Pageant tapeworm

The child pageant world is something unique for the US, I think. In Belgium, we do have beauty contests like most states, but it would be unthinkable to host one for toddlers and children over here. Or even in any other European country. The public would simply not allow it.

I've seen quite some episodes of 'Toddlers and tiara's' and 'Little miss perfect'. Why? Because it FASCINATES me. I know it's brain-killing crap, but whenever I see one, I simply can't look away. The glitter! The fakeness! The over-the-top materialism, child worshipping and shallowness! But never was I prepared for some of the people and some of those dancing routines... In general, I feel a bit uneasy whenever an episode is over. I feel we should all question if shows like these should be broadcasted in the first place. But then again... Flippers! Fake tans! Pixie sticks! ...Wait, what?
Some of the stuff filmed during those events are so brainkilling that we simply don't question it anymore. When the first pageant I saw on that show was over, I felt so indifferent about it I didn't really care. I think we all have this reflex from time to time. It did shock me at first, and I was surprised how fast this reaction faded into some sort of sad acceptance. I was more upset when I found out that in the United States, this sugar-coated crap is broadcasted on 'The learning channel'. The irony.

Now, I know not all pageants are 'full glitz', but I've never seen a show with toddlers competing while looking like themselves. I think another type of parents visits those. But since I don't know that, I won't be discussing these.

I found 2 articles recently about highly disturbing behaviour from some of those pageant moms. First, I really believe you are being a bad parent if you allow (or better, make) your kid enter such contests. I'm all for being expressive and having hobbies and being a social child an whatnot. This is not what those pageants are about. They evolve around some psycho, arrogant, shallow, materialistic 'mothers' who would do anything to put their little bundle of joy in the spotlights. Nothing ever is too much for those lovely little princesses. The child happily responds to all those 'gifts' and 'opportunities' by morphing into a spoiled, dumb, vain and irritating child who has no idea what the real world is about. Gee, thanks mom!


Let's start off with something so disturbing, only a real glitz pageant mom could come up with. One of these perfect examples of female empowerment managed to let her child eat tapeworm eggs so she would lose weight (article).

What the flying f*? The article talks about the victim being a teenager and not a toddler, but for me this doesn't make any difference. I wouldn't be surprised if this piece of crap waited for her daughter to be older so she would less likely die from it. Either way, she was forced. People used to die from these parasites, but luckily they don't appear much anymore because of better hygiene and such. So this woman drove to Mexico to buy the eggs. This child must be really lucky, having a mother going such lengths for her to win the pageant.

My uncle used to be a cook, and he loved the taste of raw meat, so he often just sliced off a piece of steak and ate it. Guess what, he got a tapeworm. Parasites like that aren't really hard to get rid off, so he got some antibiotics, the thing died and left through the normal exit. Why am I telling you this? Because after the tapeworm left the building, he kept it conserved in formaldehyde. (Most people find it creepy or disgusting but I would have done exactly the same.) I really don't want to know how that happened but I've seen the little demon. And with 'little' I mean about 4 metres/13 feet. This was considered a normal one. And by normal I don't just mean the lenght. My uncle got it in a normal way, by some eggs in raw meat. This girl probably got dozens of eggs force fed by her mommy. She had multiple tapeworms. I really don't want to imagine that.

I can, on some level, understand why pageant moms pump up their children with sugar. I don't agree with this behaviour at all, but since we are all so desensitized for crap like that, I'm not even getting started about it. This shht, however, has nothing to do with being an obsessive mother. It's psychotic behaviour. I hope something is done, I really hope they put this woman in jail. I think no one has the right to separate parents from children, but this creature is not a parent. Just like more and more people out there are not parents.
Not only did this girl suffer physically, just imagine the emotional pain she must have been through. Feeding your kid a goddamn parasite isn't something you just do overnight. I'm sure a lot of terror and fights preceded this. Going such lenghts to make your daughter win means she did other drastic things in the past, too.

One thing I noticed while I saw some Toddlers and Tiaras episodes, is that weight loss is never really discussed. But it must be an issue, since (almost?) none of the contestants above the age of 8-9 are chubby. You would expect at least some kids with a few extra pounds, especially since children that age normally don't follow diets. But it's never mentioned. It must be an issue, tho. The pageant world combined with crazy, deluded moms makes a perfect combination for eating disorders. I guess mommy just looked at the worms as a solution when diet pills and other methods didn't satisfy her. You evil, manipulating, sick excuse for a mother.


On to the next article describing the loads of garbage this pageant world inhabits.This one covers that, surprise surprise, a lot of pageant 'moms' could be suffering from a mental condition. They call it 'princess by proxy', considered to be a unique form of Münchhausen by proxy (article). People with Münchhausens, mostly mothers, pretend their child is sick in order to get attention. They will fake diseases and lab results, lie about symptoms or even harm the child. It's also one of the main causes for sudden infant death syndrome.

I don't know whether this is really the issue or not, maybe it needs more research. But it does make sense to me. The tapeworm tale sure fits the pattern.
Also, I can't picture why else you would make your child dress up like a whore and make her dance suggestively. The fact that a big portion of these 'moms' could be sick, should ease the pain but it doesn't. The effects for so many children are still the same. So why is this still being broadcasted?


These 'beauty contests' embody everything that's wrong with the world these days. A completely distorted image of beauty. Over the top materialism. Child worshipping. Ignorance and the dumbing down of society. A total lack of moral and values.
But it grows on ya. Television is numbing our feelings and lowering our standards. Instead of questioning the things we see, we keep on watching them until we forget the question, so we don't need an answer anymore. And god, are they sneaky? Because we all want to see who wins and even more, who loses. In cases such as this, the hypnotizing effect of meaningless and shallow television programs is fully visible. And it's scary. It's as scary as my uncles tapeworm.


Mary Jane
pissedofpenguin@gmail.com