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Queen of Tots(continued)
GLITTER AND BE GAY In Living Dolls, an aspiring pageant girl receives a lesson from her coach Enlightenment came upon viewing two television specials—the fallout from which seems to have sent the men of Southern pageantry into the shadows. VH1's 2005 feature Little Beauties: The Ultimate Kiddie Queen Showdown was made with the cooperation of both Tim Whitmer and Michael Booth, a makeup artist and highly respected pageant director. The program shows Whitmer doing his stage routine, enthusiastically announcing little girls as they prance down the catwalk for judges. ("Kynnedy's favorite food is pizza Hot Pockets! Her ambition is to be a cheerleader!") He also narrated the special. Whitmer, an exceedingly polite veteran of the U.S. Air Force, was the most resistant to my invitation to participate in this story. He declined repeated requests for interviews, saying that he was exhausted by the blowback from previous media exposure. "I'm tired of receiving hate mail," he said, adding that he has had to shut down his website so as to discourage detractors from haranguing him online. He was clearly burned by the VH1 special; perhaps his narration made him seem all the more complicit in what many viewers considered the exploitation of children. 
BETTER LIVING THROUGH PAGEANTRY Michael Galanes Living Dolls was one of the most talked-about documentaries ever shown on HBO, and while it clearly depicts Butler and King's genuine affections for the girls they coach, America made up its mind: These men were bad news. Online bulletin boards condemned them and the parents who hired them. Gay newsweekly the Advocate maintained that the film "confirms one's worst fears about this most glamorous form of child abuse." Once again, it seemed that any publicity was bad publicity for pageant professionals. 
Great. One more way to screw up these little girls. Let's add gender confusion to the mess. We all know that these contests with young, impressionable children place an unhealthy emphasis on physical beauty and the material things in life. These beauty contests are not for the children's self esteem and confidence. Come on! These are for the parents egos and personality defecits. Self esteem & confidence in children come from accomplishing real tasks, not from praise and especially not praise for their beauty. If that child internalizes that her looks are the most important thing about her, that is a foundation made on sand. Not every cute child grows into a pretty teen or adult. Haven't you ever seen a child with a cute little nose grow up with an entirely different nose (large,a hump, etc.) or God forbid they have a disfiguring accident or disease. How are they going to cope with that? Save the beauty contests until 16 yrs & up when they have developed a sense of self and actually win prizes that are worthwhile. What ever happened to the concept that a woman should be valued as something besides a sex object? Posted by: redmud995 on August 7, 2008 7:46 AM redmud995: How do the gay men involved in the pageant circuit create "gender confusion"? Last time I checked, gay men were just as certain about their gender as straight men... Posted by: Jamie Lynn Snears on August 7, 2008 12:22 PM I LOVED this article. At first I was thinking oh no, here these guys are all going to East Coast out and sneer at these people. But no!!! It was respectful and really interesting and just kind, and inclusive, plus the writing is good. Viva Radar! Posted by: barnhouse on August 7, 2008 3:45 PM excellent article! really fascinating. i have also thought about these guys not getting enough credit for their contribution. my own feelings about the pageants notwithstanding - this is their choice and apparently they are doing a great job at it. Posted by: yesteryear on August 13, 2008 6:01 PM Advertisement < BACK TO Features |
    
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