France debating ban on childhood beauty pageants

[NewYorkExpress]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/july-dec13/frenchpageants_12-21.html

[Frodo]

Good -they should be banned. Children should be free just to be children. 

[Cory]

Good -they should be banned. Children should be free just to be children. 

[Zioneer]

Good -they should be banned. Children should be free just to be children. 

[Stranger in a strange land]

Good -they should be banned. Children should be free just to be children. 

[Antonio the Sixth]

Good -they should be banned. Children should be free just to be children. 

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Good -they should be banned. Children should be free just to be children. 

[Mopsus]

The mother in the article pointed out that children's beauty pageants in France aren't as perverse as the ones in the United States. If true, I can't really go so far as to support banning them (I'm not sure that I would even support banning the "beauty" pageants held over here). Keep in mind that I'm saying this as someone who is in no way a fan of this sort of thing and would never attend one of these events.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I can see banning those for the very young, say those under age 7, and restrictions on those aimed at the under 13 set.  But it sounds like the contests currently held in France would be acceptable under the sorts of restrictions I'd be willing to support.

[Horus]

Not often I find myself taking the more socially authoritarian position on an issue, but like with homeschooling, I must say...

Good -they should be banned. Children should be free just to be children.  

[PJ]

Agree with the empty quoting pyramid, one of my rare SoCon stances.

[DINGO Joe]

If this ruins the "Honey Boo Boo goes to Paris" special, I'll be furious.

[H. Ross Peron]

Good -they should be banned. Children should be free just to be children. 

[minionofmidas]

Certainly infinitely more reasonable than prostitution bans and whatnot.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Certainly infinitely more reasonable than prostitution bans and whatnot.

There is a case to made that beauty pageants, especially the ones that focus upon sexual beauty, are a form of visual prostitution appealing to the prurient interest.

[Rocky Rockefeller]

Thank God! They need to go.

[Hatman 🍁]

As horrible as they are, I can't see a reason to ban them outright. Perhaps have them heavily regulated to protect the children?

Also, I wasn't aware that this was popular in France of all places.

[Zanas]

As horrible as they are, I can't see a reason to ban them outright. Perhaps have them heavily regulated to protect the children?

Also, I wasn't aware that this was popular in France of all places.

It's not. I've never heard of that debate, and I live in France. And I've never heard about such a pageant actually taking place here. I mean, there probably are, but very very few.

So it's a case of Flanby waving a consensual proposition to distract everybody from his awful grasp on everything else.

[Hash]

So it's a case of Flanby waving a consensual proposition to distract everybody from his awful grasp on everything else.

Yeah, it's the usual distract-the-masses strategy from the PS, a load of bullsh**t. These things are obviously horrible but it'd be cooler if this government say, I don't know, cracked down on xenophobia and racism? Oh, wait, the interior minister is a racist turd himself!