This horrifies me. But to be entirely honest, it doesn't horrify me THAT much more than seeing adult women done up in the same manner.

As much as I resented my mother when I was young for not knowing how to do makeup or hair and pass that info on to me, I now thank her.

These pictures are so disgusting and uncomfortable. WTF is wrong with their parents? They are making paedophiles' wet dreams COME TRUE!!!

"I submit that anyone who is uncomfortable with [the] Little Miss Perfect [pageant] is ethically obliged to be just as uncomfortable with femininity in general. Little Miss Perfect is merely one of a gazillion equally nauseating points on the Porno-Feminine Continuum within which all female citizens of the globe are confined by a culture of oppression"

of course I'm uncomfortable with society's standards of feminity. I'm also against adult beauty pageants and think they're just as pathetic and pointless, but in a whole different league with WILLING grown women who make the conscious choice to march themselves out like CATTLE onstage and be objectified.

but with child beauty pageants, these little girls have NO say in this.

The Uncanny Valley intrudes again.

I couldn't agree with The Spinster Aunt more.

"I submit that anyone who is uncomfortable with [the] Little Miss Perfect [pageant] is ethically obliged to be just as uncomfortable with femininity in general."

And I am.

I agree with Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist, that while I find that level of makeup on adults pretty darn disgusting, it is different when the person wearing it is a consenting adult.

Can I just point out how disgusted I am at the little black (er, AA) girl´s obvious skin lightening? What does that say about what is perceived as beautiful? Does light skin also = feminine? It reminds me about that post you did about skin lightening cream in India... and horrifies me.

I too am horrified by child beauty pageants, but I disagree with The Spinster Aunt's conclusions in this case. As the contributor points out, this "performance of femininity" is takes place for the purpose of fostering (what those participating therein consider to be) "feminine sexual allure". The blatant sexualization of prepubescent girls is to me very disturbing, but it does not logically follow that being horrified by child beauty pageants ethically necessitates being horrified by the same performance of femininity by women who have attained sexual maturity. The question of whether one should be repulsed by this variety of feminine performance is most certainly valid and worthy of consideration, but it is a separate (or at least separable) one. If one objects to the performance of femininity per se, one must necessarily object to this performance in child beauty pageants; the reverse, however, is not true.

Additionally, it troubles me that The Spinster Aunt conflates the particular version of femininity espoused by child beauty pageants and by their adult analogues with the concept of femininity as a whole. There are many possible readings of femininity, some far more objectionable (and objectifying) than others. To object to one is not necessarily to object to others.

The Spinster Aunt highlights some valid concerns, but I find it unfortunate that the weight of her commentary is so enfeebled by these facile assumptions.

I don't know, I disagree with that last point. What's creepy to me about these pictures is that these very young girls are made up to look far older than they really are. What's appropriate on a 16-year-old or a 30-year-old isn't the same as what's appropriate on a 6-year-old. If that last picture especially were of a teenager, I'd think she was lovely, happy, and appropriately-dressed. But because she's a pre-teen, it's not comfortable to see her with that face. It's not even the clothes, but the make-up and teeth.

Being uncomfortable with small children looking like adults isn't the same thing as being uncomfortable with femininity in general. It's the Uncanny Valley aspect, the idea that these little girls simply should not look the way they do in the photos.

What is the most creepy thing about these pictures is that it looks like adult faces have been photoshopped onto children's bodies.

I disagree that objecting to or being horrified by children being forced to look like overly made-up grown women is the same as objecting to grown women wearing lots of make-up. Right or wrong, it has long been culturally acceptable for grown women to wear make-up but the same is not true for children. At least as an adult you can choose to wear make-up or not, you might be conditioned by society to want to do so but for most women that does not start at the age of 6 or 7 years old. Also, as a little girl, it would have required a fight for me to put on that much make-up and to get my hair all done up like that whereas now, for say a special event, I might get all of that done.

@Koonburra, you do realize that some people have perfectly straight teeth without getting braces, right? No one would know what straight teeth are if no one had them naturally. Also, some people do take exceptional care of their teeth and do not use whitening agents to have white teeth.

I think it's generally considered to be more acceptable for a 16 year old+ to look this way because we associate these signs of "femininity" with being sexually avaliable. I think that's why it's "creepy" to see young girls dressed up this way.

The quote is taking this idea further however, and saying that the things women often do to make themselves appear sexually desirable (or feminine) are a construct of society, and serve to create a false image of "femininity" - as being WOMAN only requires the right biology. no high heels, lipstick or floral prints required.

@Kookaburra: There are many, many things in human culture that are "unnatural". As LJ alludes, dental braces are unnatural. As are tattoos. And body piercings. And shaved facial hair on men. And for that matter, things such as hip replacements, polyester fabric, and--if you want to take the argument to an extreme--hybridization of plants via grafting. I have always found the preoccupation on what is "natural" and what is not--always with the implicit assumption that natural equals good and unnatural equals bad--an odd one. We have created a fetishization of the natural, and I think the assumptions implicit within that view need to be identified and questioned.

As an addendum to my last comment (I forgot to add it before hitting "Post"), another assumption that often occurs as a part of the natural/unnatural binary is the one that Christine Nectarine demonstrates: natural equals genuine, whereas unnatural equals "false". I'm curious to see whether any other, similar dichotomies arise in this conversation.

It should be kept in mind that these pageant photos are sometimes Photoshopped to increase the desired effect. I can't speak for that book in specific, but what you're seeing many not represent the actual photo that was taken.

Of course, what's really horrifying is that there are people out there who want their children to look like this at all! But my first reaction to photos like these was, "That can't be real!" I was gratified to know that, in some cases, it's not.

See here, for an example of a child pageant retouching service:
http://www.photoretouchinglab.com/miss-teen-usa-pageant-photo-retouch-online-glitz.html

I think part of the problem with the way girls are dressed and styled for pageants comes from the fact that they are too young to understand the full implications of their presentation. When a 16 or 30 year old makes herself up, she does so with an understanding of how others may interpret it. A 6 year old doesn't have much of a concept of these things.

If a full grown woman makes herself up before going out, she is making conscious choices in full awareness of the range of reactions she may get. (this is not to blame victims of inappropriate attention. Jerks act like jerks whether the target before them is dressed for the club or the gym). A child has neither the control over her situation nor full cognizance of the various meanings of her costume.

I disagree that these kids are mimicking adult behaviour, because that implies that these girls have agency in the process. For me, what is so horrifying is the treatment of girls (by their parents) as some kind of utterly blank canvas, upon which their mothers project their own idealized performances of femininity and sexuality. I think of this much less in terms of 'what these girls are doing' and much more as 'what is being done to them'.

There are a lot of websites out there that do pageant photo retouching (google 'creepy pageant pictures', and its clear from the ways in which their photos are 'fixed' that these girls have little-to-no agency in their pageant endeavours, because the ideal is not to be an attractive human (child or adult), but to be a perfect doll; blank-eyed, painted, and pliable.

And don't even get me started on how pageants are marketed to families in lower socio-economic classes, but the accoutrements required to win pageants cost thousands, and thousands of dollars.

These little girls are being indoctrinated into the beauty culture. It will be difficult, as they grow up, not to be ridiculously preocuppied with their looks. And when they start to age - go through the awkward teenaged pimply phase and then one day get wrinkles, they'll be the ones going into debt to buy beauty products, brand name fashions, and plastic surgery. They will become enforcers of the beauty industry, like their mothers before them. Do you think they'll ever be satisfied with themselves? Not if they believe that to look good, they need to constantly need to modify themselves by getting hair extensions and veneers. Not if they associate getting positive attention with sexualizing themselves.

That's why it's so disturbing to see these girls performing "porno-femininity." Because they are the future, the leaders of tomorrow. And these images make me think that our pornographic, obsessive, lipo-suction, enhance this, enhance that beauty culture is going to be around for many generations to come, and it doesn't look like things will get any better.

Mentally healthy people react with 'horror' at child beauty pageants because children are being sexualized. That's it. No, we should not react with the same disgust at the 'project of feminity' when applied to women. Sexualizing women is... yep, healthy. Sexualizing girls violates just about every biological, moral, and legal imperative in existence.

I guess what I would need to know in order to be able to gauge whether I agree or disagree with Aunty Spinster is: How the heck does she define femininity?

I remember seeing a commercial for a television show about child beauty pageants in which they cited one of the rules as being something like... in the bathing suit portion of the competition, the girls (aged infant to 6 years) are not allowed to wear thongs. I couldn't believe that needed to be stated... and yet I could, at the same time.

Having a 7 year old daughter at home, I find these images very difficult to contend with. She often wants to dress up like a princess or like Hannah Montana, and I'm sure if she saw these images she would want to dress like this too.

I applaud you for tying these images to how adult women do gender, as it seems so 'natural' to grown women.

Child pageants are, IMO, sick and twisted. Making your young daughter look like a kinderwhore for money and publicity is twisted.

I have a tangential, but possibly interesting story:

When I was five or six years old (in 1991/1992), I was in an advertisement for a fairly major clothes label. Now, my parents didn't actively pursue this - we were stopped and asked on the street and my mother agreed to it.

I was photographed without any make-up on - I would have to check with my mother, who probably recalls this more clearly than I do, but I don't think they even did anything to my hair. All I had to do was put on the clothes. As far as we could tell, there was little - if any - manipulation of the photo that ended up in magazines. Our copies of the photographs are identical to the ones published, and I am in there, crooked teeth, pot belly and all.

I wonder if this would be possible in this day and age. Sadly, it seems to me that the answer is no.

I'm disgusted.

I'm sorry, I can't add much more to the discussion except to say that my jaw dropped at the sight of these images and I am deeply disturbed.

Things I have learned today:
- Except for a few African Americans, all other American children are white and blonde.
- If I want to stop burying my head under my pillow in despair, I need to switch off the internet.

"Agawa, the ability to express emotions, decorate (be artistic) and cook food can and have been done by all people through history. It shouldn’t be seen as feminine, but human."

mirja, perhaps I wasn't as clear as I should have been, but I was trying to point out the devaluation of things considered tradionally feminine IS sexist, along with trying to foster and encourage only femininity in women and only masculinity in men.

Specifically I was referring to "I submit that anyone who is uncomfortable with [the] Little Miss Perfect [pageant] is ethically obliged to be just as uncomfortable with femininity in general." in the original post.

I am uncomfortable with society's standards for feminity, but calling out "femininity" as fake and unnatural is painting an unfair dichotomy, and, as always, devaluing traits and jobs tradionally associated with women.

I agree with you that these traits are human, but I think we cannot ignore that they have always been associated primarily as female (hence feminine) and that acceptance of the feminine is required before we can see things are neither feminine or masculine, but human.

I think the film Little Miss Sunshine highlighted a lot of the debates about these competitions. I find fault with the network, We TV, for capitalizing on the superficial, Little Miss Perfect, Platinum Babies, etc. What happened to the exploitation law for kids - it seems people cared more about that in the early to mid-1900s than today.

One thing I take away from pageant shows visually is gay men teaching young girls how to be drag queens and mothers who have let themselves go physically are living through their daughters.

Absolutely worth watching, very compelling online documentary on the sexualization of girls and women:
Sexy Inc.

Just watched Sexy Inc - it was amazing and showed evidence on so many things I have assumed such as the pornification of culture. The scene where teens are shown teen magazine images and porn images and can not tell identify each is shocking.

I think that the reason why I am so horrified by such little girls made up to be fully adult women is not simply because of their femininity.
The thing that horrifies me is the blatant version of adult female sexuality that comes along with the way these little girls are dressed. These girls though not revealing "too much" of their bodies are still portrayed as sexual objects that are both passive and hollow. Especially the photo of the little girl showing off her legs; it reminds me of a photo that would be used in a 1960's Playboy spread.

I find it rather offensive that the Spinster Aunt and Kookaburra equate femininity with unnaturalness and use of products, and treat it negatively. God knows I don't think women should be held to some kind of abstract, idealized, and impossible standard of beauty, but it seems rather harsh on women who are, well, naturally that definition of "feminine". I've got an hourglass figure and long hair, and I like wearing dresses and high heels - none of that is abnormal or unnatural, and it's unfair to dismiss the women who have/do these things as tools of the patriarchy.

I think Ella got it exactly right when she said "it’s also important not to simultaneously buy into notions that therefore women who do perform these things are lesser in whatever ways."

I'd like to deconstruct this a little. Imagine for a moment a similar set of pictures of 6 year old boys. By this I mean boys made up in a manner that our current mainstream culture depicts as sexual in adult males, not dressed in drag. Try and picture what this would look like.

Tropes to consider: A man in shorts, chest showing, and a look of confidence. Hair done simply, but styled. Would this look odd, disturbing or distressing on a 6 year old boy? How about a man in a well-cut suit? In stylish club attire? Even the more extreme versions of this last, with an open shirt and a glimpse of stomach would at worst look a bit silly on a 6 year old boy. The suit might look 'dapper'. It's unlikely anyone would refer to these boys as 'kinderwhores'. And yet all these tropes are from images of sexually attractive images of adult males. Even the light, near invisible touches of make-up worn by models and some hipsters is by it's nature intended to be near invisible, and therefor wouldn't look too off.

The point being made by The Spinster Aunt, and Kookaburra(I think), is that a large part of what is considered 'feminine' in our culture is something that one would find disturbing on a child. That is: sexually available, even sexually -vulnerable-. As well as the fact that such notions of femininity are usually specifically exaggerated, hyper-sexualized, and ultimately artificial, and have little in common with actual womanhood.

So, why is it -not- disturbing that such displays of artificial hyper-sexuality, availability and vulnerability do -not- look gross and distorted to the average eye? One commenter mentions “They are making paedophiles’ wet dreams COME TRUE!!!”. By this I assume they are referring specifically to those pedophiles who would like to, or do, force their attentions onto children. And yet, no one sees a female model done up similarly and shouts "They are making rapists' wet dreams COME TRUE!!!".

Now I realize there is some difference here. A man who sexually fantasizes about sex with an adult woman who's been made into an artificially enhanced sexual fantasy is fantasizing about a consensual sexual act with an adult. A child is not a fully sexual being, and isn't generally capable of that sort of consent. But it is the very construct of adult femininity as being a passive receptacle of male desire and sexual attention that causes these images to be disturbing in the first place, as boys done up in a style of adult masculinity is -not- inherently disturbing. And I think that society's general definition of femininity is what is the most disturbing here.

It's only so obvious because the children cannot knowledgeably consent to being sexual fantasies. But the underlying problem is always there.

There is a difference between women making these decisions and little girls. Adult women are responsible for themselves, so they can make the choice to dress a certain way or alter their bodies. However, no five year old girl should be exposed to this at an age where her biggest worry should be her barbies, not if her false teeth are white enough. It's forcing these girls to grow up at an early age and feel like they have to look perfect in order to be liked. It's sad that our society has come to the warped mindset that all women should be beautiful, regardless of age. It's okay to be beautiful, but not to fake yourself out for the sake of others.

It’s disturbing to me that these kids have to dress up and become so fake so young. When I was younger I never doubted myself, I have tons of confidence; it wasn’t until later years when I was in middle school and high school that I started feeling bad about my appearance. Children should be able to enjoy themselves while they are young, not dress up and become something they’re not. These moms may not see it, but it’s hurting these girls to put them into pageants and put in fake teeth or hair because they’re not pretty enough without these things. It’s wrong for these moms to allow their daughters to be pushed into the spotlight at the age of seven. It’s too young to be worrying about perfection.

While I do think the parents are going overboard and none of this is necessary I think the people who do not approve also go a little crazy as well.
Yeah it's pointless and a little ridiculous for kids to wear so much make up, but I do not think it is "sexualizing" children. If I saw an adult woman dressed in those outfits, 'sexual' is not what I would think.
No it's not what I would want for my kids, but it's not disgusting, horrible, or any of those words people want to call it. I think the strongest words I would have for it are "stupid" or "pointless."

I did dozens of pageants as a child. I grew up to be a pretty average functioning member of society. I don't wear makeup or heels regularly as an adult as I find them to be impractical. Pageants were always a time to play dress up and meet new friends. It was clear to me, as long as I can remember back, that the clothing and makeup I wore for pageants were a temporary illusion. By the time my friends got around to experimenting with makeup as teenagers, I was already over it as I already understood that who I was as a person was more important than how good I could make myself look.

I think people overestimate the effect that hobbies have on a child. Doing pageants didn't make me vain or shallow just as my rock tumbler didn't turn me into a geologist and my electronics kit didn't turn me into an engineer. Two years of awful piano lessons didn't teach me to hate music (though I think listening to Led Zeppelin with my dad helped me learn to love it). But for any successes or failures encountered through those years of pageants, and music, and science kits... I wouldn't trade any of them. I'm glad for the memories and the opportunity to learn as much as I could about anything I wanted to learn about. Including pageants.

"The fact that these kids can use the same strategies as adult women (with stunning/horrifying success) reveals the extent to which adult women are, no less than those kids, performing femininity."

Brilliant!

This is scary. The last picture at the bottom disturbed me the most. Why, why do parents put their children through this sort of thing?? Let children be children! It's bad enough they're getting warped by societal influences, let alone the parent's own insecurities/neurosises...

"I submit that anyone who is uncomfortable with [the] Little Miss Perfect [pageant] is ethically obliged to be just as uncomfortable with femininity in general."

I am. I hate when people say "she's so feminine" because she wears pink and acts like an idiot aroung babies and men. Being feminine is experiencing the complete range of womanhood: strength, tenderness, motherhood, no motherhood, being single, being married, being independent, being deeply in love, and so much more.

So yes, I am uncomfortable with what these idiots think being a woman is about.

I apologize if someone's mentioned this already (there are 125 comments up there, and I'm not going to read them all), but I couldn't help thinking of the film Little Miss Sunshine. I watched it recently and it really made me think about the double standard in sexualizing girls. At the end of the movie (*Spoiler Alert*) Olive does her act which is sort of strip dance that her (very sketchy) grandfather had taught her. The pageant organizers attempt to get her to stop and she is eventually disqualified. All the other girls looked like the ones in the post above with make up, huge up-dos and padded shirts. They almost looked like tiny adults; I was really creeped out by it. I take it as a commentary by the directors about what sort of behaviors are allowable for girls and where do we draw the line?

Ridiculous. I dress up in heels and makeup because I want men to find me sexy and yes, want to have sex with me. That is because i am a grown adult woman who enjoys sex. These girls are SIX YEARS OLD and should not be projecting "have sex with me!" vibes. There is such a huge difference that I really cant believe anyone is seriously trying to make this comparison.

this is child abuse. mass and legalised child abuse.
sickening imoral is to bring forth fallacious arguments to defend this abuse.
child pageants is just one example for why there are jokes about Americans.

Look the problem with child pageants is that the coercively force children into highly traditional forms of gender performance.  Coercive gendering of children is wrong.  I perform femininity on my own terms as a fuck you to the patriarchy.  This is femmephobic nonsense.

"So, if it’s troubling when girls do it (and, for that matter, also troubling to many when men do it), then why isn’t it troubling when women do it?"

Because when adults perform gender in this way what they are doing is performing a ritualized mating dance- even if they don't do it consciously. It's restating the obvious, but little girls (and little boys) are not ready (physically, mentally or emotionally) to mate. That's why most sane people find it disturbing to see this particular type of gender performance in little girls but not in grown women.

It is also why, when little girls practice it naturally (and inartfully) on their own, those same people find it cute. It that case, it's just natural mimicking behavior.

For me, personally, the difference between children and women "performing" gender in this manner is the matter of choice. Children are set into this "hobby" by their parents (almost always mothers) who encourage it via their attention, approval, time, and money. In order for the child to receive these things from her mother, she must play this game of high stakes dress up. It's coercive for the mother to demand this level of participation from the child, and the carrot mother dangles is her love (in the form of attention, approval, time, and money).

Alternately, when women perform gender in this fashion, it's her own adult choice. She may be doing it in order to gain peoples' attention, but one hopes that she has a solid foundation of people who actually love her for herself - and that if not she can choose to seek therapy.

I understand and can agree somewhat in how this is characterized as a culture of oppression. However it is worth notice that males are largely non participants. They participate only as objects of attention in the real aficionados, the mother's, imagination.

This is where the normalization of child abuse will gain traction, not from predators, but from gender activists acting out and conflating their own (ADULT) gender and sexual identity preferences while using children as political footballs. Your disregard for the safety of actual young girls is palpable and disgusting.

By this article's description and depiction of "femininity," we are to believe it equals "being perfect," by specific standards of beauty, and that femininity itself is all an act... come on, really? Get a clue.

Saying that anyone uncomfortable with child beauty pageants has to be uncomfortable with the way adult women perform femininity is insulting to women and represents a dangerous reproduction of the kind infantalization of women that a place like Soc Images tries so hard to expose.

Child beauty pageants are problematic in large part because these kids are forced into it by their parents, often coached into displaying seemingly sexual behavior when they are presumably too young to be sexual or at least to make choices about their sexuality. To say that this problem somehow translates to adult women is to say that somehow women are similarly unable to make choices about their sexuality or, perhaps worse, that their sexual choices are somehow made by others. We live in a patriarchy, but women are still independent agents capable of choice, which makes the situation completely different from child beauty pageant participants.

Women are not little girls in beauty pageants, no matter how much social pressure there is to look pretty. Women are independent-minded adults perfectly capable of making their own choices.

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