Cape Town - A move by the French government to prevent beauty pageants for girls under the age of 16 had mixed reaction in South Africa.
The French Senate has voted to ban beauty contests for young girls because of the “hyper-sexualisation” of children. The move was reportedly prompted by a controversial Vogue magazine photo shoot featuring a 10-year-old girl in December 2010.
Gender Links wants pageants for girls under 16 to be banned for sexualising them “too early”.
The gender equality organisation’s deputy chief executive Kubi Rama said: “It perpetuates the myth that a woman’s value is linked to her body.”
She said beauty pageants did not help the cause of trying to challenge stereotypes.
“I don’t believe young girls should be exposed so early on. There is something fundamentally wrong when it places such value on appearance,” she said.
The owner of Funky Models Linda Way, agreed with Rama. “It’s a fantastic idea and every single country should follow in (France’s) footsteps. A lot of parents live through their children. It’s the terrible competitiveness and pressure that I don’t agree with.”
Way said Funky Models had 120 girls under the age of 16 but she believed modelling should not be the most important thing in a child’s life. “I always say to my parents that modelling comes last. It shouldn’t be so stressful. There is already so much pressure on children. It is all about the approach and about why they’re doing it.”
She said she had been asked to judge beauty pageants in Bellville and Stellenbosch.
Gemini Models owner Frieda van der Walt said she did not have an issue with beauty pageants as long as there was a “natural look”.
“The ideal age for a model is 13-18. I don’t like it when children are used as swimsuit models and wear make-up. It must be more about their personality and the look must be natural,” she said.
Kidz Casting Agency owner Sheila Wallis didn’t think beauty pageants for teenagers should be banned altogether. “I see some parents and children who love it. When I was a kid I loved being on stage.”
But she didn’t agree with agencies charging girls under a certain age to enter beauty contests, neither with it being taken too seriously. - Cape Times