Toddlers and Tiaras: Breaking the Stereotype?

clipped from arkansasmatters.com The beauty pageant circuit is a multi-billion dollar industry and approximately 300,000 children compete in them every year. Recent shows highlight the glitz and glam of some of these pageants and sometimes draw criticism about their appropriateness. But some pageant goers say it's not all like that. In Conway today it was the preliminaries for the Cinderella pageant-one they call all natural. The girls are discouraged from wearing make-up, hair pieces or from tanning. They compete in their Sunday best and in casual wear. And as the economy has weakened some say these pageants are the only alternative to the big bucks required at the glitzier shows. Many of the contestants today have competed in only a few pageants. Parents say the Cinderella pageant can sometimes be a stepping stone to the glitz pageants we see on TV but a number of moms say they'd draw the line before it went too far.