I think most people (in the UK at least) find the 'extreme' pagaents in the USA where young girls are dolled up in grown up outfit and tons of make up a bit over the top.
Obviously, I thoroughly object to these no matter how much 'fun' the girls are suppoesdly having because from what I've seen, it's generally an extention of their mother's overwhelming desire for attention and approval. It's a competition based purely on appearance, no matter how much they bring 'talent' into the contest and claim it to be otherwise. IMO it's just not right to dress girls up, make them parade about with creepy and over-exaggerated expressions, apply extraordinary amounts of make up, as well as about 10 litres of fake tan!
However, on a lesser scale, I'm also bothered by things like newspaper-run 'bonny baby' type competitions. I know a lot of people do it for the free/ cheap professional potos which I think is absolutely fine, but the idea of my child making the final and then people comparing her to 4 other children to pick the cutest makes me feel a bit nauseated.
The reason I ask if I'm BU is because there's a fairly large 'beautiful baby' competition beng run in our area, and several people have suggested that my daughter is lovely enough to make the final.
I'd never really given it any thought, but the idea of my little girl being judged for her looks at such an early age (even if she's not aware and it's quite light-hearted) made me feel horrible.
What do you all think?