Growing up, my views on pageantry were heavily influenced and distorted by shows like “Toddlers and Tiaras”. Like most of America, I did not take pageants seriously. They appeared to be an opportunity for young girls to dress up like adults and parade themselves in front of judges and a room full of competitive parents. In the end, the “best” girl would win and take home a crown.
From an outsider’s perspective, this all seems incredibly vain and slightly odd for little girls to participate in. However, after a year of competing in pageant competitions myself, I have formed a completely different opinion on the activity.
A major misconception of pageantry (or even activities like modeling) is that it is not very hard, therefore, it is not worthy of much respect. However, as a new pageant-girly, I am writing to disprove such ignorant thoughts about an extracurricular that I now hold dear to my heart.
Like football, basketball or soccer, pageantry might as well be a sport. Not only does it bring out my competitive side, but it also teaches me all of the life skills and lessons that the average sport is known to teach its subjects. In fact, I’ll even argue that pageantry teaches girls more.
For example, confidence and self-esteem is automatically boosted in pageant competitions. To do well, a young lady must show that she cares for herself. It takes a lot of guts to comfortably strut on stage in heels and a gown for a full audience to silently watch, but after competing for a while, girls really do get the hang of it. In addition, pageants focus heavily on public speaking and interviewing skills. Once again, it takes a lot of guts to get on stage and share your personal introduction with a room full of people. Likewise, connecting with judges and answering questions on the spot is also a skill that pageant girls learn to nail.
If anything, pageants help young women accomplish more and overcome fears that most of the general public refuses to face. Therefore, pageantry should be much more respected than it currently is because girls leave their pageant experience with increased knowledge, skills and more confidence than when they originally started.