January 9, 2002

4:36 PM

Whatever happened to "Thank Heaven for Little Girls"?: A regional Miss France contestant, disqualified for having her spine stretched so she'd meet the pageant's 1.72-meter height requirement, is now demanding that the winner be measured to determine whether she's tall enough. If women are to be judged by such arbitrary standards, why not give extra points to those who are willing to submit to surgical enhancement to conform to the ideal?
posted by nathanstack (9 comments total)

why not give extra points to those who are willing to submit to surgical enhancement to conform to the ideal?

I agree. Make them really want it.
posted by holloway at 4:44 PM on January 9, 2002

That's just a sick idea.
posted by Red58 at 4:52 PM on January 9, 2002

The song (Thank Heaven for Little Girls) by Maurice Chavalier (sp>) seems a bit suspect these days, non?
posted by Postroad at 4:53 PM on January 9, 2002

_________ Must Be At Least This Tall To Enter
posted by moss at 5:02 PM on January 9, 2002

I'm curious. Does anybody know if the height requirement is their because there is a Miss Universe height requirement, and this allows Miss France to be competitive, or is this just an arbitrary height requirement for the Miss France pageant? Articles like this make me glad I'm not beautiful, but very sad at the same time.
posted by chemgirl at 6:10 PM on January 9, 2002

The song (Thank Heaven for Little Girls) by Maurice Chavalier (sp>) seems a bit suspect these days, non?

Well, non. Because "they grow up in the most delightful ways". That song is actually quite patronizing and rude towards little girls in its all-out celebration of fully-formed women. But thanks for cranking up the Gigi soundtrack now running through my brain, postroad!

Your comment brings up an important point, I think. My reaction is: why should we let the paedophiles dictate what is or isn't OK to like? Just because some people are sick in the head doesn't mean we should change our behaviour with children.

We should cuddle them, pinch and punch them, generally josh around with them as much as we like. It's very much like the "if you insist on living in a bungalow, terrorists have won" argument.

I remember, in the U.K. Esther Rantzen, I think it was, started this "Child Line" campaign, where abused children could phone the organization and be helped. Around that time a lot of well-meaning BS appeared - for example, for how many seconds you could cuddle your own daughter or son before it became "suspect" - which I think has since subsided.

Imagine keeping Alan Jay Lerner's wonderful lyrics at arm's length just because of the child molesters! Jamais!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:23 PM on January 9, 2002

I saw a programme once about child beauty pageants in the USA. The whole idea made me wonder, "what are the parents, organisers and audience thinking?" Nothing could have summed up the cultural divide better than that documentary.

In comparison, adult beauty pageants, no matter how demeaning, seem almost sane.
posted by salmacis at 2:24 AM on January 10, 2002

salmacis - that was one of the observations in the 'controversial' brass eye 'paedo-geddon' programme.
the scene in question showed the actor kevin eldon as the proud father of a little child beauty pageant wannabe, overjoyed at his daughter's new fake breasts.
posted by asok at 5:44 AM on January 10, 2002

While the Miss Universe site doesn't seem to have the rules posted, the Miss Tennesee USA site does, and I imagine they're the same; it's all under the same umbrella. There's nothing about height, just age. Taller women tend to do better at pageants, or at least there is the perception that they do, so maybe that's why France is so picky.

Oh, no, I'm older than 27 -- I'm no longer beautiful? Damn! Guess I won't buy that new swimsuit.
posted by JanetLand at 11:42 AM on January 10, 2002