the American diet has become?

This new reality show is going to follow the pageant moms and daughters as they take part in the newest and hottest pageant, “Little Miss Perfect.”  The commercials and clips they have shown so far make these people look absolutely ridicuolous, but I guess that’s the point behind reality TV and why people tune in week after week to see what is going to happen?

Now, I have a confession to make in that I am a former pageant mom (I know, shock!).  I allowed my daughter to take part in pageants and modeling for several years.  We have closets full of trophies and sashes from her wins.  Yes, she had fake hair, a spray on tan, glitzy clothes and full make-up at the tender age of two.  I am not proud of this, but I do speak from experience and have to say that the day the judges commented on how beautiful her tan looked and that her make-up was “perfect” my eyes were opened and that was the day we walked away from pageantry.

I really hope that people will see past the “drama” of this show and take it for what it is, parents dressing up their kids with trappings that should be reserved for adults and then parading them in front of judges to be told how “perfect” they do or do not look, speak or act.  To critique them on their clothing and photos that have been so altered they resemble a cartoon character more than a child.

While I do believe in natural pageants that focus on etiquette, manners, speech and natural appearance (ie: forestry pageants, miss and teen pageants), I do not believe in the glitz pageantry system that treats children like dolls and toys instead of people.  Contrary to what the glitz pageant industry wants people to believe, they don’t focus on anything more than the superficial in all aspects. And for those moms who say that their kids are benefiting from these pageants, I certainly hope you are prepared for the day that your child doesn’t win and you have to explain to them after years of conditioning to the contrary, that it’s what is on the inside that is most important…yeah, good luck with that!

In gratitude,
Caryn

Caryn FitzGerald is a motivational columnist, speaker and writer, she has been featured in and published several books, including “Tulips in the Sand: A Riley Matthews Mystery.”  Read more from Caryn at her website CarynFitzgerald.com.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Caryn's writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.