I thought after the Jon-Benet Ramsey tragedy we would finally see an end to this beauty pageant/child exploitation nonsense.  Instead, the fad has grown to unbelievable proportions. It's as if the publicity was an eye-opener to every monster mother out there.  They could groom their daughters to be the little beauties they never were. 

One mother on that site said she has spent $60,000 to $70,000 in costumes, fees, travel, etc.  She laughingly said she had spent enough to feed every kid in Botswana (or somewhere equally full of starving kids.).   They're hopeless.

Looks like her mother might have decided she had a unibrow.  Is that blood between the little girl's brows?  I really can't watch it again to find out.

(Yes, it does hurt like hell.  I've only had it done once, and that was enough.  O vanity, damn, that stings!)

Child abuse and neglect are defined by Federal and State laws. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) provides minimum standards that States must incorporate in their statutory definitions of child abuse and neglect. The CAPTA definition of "child abuse and neglect," at a minimum, refers to:

• "Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm"¹

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse is generally defined as "any nonaccidental physical injury to the child" and can include striking, kicking, burning, or biting the child, or any action that results in a physical impairment of the child. In approximately 38 States and American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, the definition of abuse also includes acts or circumstances that threaten the child with harm or create a substantial risk of harm to the child's health or welfare.⁵

Emotional Abuse

Almost all States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands include emotional maltreatment as part of their definitions of abuse or neglect.⁹ Approximately 32 States, the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico provide specific definitions of emotional abuse or mental injury to a child.¹⁰ Typical language used in these definitions is "injury to the psychological capacity or emotional stability of the child as evidenced by an observable or substantial change in behavior, emotional response, or cognition," or as evidenced by "anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or aggressive behavior."

There are guidelines for anyone to read, and I encourage anyone to read them.  But if I happened to be in that beauty shop when that child was being forced to have her eyebrows waxed I would hate myself if I didn't try to intervene.  I'm still horrified by it.  I still think there should be laws on the books against what happened to that little girl.  And if the above doesn't fit, then we need to re-write the laws in order to protect children fully.  My opinion