Little sunshiney misses

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Arianna Gamber is cute as a button, no doubt.
The four-year-old is all big brown eyes, shy grins and a tomboy haircut.

But when it came to the talent portion for the Little Miss Wyoming pageant regional qualifying round Saturday night, she was not quite sure what was expected of her.
Wearing a leotard, little Arianna danced to music supplied by a pageant organizer. While she had been an unbridled ball of movement skipping across the stage earlier, for her dance number she put her best face forward and for several minutes proceeded to do pliés over and over again.

Nearly all of the would-be Little Misses who gathered in the Jackson Hole High School choir room Saturday night, including Arianna and her little sister, Alexis, were new to the competitive world of child beauty pageants. The girls ranged in age from 18 months to 15 years and had come from Pinedale, Thayne, Wilson and Jackson. One tiny contestant, 18-month-old Shaylee Coomb, slightly resembled a tow-headed Pebbles Flintstone. Shaylee had come from Cheyenne with her youthful-looking parents and three brothers in tow.

The Little Miss Wyoming organization was co-founded in 2006 by Teri Mahaffy. Mahaffy also directs the program and was in Jackson to organize the competition. The competition included an interview, parading about in various outfits and, of course, the talent portion of the evening.

Well, to call the pageant a competition is a bit of a misnomer. While, yes, the girls were given marks accordingly in a number of categories - from eyes and hair to personality and talent - none of the competitors left without a sash and a small crown. Reassuringly, every Little Miss hopeful was a winner Saturday night.

The regional competitions - there are 23 of them in the state - serve more as a feeding program to get girls into the state pageant, which will happen this June in Douglas.
Mahaffy said 80 girls last year came vying for the titles of Tiny Miss Wyoming, Petite Miss Wyoming, Little Miss Wyoming and Preteen Miss Wyoming. Those girls are all invited to compete again this year against 100-something girls who went through the regional events around the state. Mahaffy said she hopes to build a considerable college scholarship foundation for girls in the program, but has a long way to go.

Although this year’s event saw girls from across the state, Mahaffy said Wyoming does have hotbed of pageant interest. That title goes to Rock Springs, she said.

There was some royalty present at Jackson’s qualifier. Among them was reigning Miss Preteen Wyoming Aubrey Noble, who was in from Cheyenne to help emcee the event. Noble said she had only been involved in pageants for less than two years and said it had given her more confidence than she ever had before. At 11 years old, she was engaging, commanded the microphone with poise and, overall, seemed like a well-grounded kid.

Parents of child beauty pageants have been accused of pushing their kids too hard. Some critics have said it’s the parents who want victory more than the girls.
But at least on parent on Saturday night was letting her 4-year-old take the lead.
Arianna’s mom, Nicole Gamber, said it was her daughter’s idea to enter the Jackson spectacle. Does it mark the start of a pageant career?

“For this one it does,” Gamber said, nodding toward Arianna.
Still, what is it with the anachronistic songs that little girls in beauty pageants are, ostensibly, told to sing by some parent or other adult figure?

Take the classic tune “They Say That in the Army” (you know, “Gee ma, I want to go, back to Ontario”). What a vapid song for the 21st millennium. So, think what you will about beauty pageants, but is teaching the participants something about art through better, more thoughtful songs too much to ask for?

Photo ANDREW WYATT
Shaly Kunz greets competitor Karli Swenson as the contestants wait for the beginning of the contest.


PERMALINK:
Little sunshiney misses | Planet JH News Article: General Music Arts and Culture

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