Child Models in Beauty Pageants

Parental Exploitation and the Lure of Universal Royalty

More than 3,000 beauty contests for children are held in the U.S. each year, and the epicenter of the pageants is Texas, where the competition to win a major title on the popular Universal Royalty circuit is fierce. Regan Licciardello, a six-year-old girl who has already accumulated over 400 trophies and 200 crowns, is auditioning in Hollywood for film and TV. Regan stepped into the pageant world on her first birthday.

Regan: I like doing pageants. It's fun! I get to wear pretty dresses and I visit different cities. I've made lots of friends and we keep in touch.

Bonnie: It's said that mothers who take their kids to these contests are living through their daughters. That's not the case with Regan. She's a performer by nature. When she was 3, she would ask, "Momma, do I have a pageant today?" At two, she'd watch a movie and change clothes, shoes and hairstyle with the scene changes.

Regan: I like doing that. I think my friends like it too. Some of them want to have the same dresses I have or the same toys. I think that's cool.

Bonnie: I don't allow Regan to wear fake teeth, but I can't say I'd never allow her to wear them. Dakota Fanning and Regan share the same agent. She recently starred in an adult-themed film Hounddog. Dakota had a rape scene and appeared in her underwear. I wouldn't want to see Regan in any movie that glamorizes drugs, alcohol or sex, but I would have to see the script, how much nudity is involved, and who is directing....

When we first decided to enter Regan, people reminded us of JonBenet Ramsey, dolled up like an adult, staring vacantly into the camera or prancing onstage in her cowgirl outfit. I don't think her involvement in the beauty contest arena had anything to do with her tragic murder.

Regan goes to kindergarten, watches TV and takes ballet and ice skating. Beauty contests are one of her many hobbies. In every pageant I see kids who hate what they're doing. Those parents only want to win. If to win Regan has to practice more than 30 minutes a day it's not worth it. Besides, she's natural. She loves the stage and the applause.

Regan: The most fun part is the swimsuit modeling. I love walking on stage in my bathing suit because the music is always so happy and fun and everyone is looking at you.

Bonnie: Until six months ago she didn't know she'd lost because beauty contests give other awards -- grand supreme, second mini supreme, second queen of the group, overall most beautiful, etc. She always came home with a prize.

She's won Universal Royalty in Texas 3 times. There are 100 contestants for 10 crowns. Entering the large national pageants out of state costs between up to $2,000. I don't take Regan to small competitions where the girls haven't had modeling lessons, their mothers don't know about hairstyles and make-up and they don't have the right clothes.

Some mothers resent Regan's success and phone ahead to ask if she is coming. Some moms pull a girl off the stage and yell, "You suck." I always tell Regan, "If you are the smartest in the room you cannot learn a thing, but if you're surrounded by people who are smarter you can always learn from them."

Regan: I have fun with my Mom. We usually watch the DVD of my appearances afterward.

Bonnie: Regan is very critical of herself and others. She will say, "Mamma, that girl looked at the floor. In pageants you should always keep your eyes on the judges."I taught her to do it right by marking Xs on the carpet.

Regan chooses the pageants. Sometimes we drive 23 hours to Tennessee for one. She wants to move there. She sees the crown and asks whether she has to be tanned. Often I want to go because the title paid US$10,000, but if she didn't like the crown, no go. She could have done a worldwide commercial for Pampers, but because she was already potty trained she refused, so we didn't do it, despite the fact it paid US$25,000. I have to respect that.