# America's weird obsession with beauty pageants



## editor (Sep 13, 2006)

It's weird, innit? The country seems obsessed with beauty, and ones like, "Miss American PreTeen Pageant National" seem just *wrong* to my eyes.

Check out the mile-long listings here: http://pageantcenter.com/

Woe betide any poor sod who fails to live up to the required level of glamour.


----------



## phildwyer (Sep 13, 2006)

Latin America is much worse for this sort of thing.  They are postively obsessed with beauty and spend all their money on it.  Colombia, obviously a fairly poor country, has the highest rate of breast implants in the world.


----------



## jdoey (Sep 13, 2006)

plenty of americans dont give a shit about that stuff. ive noticed plenty of british seem obsessed with america tho.


----------



## bluestreak (Sep 13, 2006)

we might calm the fuck down about it if our esteemed prime minister wasn't trying to turn us into a mini america.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 13, 2006)

Mind you we're the country that had 'Minipops'...


----------



## phildwyer (Sep 13, 2006)

Also, the city with the highest number of plastic surgeons per capita is Rio de Janeiro.  They city with the highest number of psychoanalysts per capita is Buenos Aires.  It would seem that many preconceptions regarding "America" apply most readily to the southern half of the continent.


----------



## phildwyer (Sep 13, 2006)

Also, the city with the highest number of plastic surgeons per capita is Rio de Janeiro.  They city with the highest number of psychoanalysts per capita is Buenos Aires.  It would seem that many preconceptions regarding "America" apply most readily to the southern half of the continent.


----------



## phildwyer (Sep 13, 2006)

Agh I've caught the Multiple Post lurgy.


----------



## Cadmus (Sep 13, 2006)

*sweeping generalisation moment*

it's just their shallow approach to life, nothing else.


----------



## lyra_k (Sep 13, 2006)

I've lived here for 6 years now, 2.5 of them as a parent, and I've only ever actually met ONE family that goes in for the beauty pageant type stuff (unfortunately, my sister-in-law's).  They (the pageants) are a bit of a hot topic here too, and the VAST majority of people I've heard talking about it find it sick and disturbing.

I think it's a case of us (Brits) being only too ready to assume that something is much more prevalent than it actually is, because it sort of panders to our prejudices about America and Americans.

edited to add:  you only have to look at how mainstream US TV networks like CNN treat the JonBenet Ramsey case - her parents were (IMO rightly) absolutely villified for the pageant lifestyle they subjected their young daughter to.


----------



## Gavin Bl (Sep 13, 2006)

It would be really good if this forum didn't turn into another excuse to have a dig at America, save it for the World Politics forum....


----------



## snorbury (Sep 13, 2006)

I never noticed it, but then again don't watch much telly


----------



## editor (Sep 13, 2006)

lyra_k said:
			
		

> I think it's a case of us (Brits) being only too ready to assume that something is much more prevalent than it actually is, because it sort of panders to our prejudices about America and Americans.


Err, the reason I brought this up is because I'm currently putting together a photo report from the 2005 Nation's Day Veterans Parade in NYC.

 Right in the middle of all the vets comes spinning along 'Miss All Star United States Pageant, National All American Girl,' waving away from an open top car.

I thought it was odd so looked it up on Google where I found hundreds - if not thousands - of beauty pageants, some for the most obscure awards.

So it's got fuck all to do with any supposed 'prejudice' towards America, just a comment on how different - and at times downright bizarre - the place is.


----------



## snorbury (Sep 13, 2006)

America the Beautiful?


----------



## phildwyer (Sep 13, 2006)

They always have the local beauty queen on a float in the Holiday Week parade down my way in South Wales.


----------



## lyra_k (Sep 13, 2006)

*@ Editor*

apologies, when you mentioned the pre-teen pageant I assumed you were referring to the child beauty pageants that a lot of Brits seem to think are really popular here (they're not).

If you mean beauty pageants and contests in general, yeah, very odd, every town seems to have a "miss XXXX" and every rodeo has a Rodeo Queen.  

Having said that you see plenty of "Miss Tyne-and-Wear" and "Miss NiteSpot Nightclub" type stuff in Engalnd too.   You know, local newspaper type stuff.


----------



## girasol (Sep 13, 2006)

phildwyer said:
			
		

> Also, the city with the highest number of plastic surgeons per capita is Rio de Janeiro.  They city with the highest number of psychoanalysts per capita is Buenos Aires.  It would seem that many preconceptions regarding "America" apply most readily to the southern half of the continent.



That's very true.  Having grown up surrounded by that mentality was quite


----------



## Structaural (Sep 13, 2006)

hahaha - that's quite funny ..
Did you know Oprah Winfrey once won the 1971 Miss Fire Prevention title? and Raquel Welch came second in the Miss Southern California Pageant (surely not), and Imelda Marcos was Miss Manilli in 1953?


----------



## Thora (Sep 13, 2006)

phildwyer said:
			
		

> They always have the local beauty queen on a float in the Holiday Week parade down my way in South Wales.


True - I remember entering the Butterfly Princess competition for our town's carnival when I was about 6.  There were several categories of royalty iirc; Carnival Queen for the older teens and adults, Carnival Princess for the 10 to 14 year olds, and Butterfly Princess and Prince for the pre-teen children.  I guess the difference is that it seems to be on a much larger scale in the US.  I didn't win btw.  I wasn't even one of the Princess's attendants


----------



## Gavin Bl (Sep 13, 2006)

editor said:
			
		

> Err, the reason I brought this up is because I'm currently putting together a photo report from the 2005 Nation's Day Veterans Parade in NYC.
> 
> Right in the middle of all the vets comes spinning along 'Miss All Star United States Pageant, National All American Girl,' waving away from an open top car.
> 
> ...



to be fair to lyra, you didn't mention the photo report in your first post, and it did have a whiff of 'crazy' America about it - even if it was unintentional.


----------



## catrina (Sep 13, 2006)

I think the pantomime is downright bizarre...


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 13, 2006)

editor said:
			
		

> So it's got fuck all to do with any supposed 'prejudice' towards America, just a comment on how different - and at times downright bizarre - the place is.



A quirky place, no doubt, but what country is free of quirks?

Morris dancing comes to mind...


----------



## editor (Sep 13, 2006)

Johnny Canuck2 said:
			
		

> A quirky place, no doubt, but what country is free of quirks?
> 
> Morris dancing comes to mind...


It's quirky aright but it takes place on a much, much, much smaller scale than American beauty pageants.


----------



## pinkmonkey (Sep 13, 2006)

editor said:
			
		

> It's quirky aright but it takes place on a much, much, much smaller scale than American beauty pageants.



I don't think we expect Morris Dancers to have perfect teeth or tits either.....

http://www.rathergood.com/morris_dancers/


----------



## ska invita (Sep 14, 2006)

any one seen Pageant Girls on MTV/TMF? Disgusting display of stupidity and often excessive amounts of money - great tv, natch.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Sep 14, 2006)

editor said:
			
		

> It's quirky aright but it takes place on a much, much, much smaller scale than American beauty pageants.



The US is a large country. Beauty pageants are a small part, and the vast majority find them just as weird as you or I do.


----------



## editor (Sep 14, 2006)

Johnny Canuck2 said:
			
		

> The US is a large country. Beauty pageants are a small part, and the vast majority find them just as weird as you or I do.


As far as I know, the US is the only country in the world that has a "commercial beauty pageant industry that organizes thousands of local and regional events for all ages for profit, supporting magazines like Pageantry and Pride of Pageantry, the online epiczine.com, Pageant News Bureau, and The Crown Magazine, and a host of retailers of everything from tiaras to cosmetic surgery."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty_pageant


----------



## Firky (Sep 14, 2006)

I post to this subscribers only photography forum - one sub-section is called 'people and portraits'. The content of which seems to be at least 70% children, its a bit eary...someone posted a whole series of photos he had taken of children in America dressed up as 'wee Irishmen'. The photos of a beauty pageant in Arizona IIRC struck me as a crossing the line - as most of the kids had been 'beautified' and were wearing bikinis and swim suits with fake busts. They were about 5 years old ffs 

They should hold them in Nigeria. Incite a fatwa against the parents!


----------



## AnnO'Neemus (Sep 15, 2006)

Check out the film Little Miss Sunshine, about a dysfunctional family's road trip across the US to enable their daughter to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine contest. 

The pageant scenes are  

But it's a brilliantly funny film.


----------



## D (Sep 17, 2006)

AnnO'Neemus said:
			
		

> Check out the film Little Miss Sunshine, about a dysfunctional family's road trip across the US to enable their daughter to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine contest.
> 
> The pageant scenes are
> 
> But it's a brilliantly funny film.



You beat me to the recommendation - fantastic film!

Also check out the play Colorado by Peter Nachtrieb - www.impacttheater.com - loosely inspired by the Jean-Benet Ramsey murder, but much, much funnier


----------



## anotherTzone (Sep 22, 2006)

I saw a program on TV years ago where pushy parents dress their kids up like adults and smear make up all over them. Pretty damn sad. The next batch of messed up teenagers on their way.


----------



## J77 (Oct 20, 2006)

America loves competition in any form.

Don't you watch MTV: True Life ?


----------

