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contest
'Beauty pageants do not sexualise children' says contest organiser
A child beauty pageant organiser who is bringing an American-style version to Ireland this year has hit back against criticism, stating these competitions have been in the US for over fifty years.
AMERICAN ORGANISERS ARE set to stage a child beauty contest in Ireland in September. The event is reportedly going to cost within the region of €20,000.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast this morning the pageant organiser, Annette Hill denied that pageants, such as the one she is organising, sexualises young children.
She said they are not looking at children in such a way, “so if you’re doing it, then that is disturbing and disgusting. We’ve been around for eighteen years. Don’t you think if we were sexualising kids, someone would have said something by now?”
Long legacy in the States
She said while it my be a new concept to Ireland, beauty pageants have been in America for the last fifty years.
Ms Hill, from Texas, organises the “Universal Royal Beauty Pageant” a beauty pageant that is open to both girls and boys, with one heat of the competition having the children wear swimwear.
In 2011, the ISPCC said it would not be in support of child beauty pageants and raised concerns about the way in which it may focus on the early sexualisation and appearance of young children. The Barnardos children’s charity echoed these sentiments.
Ms Hill would not reveal the location of where the Irish version of the pageant would be held.
(Via YouTube/MissUniversalRoyalty)
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