Should I enter my daughter in this pageant?

Question by Amy Cooper: Should I enter my daughter in this pageant?
So, my name is Amy. My daughter Karabelle is seven, and I’m thinking about entering her in a beauty pageant. She wants to do it, and it seems wholesome, but I’m worried it might damage her self-esteem. I’ll explain.

So, the other day Karabelle and I were at the children’s library borrowing some Junie B. Jones books. We were passing the giant bulletin board, and Karabelle pointed out a poster. It was advertising the 3rd Annual Easter Magic Pageant. Kara asked about it, and asked if she could be in it. There was an email for further details thing, so I said I’d email the person and find out a bit more about it and maybe she could.

So, I emailed the person saying that my daughter was interested and we wanted to see what it was about, etc.

Anyway, I got an email back from a woman named Catherine, who said she was the Pageant Director(I assume that means she’s in charge of the pageant?) and owner of Treasures Pageants(the pageant company hosting the pageant).

So, she said all the standard things, you know “We’re so glad you’re interested, we’re all about building girl’s self esteem and confidence, etc.” She said that it was a natural pageant, not a glitz one. Which means that it was like, a dress from Walmart and a bit of makeup, not like something off of Toddlers and Tiaras.

So, then she explained the age divisions.

There was ages 2-3, Baby Miss ages 4-6, Tiny Miss, ages 7-9, Little Miss, ages 10-12, Junior Miss, and ages 13-16, Miss.

The categories they have are Modeling(a normal dress from, like, Walmart and some makeup) Costumes(You know, like Halloween. Cowgirl, fairy, clown, etc.), Talent(dancing, singing, baton twirling, magic, etc.) and Easter Wear(anything Easter).

They don’t have a swimsuit contest or anything like that.

She said the pageant was going to be at the local church which they’d rented for the day. The pageant was 10am-4pm on the Saturday before Easter. They aren’t a Christian group. This is more a community thing. We live in a pretty small town. The cost to enter was $ 50.

As for prizes, here they are.

EACH AGE DIVISION…

They call the entire age division onstage, and give prizes to the winners.

You can win for Best Talent, Best Easter Wear, or Best Costume. If you win that, you get a trophy that says (Insert Age Division) Best (Insert Talent, Costume, etc.) Plus, you get to pick out a prize from the Prize Table(Barbies, Polly Pockets, Toy Animals and Disney Movie DVDs for the younger ones, CDs, Jewelry, and Books for the older ones).

And each age division has a Princess. After they give out the trophies, they name the Princess. You can win a trophy and still be Princess. If you win Princess, it means you get a larger trophy, a tiara, and a sash that say (Insert Age Division) Princess 2011. You also get to pick a prize.
If you win Princess, you DO NOT PULL THROUGH for a Supreme title.

SUPREME….

They call the ten girls they considered for Supreme onto the stage, and call up the three winners.

Mini Supreme (A tiara, a big trophy, and a sash that says “Easter Magic Pageant Mini Supreme 2011)
Grand Supreme(Same as above, only the sash says Grand Supreme instead of Mini Supreme)
Ultimate Grand Supreme(HUGE tiara, HUGE(I mean like two foot tall) trophy, sash like the others only with Ultimate Grand Supreme, and a giant(like, six foot tall) teddy bear.

Plus, all ten girls get to pick a prize off the Prize Table whether or not they won.

Plus, after the pageant they give all the contestants a loot bag with candy, so no-one leaves empty-handed.

Karabelle really wants to do it. I think it sounds mostly wholesome, but I don’t want to hurt her self-esteem in any way. So, if it were your daughter would you enter her? Or would you be worried about her being sad if she lost or her self-esteem being damaged?

Best answer:

Answer by Aesa is Chasin’ Mason!
I read the first line… Don’t expect anyone else to read more than that… my answer to this question is always no.

What do you think? Answer below!