Personally I think judging anyone for how they want to parent or do things IMO is wrong. If Patsey liked the pageant world and wanted her daughter to enjoy it like she did than that was her deal. I can't stand it when people pass judgment one other's people's way of life just because it is different than theirs.
Well, it's important to this case because a little girl was murdered and she may have come to the attention of a pedo when performing in public - but that could've happened in any other kind of public setting, too.
I still feel like pedos want little children who look like innocent little children, not dressed up like adults with whom pedos can't relate.
If judging parents is wrong how can't putting young children into a world of judging not be?
But if the parents were selling nude pictures of their children, or teaching kids to play with crocodiles or smoking cigarettes while pregnant, you wouldn't judge them just because its different, would you?
I'm just saying that a blanket statement like the one you made covers a lot of areas you might not agree with and might even feel like opposing. Your statement might *sound* nice, but it might not be a rational position to defend.
I tend to fall on the side of parental rights most of the time and I don't see the harm of beauty pageants per se although I'm not sure that young an age is appropriate (would you, for example, approve of football tournaments for 5-year-old boys even if Daddy starred in the pros?). Yes, some folks are busybodies and some governments are too but if you gave parents a total pass on their right to parent a child, you lead to those situations where kids are discovered locked in closets or sold as slaves. Not all parents do the right thing with their children and judgements from the "old girl network" seems to be nature's way of steering parents away from harmful behaviors.