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A&E kept me interested this evening with first a show about debutantes and cotillions, then a show on children's beauty pageants, both of which left me thinking.
First of all, about notions of beauty. I can honestly say that I've never seen a pageant participant whom I thought beautiful; maybe it's all the makeup, but most of the girls who make it to the top seem plastic. Not Barbie-type plastic, at least not most of them, but a painstakingly put-together type of attractiveness, like someone following a paint-by-numbers to achieve a specific result. With the little girls, it's even worse, and to my mind there's something very disturbing about seeing a five-year-old strut her stuff, swinging her non-existant hips with her hair teased up and out to be bigger than she is. And the mothers! Yeah, I'm sure swearing and ranting about how the judges are biased, how it's so unfair, in front of your young daughter is going to allow her to grow up into a balanced young woman. What are they thinking?
Regarding the debutantes, it struck me that while the girls (aged about 17 to 21, at least the ones featured) seemed normal enough, reacting as any girl would if she had a bunch of parties to attend in fancy dresses, not a one of them had any real grace. I've known what cotillions are for a long time, but in my mind they always represented upper-class snobbery and elegance, where young women would go to act like princesses and show themselves off, holding their head high. I suppose this represents the reallity of the thing, but you'd expect people who are ready to spend a thousand dollars on their daughter's debutante gown to pay for someone to teach her how to stand and walk properly, no? It's something I notice all the time, actually, women wearing clothes without knowing how to wear them. I mean, if you wear Cinderalla's ball gown, stand like that tiara is covered with real diamonds! (Though I guess I shouldn't judge, considering that I walk like a guy most of the time. When I don't, it's usually because my shoes or my skirt hamper proper striding -- it'd be interesting to be able to see myself and how I wear my clothes.)
Another thing that struck me is that for all the money those dresses must have cost, several of the girls were wearing unflattering cuts. Strapless is popular, nowadays, but it really isn't for everyone (myself included) and if you can't stand for an hour in your shoes, find another pair! Those wimps couldn't even stand in the receiving line for an hour and a half, they were bouncing around to ease their cramped muscles and a few had even taken off their shoes. I'd have thought that was the first no-no at such an event.
First of all, about notions of beauty. I can honestly say that I've never seen a pageant participant whom I thought beautiful; maybe it's all the makeup, but most of the girls who make it to the top seem plastic. Not Barbie-type plastic, at least not most of them, but a painstakingly put-together type of attractiveness, like someone following a paint-by-numbers to achieve a specific result. With the little girls, it's even worse, and to my mind there's something very disturbing about seeing a five-year-old strut her stuff, swinging her non-existant hips with her hair teased up and out to be bigger than she is. And the mothers! Yeah, I'm sure swearing and ranting about how the judges are biased, how it's so unfair, in front of your young daughter is going to allow her to grow up into a balanced young woman. What are they thinking?
Regarding the debutantes, it struck me that while the girls (aged about 17 to 21, at least the ones featured) seemed normal enough, reacting as any girl would if she had a bunch of parties to attend in fancy dresses, not a one of them had any real grace. I've known what cotillions are for a long time, but in my mind they always represented upper-class snobbery and elegance, where young women would go to act like princesses and show themselves off, holding their head high. I suppose this represents the reallity of the thing, but you'd expect people who are ready to spend a thousand dollars on their daughter's debutante gown to pay for someone to teach her how to stand and walk properly, no? It's something I notice all the time, actually, women wearing clothes without knowing how to wear them. I mean, if you wear Cinderalla's ball gown, stand like that tiara is covered with real diamonds! (Though I guess I shouldn't judge, considering that I walk like a guy most of the time. When I don't, it's usually because my shoes or my skirt hamper proper striding -- it'd be interesting to be able to see myself and how I wear my clothes.)
Another thing that struck me is that for all the money those dresses must have cost, several of the girls were wearing unflattering cuts. Strapless is popular, nowadays, but it really isn't for everyone (myself included) and if you can't stand for an hour in your shoes, find another pair! Those wimps couldn't even stand in the receiving line for an hour and a half, they were bouncing around to ease their cramped muscles and a few had even taken off their shoes. I'd have thought that was the first no-no at such an event.
