Autism and Pageants

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Hey everyone,

I just saw a rather disturbing TV show about very young children participating in pageants. The one girl seemed quite autistic to me and it looked like torture. It certainly is not pleasant for any child to get their hair distorted like that or to get mascara on their eyelashes, but it seems really harsh to do that to an autistic child. That must be completely overwhelming.

Has anyone ever participated in a pageant? What was it like for you if you did? Do you think the girl named Alexes (the one who starts screaming whenever someone touches her and never looking at anyone) may be autistic? Should it be allowed to let autistic children participate if they obviously don't want to?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIJ4Cv1s ... re=related

Child pageants are child abuse for all children, IMO.

I find it all very disturbing.

I agree with Slave, pageants are child abuse for all kids. These mommies need to get a life!

I think it's child abuse, especially when the child's screaming is their way of trying to tell the parents that they're not into pageants, yet they're still dragged to them. I also think of the Jon Bennet Ramsey case where a pageant participant was murdered in her own home, and her parents were under suspicion when it's probably more likely that a pedophile who saw her at pageants murdered her.

I think it's child abuse, and just sick, unless the child itself actively desires to be there and enjoys it all. I think it's wrong either way - children shouldn't be doing that stuff.

I think that making your child look like a mini-adult by caking them in make-up and then putting them on show like they are dolls or mannequins is pretty disgusting anyway, regardless as to whether or not the child is autistic.

I agree that it is disturbing if two year olds wear fake eyelashes and fake breasts - no matter whether they are autistic or not.

However, there may be children who enjoy all the attention.

Autistic children, on the other hand, are likely to be very distressed by the proceedings. I was having a heart attack watching it on my computer. It seems like criminal child abuse to me and I wonder if parents could and/or should be prohibited from entering their autistic children if it obviously hurts them.

I find it creepy that people are dressing their little girls up in clothes that would be considered "sexy" for grown women. I feel that it's highly inappropriate and completely unfair for the child. I watched toddlers and tiaras once, and two other bothersome things occurred to me about child pageants. One, some of those girls were arrogant and spoiled, and secondly I saw kids drinking energy drinks and coffee, which is really unhealthy for kids.

It's definitely abuse if the child does not like it. Some children are very extroverted though and might like that sort of thing. Personally, I see it as objectifying the child. To me, it seems the mothers are not treating them as people but rather as dolls to be shown off to the rest of the world. I just want to tell them to grow up and realize that you are a mom, not a little girl playing with dolls. It sends the wrong message to the little girl, that the only value she has is as an object for someone to own and show off rather than as a person with her own unique desires and passions. It sort of invalidates the personhood of the girl who is forced to be put on display, ogled and graded like a baseball card or comic book.