Child Beauty Pageant - Types

Types

While most beauty pageants cater strictly to girls, there are a growing number that include boys as well. Often, age divisions for boys run through age 6 with very few going beyond that due to lack of participation and public perception. Age divisions will often have names such as "Baby Miss", "Petite Miss", "Little Miss" and more. Age divisions are generally broken as follows: 0-11 Months, 12-23 Months, 2-3 Years, 4-6 Years, 7-9 Years, 10-12 Years, 13-15 Years, 16-18 Years. For boys, sometimes two age divisions would be merged such as 0-3 Years, 4-6 Years, etc.

Depending on which type of pageant system is entered, contestants will spend about two hours or less in actual competition. Typically, pageants have a guideline of "no more than one and a half minutes on stage" per child for beauty/formalwear and other modeling-based events. Talent usually is limited to two minutes or less with the rare exception allowing two and a half to three minutes.

In Glitz pageants, it is expected that girls will have different "routines" for every segment of competition. Routines are composed of different movements sometimes described as "sassy walk" and "pretty feet" and more. Facial expressions can include liberal amounts of "duckface". This style of modeling is often referred to as "Pro-Am Modeling". Big hair (including fake hair), flawless makeup, spray tans, flippers (fake teeth) and nail extensions are also expected of contestants. Glitz pageants may best be described as "anything goes".

In contrast, natural pageants have fairly strict guidelines regarding clothing, makeup, hair extensions, etc. Programs such as National American Miss forbid any makeup other than non-shiny lipgloss and mascara for girls on stage. Modeling style is often referred to "Miss America-Style". Some pageants have a prescribed set of movements while others allow a little more latitude in how girls will use the stage/runway.

All pageants have slightly different guidelines, rules, criteria for what they judge on, and events. Events may include sportswear, swimwear, evening wear, talent, interview, writing skills, and modeling. Children are critiqued on “individuality, capability, poise, and confidence.” They compete to win a variety of prizes, such as electronics, toys, scholarships and grants, cash, tiaras, sashes, robes, and trophies. Trophies can be taller than the contestants themselves; in the “Our Little Miss” pageant, the World level trophies can be 5 to 6 feet tall. Some pageants do their best to make every child feel like a winner. There is a queen for every age division and there are Ultimate Grand Supreme awards, Mini supreme queens for certain blocks of age divisions (0-5, 6-11, 12-16, 17 and up). There are also side awards and overall side awards.

A rising trend in pageantry is the online, specialty or mail-in pageant. Social media sites like Facebook have many photo contest and pageant pages where contestant's photos are judged by how many "likes" they receive. There is even a website devoted to this type of pageant program. Unlike the live/on-stage counterparts, contestants in an online pageant submit an application and photographs/videos for judging. Judging criteria can range from past pageant achievements, numeric scale ratings and essays. Winners may be awarded virtual prizes such downloadable certificates and being featured on a pageant's website or physical prizes and gifts such as tiaras, sashes, medallions, toys and more. Entry fees typically range from $5–80 depending on the type, level and scope (local/state/national/international). Many are seasonal or theme-based. See here for an example. Others may be a counterpart to a live/on-stage event.

Some pageants are a for-profit business venture while others are run as non-profit organizations. Typically, non-profits have low entry fees and sponsor a charity or other humanitarian organization.