Why
did
the
JonBenét
Ramsey
case
put
child
beauty
pageants
under
the
microscope?
It’s
impossible
to
separate
thoughts
of
JonBenét
from
the
photos
of
her
that
accompanied
the
headlines
in
those
days,
the
6-year-old
looking
both
like
a
miniature
doll
and
way
too
grown-up
in
glamour
shots.
On
June
1,
1996,
JonBenét
competed
in
the
Royal
Miss
state
pageant
in
Denver,
and
a
month
later
won
Gingerbread
Production
of
America’s
Little
Miss
Colorado,
Mini
Supreme
division.
It
was
around
that
time
Patsy
wanted
her
daughter
to
have
a
portfolio
and
she
posed
for
many
of
the
heavily
made-up photos that
the
whole
country
would
see
a
few
months
later.
She
was
crowned
Little
Miss
Christmas
at
the
All
Star
Kids
Christmas
pageant
at
the
Airport
Holiday
Inn
on
the
outskirts
of
Denver
on
Dec.
17.
She was
at
a
nearby
shopping
mall
in
an
appearance
sponsored
by
America’s
Royal
Miss
on
Dec.
22.
A
week
after
she
was
killed,
ABC’s
Denver
affiliate
aired
video
footage
of
JonBenét
at
the
Christmas
pageant.
Then
Sunburst
supplied
another
TV
station
with
a
tape
from
the
summer.
This
was
easily
the
first
that
most
people
had
ever
heard
of
beauty
pageants
for
little
children.
“That
fascinated
people,”
Grace
told
E!
News. “There
were
a
lot
of pictures
and
video
of
her
that
you
don’t
always
have
with child
victims,
so
the
public
got
to
see
her
over
and
over
and
over
again—and
thereby,
ergo,
believe
they
knew
her.
They
became
familiar
with
her,
they
think
they
know
JonBenét
and
they
therefore
felt
her
loss
even
more
deeply.”
Twelve
years
before Toddlers
&
Tiaras
would
premiere
on
TLC,
the
argument
was
already
raging
over
whether
it
was
appropriate
for
children
as
young
as
JonBenét
to
be
competing
in
what
amounted
to
a
beauty
pageant,
regardless
of
any
talent
portion,
or
whether
it
was
flat-out
exploitation.
It
also
served
to
turn
her
parents—particularly
her
mother—into
more
suspicious,
possibly villainous
characters.
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