Meet the queens (and tots) breaking beauty pageant stereotypes

Miss Universe and programmes like Toddlers and Tiaras have done little to restore our faith in the industry, objectifying women, sexing-up children in itsy-bitsy costumes and actively encouraging cattiness and fakery.

No stranger to US reality shows following living dolls hair-pulling their way to victory, Jade Dando had firmly ruled out ever making the cut at a pageant. Curvy and barely grazing these towering beauties’ shoulders at just 5ft, the 17-year-old did not fit the type. Or so she thought. But the pageant scene at home was a different kettle of fish entirely. In a spur of the moment decision, she entered Miss Swindon two years ago armed with her prom dress, cheery disposition, and a mascara wand. She made runner-up. Soon, she was competing further afield, totting up titles including numerous Miss Charisma awards (what Americans would call Miss Congeniality), and – as per pageant guidelines – raising funds for worthy causes.

“When I entered at the time it was a big secret, I had only told my parents and a couple of friends,” confides Jade, now 19, from Royal Wootton Bassett. “My parents didn’t understand but they supported me. There is such a stigma around pageants. People have this stereotype, all they see is Miss America and Toddlers and Tiaras but this pageant was so different from what I had seen on TV. Yes, just a few years ago Miss England was properly about beauty but things have moved on now. Pageants are much more about personality, confidence and your charity work as well.”

In fact to prove her point she launched her own pageant, Miss Sparkling Beauty, in May. Contestants ranged from four to 60 years old.

“There is a range of pageants now, for all types of body shapes, sizes and backgrounds,” adds Jade, who is preparing for her final national competition, Face of the Globe in August, before starting university in Falmouth. “Fifty per cent of the UK see pageants in a negative way. Beauty pageants have changed my life. If anything I feel more confident and I wanted to share that with other people.”

There are two very distinct types of pageants. Natural pageants are slightly toned-down and focus far more on personality, poise, charisma – and of course charity work – than physical appearance. Many of them actually forbid children under the age of 12 from wearing a full head of make-up. The American-style Glitz are flashier and more of a free-for-all when it comes to enhancing natural assets with a panoply of acrylic nails, hairpieces and powders. Even so, in the UK, Jade insists, they are far more inclusive and rarely plumb the depths of vanity Glitz does stateside.

Like Jade, Miss Sparkling Beauty judge Hannah Golding entered the pageant world relatively late in the game, at the age of 21. Left a shadow of her former self by an abusive partner, she signed up to Miss Wiltshire in 2010 as a confidence boost. Clad in a cut-price Primark dress, she went on to be named first runner-up. Since then Hannah has won more than 30 titles, including Miss Swindon Galaxy, competed internationally in Paris and in Miss England.

“I’m quite different to your idea of the pageant girl; I’m curvier and I think most of my success has come from my personality, which shows on stage,” says the personal trainer from the town centre. “It’s been liberating being accepted for who I am. And this is where many pageants are going. A lot of them have taken out the swimwear round and removed a lot of the physical side of it, going for the true beauty.”

“But most people don’t know that,” adds the 27-year-old, who has raised more than £10,000 for worthy causes since becoming a beauty queen. “They hear you’re a beauty queen and they think you’re dumb. They see the very Americanised pageants on TV but in Britain it’s nothing like that. I think we’re too reserved here and I don’t think they could ever get to that stage in the UK.”

Adult contests are just one side of the industry. Child pageants are growing and, many pundits argue, at an alarming trend. In some controversial, though not uncommon cases, babies as young as a few months old have been paraded on stage by zealous parents.

Not quite as over-the-top in Britain as they are in the US, there’s no denying their rising popularity, with scores of new pageants lowering the age limit.

Just as with its adult counterpart, the children’s pageant scene is full of contradictions and diverging opinions.

While they see many benefits to entering children in contests, though not babies, Jade and Hannah, have mixed feelings about certain practices and strong views about where the line should be drawn, particularly in the beauty stakes.

“They are children and they still need to be competing as children,” says Jade.

“For me things like fake tan are too much,” adds Hannah. “They should be children, dressing up and having fun.”

Surprisingly, given some of her reservations, Hannah is a professional child pageant trainer. But her reasoning is quite simple: since children pageants are not going anywhere, she wants to be part of the generation that helps mould and steer a constantly-evolving industry in a healthy and fun direction. Determined to make the pageant world as inclusive as possible and broaden its reach, she recently took an eight-year-old boy, Kayden Clarke, under her wing. She now also trains his four-year-old sister Jesslyn, teaching her proper pageant etiquette, poise and winning dance routines.

“You see them grow in confidence and this will help them to go on to bigger and better things,” sums up the 32-year-old.

But the question remains: what kind of parents would enter their children in beauty pageants at such a young age? Kayden and Jesslyn’s mother Scherene admits she did wonder herself until she gave them a try and saw her children thrive on the circuit. In fact confidence is the reason she looked into beauty contests in the first place a few months ago.

“I didn’t want to be one of these crazy mums jumping around in the background reminding their child what to do next,” says Scherene, originally from South Africa. “Kayden goes to Pauline Quirke drama school – he’s so theatrical, he loves it – and I wanted him to get used to being on stage, speak in front of an audience and pageants were a great base to start from.”

Kayden was awarded the top title, Ultimate Grand Supreme in the boys’ category at his first pageant, Supreme Stars, in April.

When Jesslyn asked permission to compete with her brother, Scherene agreed. The little girl was runner-up in her category at Miss Sparkling Beauty and is now preparing for her next pageant. Unlike mothers who allow their children to strut on stage baring their midriffs caked in fake-tan and unsuitably sultry make-up, she enforces strict rules.

“Four is a bit young,” she concedes. “But she saw her brother having fun on stage and she wanted to join in. She is pretty shy so it’s been great for her confidence. It doesn’t have to be about beauty and fake hair.

“Jesslyn gets to wear a little bit of blusher and mascara and gets dressed up. That’s as far as it goes. Some parents choose to give them a spray tan or make them wear tiny bikinis. I personally wouldn’t.” While some parents would be concerned about exposing their children to the excesses of pageantry, Scherene sees the contests and judging element as an opportunity to “prepare them for the real world”.

“It makes them street-wise,” she explains. “Putting your kids away in a room is not going to equip them for life. You’re going to be judged your whole life and I want to help my kids to be resilient. And it’s all about confidence.

“Kids might get bullied at school for being overweight or having ginger hair but the fantastic thing is that it doesn’t matter in pageants. Their looks don’t make them a winner or a loser: it’s their confidence and the way they carry themselves that does. My children learn that beauty comes in all different shapes and sizes.”