The evils of beauty pageants for children 18
We were at the mall this past weekend and I spotted a flier in the food court.
It’s for an upcoming beauty pageant sponsored by Sunburst USA Their full name is Sunburst USA International Beauty Pageant. “USA International”?!? (Also, they’ve misspelled “pageant” in the title of their home page).
This flier is both evil in its approach and annoying in its content.
There are many exclamation points and they always come in pairs!! Because this contest is that exciting!! And there are a lot of “quotation marks” throughout:
“divisional winner”
“Event Scoring System”
“TOP 5”
“optional Event”
...and so on (I got tired of typing these). Consistent use of upper and lower case eludes this flier: “That would be your State Final. Who goes to the state final?” Which is it: “State Final” or “state final”?
Here’s the -deal- scam. For a mere $40, you can enter your child into a contest. But there are up to 4 other “optional” contents (Best Attire, Most photogenic (just bring a head shot), Best Hair, and Best Eyes). Why the optionals?
HOW CAN OPTIONALS HELP ?
THEY CAN PROVE TO BE VERY IMPORTANT!! EXAMPLE; IF YOUR CHILD DOES NOT DO WELL WITH THEIR “EVENT SCORES” AND ARE NOT ONE OF THE TOP FIVE IN THEIR AGE DIVISION AWARDED TEHIR STATE ENTRY FEE THEY CAN EARN THEIR STATE ENTRY FEE BY WINNING AN OPTIONAL IN THEIR AGE DIVISION , AND GO ON TO THE FINALS. REMEMBER; AT THE STATE FINALS, EVERYONE STARTS OVER. HOW THEY PLACED AT THE PRELIM IS TOTALLY FORGOTTEN !! ANYONE CAN WIN !!
(All caps, underlines, incorrect punctuation, bad grammar, and awful marketing in the original).
In other words, you can enter this contest, for $40-$80, for the chance of winning the entry fee for the state finals (where “ANYONE CAN WIN !!”). The state final fee is $300, which implies that anyone can just skip this regional hassle and go straight to the State Finals!!
Don’t worry though, “NO CONTESTANT GOES HOME WITHOUT A PRIZE.” As for the state Finals:
Over $15000 in bonds and prizes. Huge 6 ft. trophies, TWO $1,000.00 OVERALL SCHOLARSHIP BONDS, and a talent agency will be represented to audit ALL contestants. More detailed information will be provided in your state booklet if you qualify to move on. And FAMILY FUN FOR EVERYONE !!
I can forgive the sentence ending in a preposition (“move on”) and the sentence fragment at the beginning. But that second sentence is too obscure.
Okay, enough snarkiness about the flier itself.
I hate these contests. I think they are scams designed to rip off families and more importantly, they are bad for children. Do we really need another tool to teach girls to hate their bodies (“BOYS DO NOT COMPETE AFTER 4 YRS. OF AGE”)? That this is a “NATURAL LOOK ONLY !!” pageant (i.e., no Jon Benet makeup) doesn’t help.
And according to various posts on the net, if you make it to the State finals, the “NATURAL LOOK” is ignored. Here’s a sample
SUNBURST BEAUTY PAGEANTS Post By EJ (Guest Post) (05/29/2006) HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE AT THE STATE FINALS IN ORLANDO FL. THEY DO NOT WANT NATURAL BEAUTY. THEY WANTED TOTALLY GLITZY. CHILDREN BETWEEN THE AGES OF 3 AND 6 WEARING FAKE LASHES, WIGS, HAIR PIECES AND PLENTY OF MAKE-UP. THANK GOD MY DAUGHTER WAS A GREAT SPORT.
Sigh. I hate these scam artists.
Rant over.
I’d be interested to hear more details of your experience. My child wants to enter regionals (she “won” the local). I have a bad feeling about this.
Sorry, I have no personal experience with these other than seeing them pitched heavily at my local mall. Perhaps you could talk to other parents in your area that have attended these.
I have no advice to offer beyond the opinion I’ve already expressed above.
But remember, Doctor Spock’s number one piece of advice to parents is, “Trust your instincts.”
I love sunburst beauty pageants don’t be putting them down just because your too ugly to compete or win. In fact i won the prelim and this friday i will go on to the state finals so shut up! You have no experience so you cannot judge them. Just because some people’s hobby aren’t the same as yours don’t put them down i am hurt. You don’t have to agree with the sunburst company but you do and MUST respect it. You didn’t include that at Nationals you can win 10,000 savings bonds so Sunburst is not all bad it may be rusty in some area though so include good facts too Jason fagwarts!! P.s. nothings wrong with double exclamations!!
I love sunburst beauty pageants don’t be putting them down just because your too ugly to compete or win. In fact i won the prelim and this friday i will go on to the state finals so shut up! You have no experience so you cannot judge them. Just because some people’s hobby aren’t the same as yours don’t put them down i am hurt. You don’t have to agree with the sunburst company but you do and MUST respect it. You didn’t include that at Nationals you can win 10,000 savings bonds so Sunburst is not all bad it may be rusty in some area though so include good facts too Jason fagwarts!! P.s. nothings wrong with double exclamations!!
I love sunburst beauty pageants don’t be putting them down just because your too ugly to compete or win. In fact i won the prelim and this friday i will go on to the state finals so shut up! You have no experience so you cannot judge them. Just because some people’s hobby aren’t the same as yours don’t put them down i am hurt. You don’t have to agree with the sunburst company but you do and MUST respect it. You didn’t include that at Nationals you can win 10,000 savings bonds so Sunburst is not all bad it may be rusty in some area though so include good facts too Jason fagwarts!! P.s. nothings wrong with double exclamations!!
I love sunburst beauty pageants don’t be putting them down just because your too ugly to compete or win. In fact i won the prelim and this friday i will go on to the state finals so shut up! You have no experience so you cannot judge them. Just because some people’s hobby aren’t the same as yours don’t put them down i am hurt. You don’t have to agree with the sunburst company but you do and MUST respect it. You didn’t include that at Nationals you can win 10,000 savings bonds so Sunburst is not all bad it may be rusty in some area though so include good facts too Jason fagwarts!! P.s. nothings wrong with double exclamations!!
Wow, Jason. You really need to get a life. If you do not like Sunburst. Then do not enter your child. My daughter has lost and she has won many pageants. And, she loves being with the other girls. I am sure you do something boring like golf. Hit and chase a little ball. Careful of the lightning, buddy. Karma.
This person is simply stating an oppinion. I don’t agree with that oppinion but can certainly understand it. I love that we live in a country where we can express ourselves, but I wish more people would respect others oppinions. Can’t all of you reponding just say your oppinion without mean comments about the original poster.
I do agree with the writing issues. They annoy me a little too. I find myself rewriting them in my head, but I think Sunburst really has done their best to say what they mean. Their focus is on how to make their pageants great and not so much on grammar. I’d rather it be that way than the opposite.
I used to have a very low oppinion of pageants. I had seen the pageant mom stereotype and did not want my child subjected to that atmosphere. In most cases it isn’t that way.
I too saw the mall flier but felt that the pageant was a great way to add to my daughters self esteem. She would win a trophy just for going on stage and talking. (At the time an introduction speech was required of contestants.)
I did choose to take her to the state pageant where she didn’t win the division but did win some optionals (more trophies). There were plenty of gifts and trophies to go around and more new friends were made.
This past year I took her back to the state pageant and she not only won some optionals but won her division—yes 6 foot trophy and giant crown. She did not spray tan, did not have professional hair done, or any of that. She did show personality, carry herself well and posed well.
Six Flags has invited Sunburst Royalty to attend the grand opening of their park. The Queens will even be riding in the parade and signing autographs. What an awesome thing for a child to get to do. Next month when they give up their titles the queens will be given a tea pary and bedtime cookie party before the pageant. Just one more great bonding experience for my child.
Because of Sunburst my child has the confidence to explore other things. She now does photography, volunteers locally, and has entered a community service pageant group. She is a different child from 2 years ago and the change is for the best.
The preliminaries at the mall are good because they offer stage practice before a bigger pageant. You also aren’t forced to go to state. You can just take your trophy, go home, and be proud of it.
The problem comes in when the child doesn’t want to compete and the parent makes them or when the child is built up to win a huge title and feels let down when they don’t. This is all on the parent. Your child can have a great experience if you let them.
If I had ignored that first flier in the mall my child would not have these wonderful memories that Sunburst is providing.
Hope to see you all at a Sunburst pageant soon.
Best. Thread. Ever.
More please!
Irony is a beautiful thing my friends.
To all the pageant participants and pageant mothers that have posted, thank you so much for proving just how intelligent beauty queens can be.
I’m a skeptic by nature ( forgive me, all ye who are cheerfully optimistic ). I’ve been asked to be a photographer of a young gal who’s been competing for the last 3 years in various pageants. She’s been blessed with a very peacefully beautiful face. ( mind you, beauty and riches have a way of attracting people who wish to exploit the person possessing these attributes ). The kewl thing about this young lady and her mother is they’re very down-to-earth people. The girl isn’t conceited … very gentle, polite, unassuming. Mom is genuine as can be. Not pushing her daughter into doing pageants but proud of her daughter’s accomplishments. The mother is an ex-playboy bunny so knows all about people lurking to exploit vulnerable women / girls. They’re going into this pageant with their eyes open. As for me, I’m still a skeptic. I wouldn’t wish it upon any girl to become a runway model, considering what I know of the industry and how too many girls are treated / exploited. I’m excited about the upcoming pageant in Syracuse, at the Holiday Inn in Liverpool, where I’ll shoot photos for this model’s portfolio. One way or the other, win or lose, it’ll be a learning experience for her. She’s got both an understanding and supportive mother who’s goal it is not to falsely pump up the daughter. Win or “lose”, she’ll be better for it and will have fun thru the competition. ( as for the possibility that the pageant promoters and any possible ulterior motives, the jury is yet out on that and perhaps I’ll report back on my experiences this weekend … forgive the skepticism ).
My son won the state finals for sunburst. This started on a whim at the mall after hearing from soooo many people that our son was cute. We knew it and love him for who he is but others have been adamant in their description of him. Well we won there and got the free ride to state. It was close and did not cost much so we went…..add he won again….now what? To go to Atlanta is going to cost between 2K and 3K when it is all said and done. Here is my dilemma.
What could really come of this? Does he really have a modeling future? Do I want him to have a modeling future? Is the chance at a scholarship worth the cost? Will this hurt his self esteem to go and lose?
All of these are tough and very good questions. Here is what I have come up so far. 1. Any thing and I mean anything that can add to the little savings we have for his college has to be worth the shot. I can only imagine what that will cost. 2. Modeling is one of those things that as a parent you can control. I believe that my wife and I have a solid footing in reality that we will not take that too far. Again refer to answer 1 3. Self-esteem. Here is a fact. Most people fear public speaking as much as death and the only thing that can help that is being in front of people. Handled properly I do not think his participation will hurt his self-esteem. Playing a sport and losing (i.e. striking out in baseball) is a sdamaging as losing in pageant but no one is “ranting” about that.
Lastly, I believe that we should give our kids every opportunity we can to express themselves, learn and grow. This is just one more opportunity. I never in my life thought we would join the fraternity of pageant parents given the fact that I could never have won….ever, but here we are. I met a lot of parents at state. Many like ourselves, skeptical and proud and many that I hope I never find common ground with. So now we will see what happens in July…You never know and you shouldn’t assume anything…...Wish us luck
If you’re considering spending $2-3k just to compete when you’re worried about paying for college, then you’re probably making a bad decision. That much money, if saved and invested safely, will help enormously in fifteen years. Spent on a pageant trip, it will be wasted—unless you win.
You’re essentially gambling with your kid’s education on the pure hope that they will win.
Save your kid’s education money for their education.
I just had to put my two cents in here. We have been runningh te pageant circuit for about 8 months now. My daughter has down syndrome and we put her in these. SHe has yet to not place int eh top 5. A number of them she has actually won. I am not a pageant mom and I do not do hair pieces, make up or spray tan. She is who she is and she wins with that. If you are looking at doing one how about checking one out as a guest first. My daughter just took 4th runner up out of 32 girls in her age group for Sunburst and she took 2nd runner up in Little Miss Citrus.
http://life.familyeducation.com/emotional-development/girls-self-esteem/41305.html
This pageant is a bunch of you know what it is all about the money. My 4 month old little girl just went to state she got runner up for the photogenic and first place winner for top model face but she did not even make the top 10 how that is I have no idea. Any way they charge you for everything $85 just to go to state $35 for each optionals and $15 for each side,$ 10 to get in to the event,program book $10 and a hole buch of other over priced items but most of all what got me is you can “NOT” take your camra in because they are going to sell you pictures they took with just a ordinary digital camra for $5 each when you can go get a camra with 25 or more pictures developed for $5 or less and to top it off you can buy a dvd of the pageant how great right ya not $10,$20,30, or $40 dollers try agian they charge you $60 dollers for a dvd if that is not greedy I dont know what is. Also I don’t under stand why is the age group 0 months-15 months that is a big diffrent the 12 & 15 month kids can do what the parent tells them like smile wave and so on. At our state finals none of the babise that could not walk did not make the top 10 every baby in the top ten was walking now tell me how fair that is. I will never ever do another sunburst pageant. You should try the New Star Discovery pageant it is 100% better. Oh and I was going to go buy a picture of my baby beening crowned top model face winner but guess what thats one of the catogories they did not take pictures of. Thanks alot Sunburts for costing me a lot of money and leaving me with little to no memories.
I’ve done a couple local Sunburst pageants with my goddaughter and my niece. We all really enjoy it!! The girls are both little hams and love being onstage and being center of attention. The last pageant we did was not a Sunburst pageant but a more high glitz pageant. Both girls did pretty well… my goddaughter took 2nd runner up and my niece took queen for her category which was amazing! Seeing that it was a glitz pageant and neither of our girls are allowed to do the whole makeup and fake hair thing b/c that’s just not right….so my niece took queen up against a bunch of little babies with fake hair and fancy 1000 dollar dresses. Not our cup of tea though so we have decided to stick with Sunburst. My goddaughter who is 4 is constantly asking when the next pageant is. She loves doing them! We are doing one at the end of the month. Unfortunately my niece with be with her dad for the summer and will not be able to participate but it will still be fun!
Just like any other activity for a child, pageants require responsible parenting, or I can see how the experience could be perceived as a negative one. My daughter won a Sunburst state title last month, and the experience was a wonderful for her. We were new to pageants, the Sunburst prelim in March being her first, but I did my homework as a parent, researched the costs, spoke to other parents, and knew exactly what to expect going into the state pageant.
MommaN, what you’re describing sounds a lot like the IL state pageant, and I was aware of all those costs going into the pageant, including the cost of photos and the DVD, because I took the time to read all the paperwork we received, to email the director, and to ASK QUESTIONS. As far as the costs of pageants is concerned, even though our $450 registration fees to Sunburst nationals is paid, there are additional costs (transportation, hotel, beauty fee, optionals, etc.) involved in this pageant, and we are not going because I know it is something that is not in our budget at this time.
Finally, the moment that my daughter, who is almost 4, shows any sort of indication that pageants are no longer fun for her, she is done. We are doing this now because she loves being on stage, playing with the other kids at the pageants, and getting to wear fancy dresses and such. I guess to sum up what I’m saying is that pageants can be a fun, enriching experience for children as long as parents stay responsible and realistic throughout the process.