Brooke Breedwell, Former Child Pageant Star, Reveals She Despised That Life And Warns Parents Against It
PSYCHOLOGY
Brooke Breedwell, Former Child Pageant Star, Reveals She Despised That Life And Warns Parents Against It
Child beauty pageants are a massive industry, which is frowned upon by many, but still flourishes to this day. Approximately 250,000 children compete in these pageants with hope to win the coveted crown. But what does this world of glitz and glamour does to a child and, most importantly, are they doing it for themselves or their parents?
Former child pageant contestant shares her terrible experience
Brooke Breedwell never had a say in what her young life was going to be. Her mom put her in her first beauty contest when she was only 6 months old. By the age of 5 she had won 75 crowns.
But despite dominating the competitions, Brooke’s hatred for the pageants grew bigger with each day. Even when she was little, she knew she hated doing it. The preparations were hard, and being forced into it by her mom didn’t help. As Breedwell told The Sun:
I absolutely hated the make-up, the hairspray and fake teeth. But most of all I hated being forced to go on the tanning bed and I would cry every time. That was three times a week for 20 minutes at a time.
For her it was torture. While Brooke wanted to be playing with other kids outside, she had to perfect her routine and sit still while being glammed up.
Her wardrobe was full of sequins and colorful dresses, which could’ve been a dream of many young girls, but Brooke was living her nightmare:
I didn’t really care what I wore, but Mum knew the more money, time and effort we put into pageants, the more we’d win and she just bought me more and more stuff.
Breedwell constantly felt the pressure because her mom was spending thousands on her outfits, all for her baby girl to be the prettiest and win all crowns.
But Brooke didn’t want to win. She loathed what she was doing, but was too little to be able to tell her mother to stop.
With her father’s support, Brooke was able to balance out the insecurities beauty pageants gave her and can function as a normal adult. She is, however, grateful for the bonding time she had with her mom during long preparations.
And about whether Brooke would let her kids enter the glamour world, she has only one thing to say:
But one thing I can guarantee is if I do have children, they will never see the nasty world of glitz and glam as there’s no way I would ever allow my daughter to enter pageants. I know more than anyone how they can ruin your life.
This story proves that beauty pageants can be harmful to young girls. They can create false insecurities and damage the child’s psyche. It’s better to think twice before choosing this life for your kids.