THIS weekend, in a first for Victoria and Australia,
Universal Royalty - a Texas-based company specialising in glamour beauty
pageants - will hold a modelling and talent competition for babies and
children.
On the face of it, the event looks like harmless fun.
Everyone knows how much kids love to dress up and how much pleasure parents get
dressing up their children.
However, there are some disturbing aspects to this
particular style of "glamour pageant".
Many in Victoria are disturbed by US-style child
beauty contests. Since this event was flagged this year, the glamour pageant
has divided our community.
In Melbourne, the pageant, to feature on the
controversial cable TV showToddlers and Tiaras, will be open to
Australian babies as young as six months. It will include a compulsory beauty
competition, modelling and make-up workshops. Organisers have also set up
exclusive deals with local media - perhaps in an attempt to guarantee positive
coverage.
Make no mistake about it, child beauty pageants are
big news and also big business. An internet post from an organiser of the
Melbourne pageant estimates the industry is worth about $5 billion worldwide.
Parents can be expected to pay about $400 to enter
their child in the Australian event, but the spin-off costs for costumes,
make-up and dance lessons can spiral into the thousands.
Most Victorians are not opposed to baby competitions
at local shopping centres. We don't mind our kids dressing up as fairies or
pirates and we actively encourage them during book week to dress up as their
favourite character.
But when our children are "glammed up" and
objectified to look like mature attractive women, alarm bells must ring.
Governments have a responsibility to keep our children safe and to preserve
their innocence when they are at risk.
There are many parents who are far from comfortable
seeing very young children strutting their stuff in split gowns, heels, a spray
tan, waxed legs and eyebrows, curled hair and caked-on make-up. It beggars
belief that these competitions are really all about self-esteem, poise, and
etiquette.
Psychologists and children's advocates agree that
beauty contests do not form part of a child's healthy emotional development and
that they can actually hurt our children in the long term.
Many also argue that beauty contests teach our kids the
wrong values. There are more important qualities than being pretty. We have
always taught our children this and it's never occurred to us to ever enter our
six-year-old daughter in a beauty pageant.
Child psychologists also warn of the damaging
long-term effects of these competitions. Experts see a clear association
between these types of events and the development of body image problems,
eating disorders, and depression.
All this leaves me and many Victorians asking,
whatever happened to letting kids be kids? Let them run around at the local
park. Let them muck around in the back yard or kick the footy at the local
oval.
Importantly, let their imaginations flourish and
encourage them to read. Let them play. Let them learn. Let them be happy.
I think there's a case to better regulate this
industry and that's exactly what we are talking about - it is an industry where
large profits are being made.
If the Baillieu Government is
interested in such regulation, they can count on Labor's support to develop and
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