It's a fact that beauty pageants are pretty damn divisive. Some people see them as just being harmless good fun and a competitive activity that encourages people to be their best selves, while others regard them as being sexist and patronising festivals that only serve to objectify women. Even more controversial are child beauty pageants, in which kids compete in tournaments, wearing costumes and performing for adults, so we can determine which one is the cutest. Many people, especially viewers of the infamous TLC reality TV show Toddlers in Tiaras, love child beauty pageants, while others find them weird, gross, and think they sexualise children.
But one pageant mom who might have arguably taken things way too far is 28-year-old Sami Bushell. Sami, who hails from Doncaster in England, has gotten a lot of flak for her parenting since she loves to beautify her five-year-old daughter Hallie Mai with expensive clothes, fake tan and makeup. Although many have criticised her for making her daughter wear cosmetics, Sami thinks that it is her right as a mother, and she claims that she has no intention of heeding her detractors.
Sami claims that, from an early age, her daughter turned her nose up and plain clothes like jeans and t-shirts, and prefers a bit more elegance. Now Sami spends more than $6,000 a year on glamorous outfits, which includes a Louis Vuitton handbag and Ralph Lauren tops.
Commenting on her daughter's glamorous life, Sami stated: "Everything is very skimpy and over the top. It’s very blingy and glitzy, but pageants are a controlled environment. It’s not like anyone can just walk in and sit and watch. It’s all innocent fun. When people ask me about pageants, some turn their nose up and start being funny. They think I parade Hallie Mai in skimpy outfits and fake tan and give her fake hair."
She added: "I say to the negative people that Hallie Mai loves pageants and she loves the tan, makeup and outfits and she’s very strong-willed. If she didn’t want to do it she’d run off stage. I don’t force her – she goes on her own and loves it ... She’s not your typical pageant girl. If she doesn’t want to do it she will kick off. We get stick, but it’s part of pageant life. Hallie loves it, she loves getting crowns and medals. I do what I want and if people don’t like it they don’t have to look."
Okay, so I don't personally agree that daubing your preschooler daughter in makeup and making her strut on a catwalk is necessarily a good idea, but there's not a lot that anyone can do about it. Although I don't think that Sami is going any harm, and it's not polite to tell people how to raise their kids, I'm pretty sure that this whole thing is going to be pretty awkward when Hallie Mai is older.
