Beauty Pageant Vs. Scholarship Pageants

There are so many things I haven't done in my life that I wanted to do.  This one thing is so silly.  When I was little I always wanted to be in a pageant.  I always wanted to be a model.  I have no idea why!  I truthfully never would have gotten on stage in front of all of those people.  I have too much stage fright.  Apparently, that might be one reason to do it. . . to get over that fear.

 

When I was younger the Miss USA pageant was held near my hometown two years in a row and I remember going to the parade to see the contestants.   The very first Miss Teen USA pageant was held in our hometown area also.   Between the fact that I loved watching pageants when I was younger and the fact that I was interested in fashion, seeing the girls pageant dresses was so much fun for me.

 

 It seems like nowadays pageants have become even more popular and a big industry.  There are so many different pageant websites.  The whole pageant thing has me so conflicted.  When you watch them on TV, everyone seems so petty.  And do we really want our daughters thinking that beauty is the only important thing in life?  Of course not!  As always, I'm sure that they only show the most extreme behavior on the TV series. 

 

As much as some people might think that pageants create self-centered, petty little girls, there can  be good that comes from them too.  Many pageants offer college scholarships.  According to pageantcenter.com, these pageants aren't considered beauty pageants, but some other kind of competition.  These competitions usually have other areas of competition such as fitness and others even consider academic achievements.

 

Of course, the most well-known scholarship pageant is the Miss America pageant.  The 2012 winner received $52,000 in scholarship money.  The 1st runner up received $27,000 and the 2nd runner up received $20,000.   The top-10 semifinalists received $7,000, the top-12 semifinalists received $5,000, top-15 received $4,000, and there were even non-finalists who won $3,000.

 

Other scholarship pageants include America's National Teenager and the Cinderella International Scholarship Pageant.  The Cinderella Pageant offers prizes of educational savings bonds, college scholarships and educational trips.   I wasn't able to  find many more pageants in a general search using "how to find scholarship pageants."  It would be better to look for local scholarship pageants.

 

For instance, when I narrowed down my search to Ohio, I found the Miss Coed Pageant (which is national), USA National Miss, Miss High School and Collegiate America Pageant and Princess America Pageant.  Just be  careful.  Some of the entrance or sponsorship fees can be close to $1,000 and the scholarship prize is only $2,000.  So, is it worth it?  If the girls are doing it for the experience, then maybe it's worth it.  If the girls are doing it just to earn scholarship money, there might be a better way.

 

At any rate, I'm not sure how I'd feel if Jaycee wanted to be in a pageant.  If it was a local pageant for a festival or something, I might be okay with it.  But, if it was just to win "beauty" pageants, I wouldn't be okay with it. 

 

Would you ever let your daughter be in a beauty pageant?  What about a scholarship pageant which is more academic and talent-based?

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