If you watch an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras you will learn everything you need to about child beauty pageants, and yes, they are horrid. These parents will spend huge sums of money on costumes and entry fees so that their little darlings can compete in pageants. The parents are obviously living vicariously through the accomplishments of their children and are overly dependent on their child winning.The mothers will do anything so that their child can win, they give the girls spray tans, fake teeth, fake hair, fake eyelashes and costumes costing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Many of the girls act like spoiled brats, they know their mother will let them do anything as long as they perform. Pretty jealousies and fueds are common among the mothers, and some of them have a melt down if their child doesn't do as well as they hoped. Some of these parents are barely making ends meet, but will spend enough money to have put their child through college, in the end all they have to show for it is a room full of trophies and Tiaras.
I would love to see a follow-up in ten years to see how these girls end up.