Blinging up Baby

Someone commented that it's no worse than boys being encouraged to be macho. In a way, that's right.
The difference, tho, is that the boys are being encouraged to act powerfully while the girls are being encouraged to alter themselves to gain approval from others.

DH and I watched this programme tonight and we thought it was toe curling. The amount of money spent on dresses was ridiculous considering two of the mothers did not work.
There was no talk of education but just the hope that they might be a celebrity.
IMO they are spoiling any chance these children have of a normal childhood.

Speaking as a person who firmly believes that the most important thing is one's personality and that looks come way down the list I suppose I should be a bit worried about my own clothes and make up addiction. The thing is that I've never been trying to conform to an accepted standard, I've spent a lot of time creating an image, but not cared what anyone else thought of it. My poor mother spent years trying to get me to have my ears pierced but I always looked on it as a sort of mutilation. Then when I was about 30 I suddenly got them done and I've worn earrings ever since. My daughter's were pierced when she was about 10 I think.

As far as my children were concerned I dressed them for what ever they were doing - which was mainly scrambling around in the fields or on the beach wearing the oldest clothes they'd got!

I think ear piecing is a cultural thing in many places including Mediterranean europe and i am not so bothered by that. View is less likely to go manky as baby less likely to fiddle with ear studs as a tiny!

I am always disappointed when I take DGDs shopping at what's on offer but pleased that they are generally drawn to 'practical' clothes and not fluffy nonsense. Comes from having a mum who refused skirts for years and is a great charity shop bargain hunter! As of course was their grandmother!

It's not just wearing daft dresses, though. It's a whole culture of having to dress & make-up & act a certain way in order to win approval.
Even for little girls who are nowhere near a pageant, like TriciaF's neighbour, this is being instilled in them.
It is insidiously undermining the progress of women in society by seeming, to some people, to be an attractive, enjoyable way to be.
Banning pageants would at least be a step towards saying that this is not an acceptable attitude to have towards females, in particular very young females.

I agree; some are like fashion accessories. It all began [I think] when someone in a girl band got pregnant [was it All Saints?] and baby bumps became 'fashionable'. Which then led to the cult of 'I've just had a baby and got my figure back within five minutes' [although I have been told that a lot of 'celebs' pencil in a day for their baby to be born and have work done at the same time; not sure how true that is but the source was quite reliable]. The next step was then dressing the children which created a market for the clothes. I think it might have been the rodeo item that made me think 'well, wearing daft dresses isn't the worst thing in the world that you can do to a child'.

HollyDaze - my thoughts and feelings too.
I watched the programme and was horrified, though we have a neighbour who dresses her little girl in a similar way, not so extreme.
So I knew the fashion exists.
I sometimes think that since babies are now being born by choice, instead of by chance, they are regarded more like objects, material possessions, than as a human extensions of their parents.

I'd be horrified to see young boys riding in rodeos! I just wish some parents would let children be children, it's such a brief period of their lives and I hate to see it taken away by rushing them into adulthood ideologies.

I felt sorry for the mother when she was on This Morning. I got the feeling she hadn't realised the way the programme makers were going to approach it and she seemed to be feeling quite victimised. It surprised me, feeling that way, because it's so alien to the way I feel children should be brought up.Mind you, I do need to watch the programme itself. I found the other lady [the one who dressed her toddler in tutus etc] very irritating, though. On the Australia programme with John Bishop there were men who encouraged their young sons to ride in rodeos and John Bishop was, understandably, horrified.

she didn't spray tan her daughter on a regular basis; she just asked to use it once

she never actually made the little girl do anything against her will.

Grrrr - how would a very young girl even know about spray tans and what effect they can have on appearance if it wasn't put into the child's head? Why couldn't her mother have simply said 'no, you are too young to wear spray tan'? As for not making her do anything against her will, would the little girl have even have thought of dressing up to that extent and parading around ready to be judged if she is superior/inferior to other little girls if her mother hadn't put the ideas into her head?

Is it any worse than men who encourage their sons to be very macho?

Most women don't fanticise over young boys who are macho though and you don't see 4 or 5 year old boys being encouraged to lift weights.

(Comments not aimed directly at you Tegan but more at points that you raised.)

It's the tip of the iceberg. Glamour, dancing, skating and all things competitive.
I am not against healthy competition, but what's healthy in my mind isn't necessarily the same as what's in many a mum's mind. Given that there is over half a centenary between me and today's youth, I am a bit out of touch.
Just thankful that my grandkids are outdoor players!

I should have said tried on shoes not clothes.

I think little girls have always tried on their mother's clothes, I remember doing it, and faffing around with lipstick etc., but this is something quite different, aside from the child being dressed like a mini Barbi doll, it's the subliminal message implanted in a young impressionable mind.

I also saw a part of "This Morning" programme and saw the wardrobe of one of the children. It must have cost a fortune and they grow out of clothes so quickly. Where do the mothers acquire the money to pay for all of this?

I could not believe that hair extensions attached to hair combs were also used-incredible. I also do not think that babies should have their ears pierced- maybe I am old fashioned? I part blame the programme makers for showing this rubbish.

DD had to be forced into a dress when she was little, her 7 year old son is currently going shopping in his magician's robe - or dress, depending on your point of view and his 18 month old brother always expects to have some of my powder and lippy on before we go out. No gender stereotyping in OUR family

Nowadays DD can look stunning when she chooses, but I'm still more impressed by her PhD.

Bit of a shock to the system to find myself agreeing with every word Liz Jones writes! It's just so depressing that girls seem to be setting their sights lower and lower and then lower again for their own daughters.

purpledaffodil I saw that prom article too in the Surrey Advertiser. The parents were very defensive at any criticism saying the kids loved it and it did not steal the thunder of older kids. My argument is what have they got to look forward to if they have already done this at 4! Forced into mini adulthood by thoughtless parents.
Re the beauty pageants: they are awful and whilst the kids may ask for spray tans etc. parents can always say no! My DGD (aged 8) loves to faff about with nail varnish etc but she knows it is for dressing up & playing and not for real life!

The bottom line is that if these competitions didn't exist, the chances of these children being done up in such a way would be minimised.

(That didn't come out quite the way I meant, but hopefully you will know what I mean)

There is the world of difference between a little girl asking Mummy to have a splosh of her nail varnish, at whatever age, (my DGD who is 4 will sometimes appear with the odd painted nail) and the complete head to toe preparation carried out just to take part in a cattle market competition.

I do wonder about the reasoning behind making this programme and how much editing was involved. Two mothers from the programme were on This Morning the other day and one said that she didn't spray tan her daughter on a regular basis; she just asked to use it once. She also felt a bit victimised given that so many children are treated very badly by their parents and that she never actually made the little girl do anything against her will. Is it any worse than men who encourage their sons to be very macho? I must admit to hating that Sharpes advert for bedroom furniture that shows the little girl at the end wearing one of mummys high heeled shoes with all the adults smiling at her; I find it quite stomach churning. Must admit though that, although I've never been a 'girlie girl' type but when I was young I was fascinated by make up [nail varnish in particular]even though my mum hardly wore any and certainly never wore nail polish.

Just wondering if an on-line petition on change.org might garner some support, especially in the light of recent events.

Quite justified outrage against offences against young ones, then contrast that with what could be deemed the sexualisation of children, actually perpetrated by the parents!

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1318258/Hooters--offensive-bar-Britain-Asks-Liz-Jones.html
One of the little girls was dressed in a copy of a Hooters uniform. I was appalled!

France has banned them.
www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/world/europe/french-senate-passes-ban-on-beauty-pageants-for-girls.html?_r=0

Vive la France!

Not sure if banning them would have any effect Phoenix. Either drive them underground, think Prohibition in the USA, or encourage those silly parents to take their children abroad for their five minutes of dodgy fame

Phoenix A resounding yes, bit quite how you could stop it I don't know.

I find this quite appalling.

Quite a few years there was a TV program about the American beauty pageant scene, " Painted Babies."

I think it was a British production and it was not at all favourable towards these dreadful spectacles.

What is it about the USA culture that seems to promote this stuff.

Do any of you think that these sort of pageants etc should be banned for girls under a certain age? Might be a bit controversial, but I would be interested to hear your thoughts.