Pageants are a sensitive topic. Every time I say I’m a pageant girl, I feel like I have to defend myself to whomever I’m talking to. While I don’t mind explaining that I compete in a natural pageant and it’s nothing like Toddlers and Tiaras, I sometimes wish I could just say it without immediately being judged for it. I’ve gained so much self confidence from competing in pageants. I’ve learned interview skills, gained sportsmanship skills, and learned how to walk in heels. There are so many negative connotations with pageants, but there are so many amazing things that people don’t understand about them as well.

• All pageant girls are air heads
  
  
  • Many pageant systems have academic achievement competitions included, where the girl with the highest grade point average can win additional scholarship money, simply for having high grades. Additionally, I know plenty of pageant girls who are honor students, and have a 4.0 GPA, or pretty close to it. One of my pageant friends who competed for Miss New York this year spends most of her time studying to become a doctor.
    
    
    
    
• We’re all like Honey Boo Boo
  
  
  • This is the first thing people think of when they hear ‘pageant’. However, it’s not true. A dollar doesn’t make us holler, in one way of putting it.
    
    
    
    
• We all have eating disorders
  
  
  • While many of use do have a strict pageant diet and exercise routine, that does not mean we have eating disorders. It means we have more balanced portions and we eat healthier. Personally, my favorite thing was when after Miss America, the live snapchat story showed a bunch of the contestants eating McDonalds when the pageant had finished. We need to be able to fit into our gowns, yes. But, we don’t need to starve ourselves to get there.
    
    
    
    
• Swimsuit pageants are all about sex appeal
  
  
  • First off, you try getting up on stage in heels and a bikini in front of all those people. In front of judges who will determine where you place based on how you walk across that stage in the next few moments. That takes guts. Many women, including myself, are self-conscious walking in front of people at the pool in bikinis, let alone in heels in front of hundreds of people. It’s about feeling comfortable in your body and having a healthy body, not just a skinny body. It’s actually not about sex appeal at all. I've never done a swimsuit pageant, but that's a personal choice. I give huge props to those girls who do swimsuit pageants, because it takes guts to do that.
    
    
    
    
• We’re all spoiled, rude, brats.
  
  
  • NO. the majority of us have to work hard for everything. We don’t get things handed to us on a silver platter. And even if you do, winning a pageant takes hard work, determination, and having good sportsmanship. Judges look for the girl who is well rounded and who is friendly to everyone. They don’t want someone representing them who is only in it for themselves. Yes, pageantry is an individual sport. But, you need the support of others to help you get there, and your fellow contestants will be the best support you can get.
    
    
    
    
• Every pageant is like Toddlers and Tiaras
  
  
  • Nope! Those are called Glitz pageants. There are different types of pageants out there. I compete in natural pageants. We don’t have all the fake hair; caked on make up, spray tans, etc. Natural pageants are all about being you, inside and out. Younger girls are not allowed to wear any make up and the older girls can only wear make up that is light and natural looking. In natural pageants, the little girls actually look like little girls and not mini adults. However, I'm not saying glitz pageants are bad, because I have never competed in a glitz pageant so I have no idea what they're actually like. I do know, however, that girls can learn things from glitz pageants as well as natural pageants.
    
    
• Pageant moms are only supportive of their own kid / are monsters
  
  
  • My mom is my biggest supporter. We’ve had three out of four pageant weekends fall on her birthday weekend, and she still, without fail, supports me 100%. She helps me fundraise, cheers me on, and does my makeup for me (because I have no idea what I’m doing.). The moms are the ones who run back and forth, grabbing last minute objects we forgot from hotel rooms, doing late night trips to CVS for snacks and lets us practice our introduction on over and over until they know it just as well as we do. Not only is she supportive of me, but she’s supportive of the other girls as well. When one of my friends wins a pageant and I find out first I text her in all caps letting her know and her immediate response is “YAY! That’s awesome!”. 90% of the pageant moms I’ve met have been amazing. They help out with whatever’s needed. They’re our personal photographer for the weekend and help us with everything. They cheer us on, as well as all our friends, and help out each other as well.