Little Miss Perfect

A few weeks ago, I watched an episode of a program called Little Miss Perfect for the first time.

So many feelings rushed through me…horror, fear, anger, sadness and hope. Has anyone else watched an episode?

It is a show about child beauty pageants. It follows moms and their young daughters behind the scenes preparing for the beauty competition and then at the competition itself. I saw a 9 year old get a spray tan! I can’t count how many times I heard someone say smile so you sparkle. Sparkle, sparkle ,sparkle ! Are you kidding me?

The children had more makeup on than I have ever worn in my life, complete with false eyelashes, a lot of blue eye shadow and enormous amounts of blush and finished with lipstick. The outfits for the “talent” part of the competition bordered on lingerie for some girls. Never mind the “talent” part only seemed be a choreographed dance much to their mother’s wishes.

The Mothers!!!!! What can I say? They are using this “Little Miss Perfect” as some sort of validation for themselves. It is so sad on so many levels. It is sad that these women do not realize the true meaning of self confidence, independence and community. Their drive to win is damaging these beautiful young girls. The irony is that most of the mothers were out of shape and one even admitted her own low self esteem. These young girls do not yet know real role models. They are pushed to “perfection” in what their damaged mother sees as important.

Our hope is to have enough scholarships for former Little Miss Perfect girls so they can have a chance to experience their inner strengths and talents, to help them become true leaders in their communities and to know Smart is Cool.