A parents committee in Tyumen has asked the region's governor to weigh up the rights and wrongs of a beauty pageant set to start on Monday, saying such events sexualize young girls and makes them look like "vulgar women."
The Western Siberian city's parental committee and various other family values organizations said beauty contests for children "could harm the physical, mental, spiritual and moral development of children" and asked Vladimir Yakushev to check whether the competition infringed federal laws on children's rights, Interfax reported.
"Girls taking part in beauty pageants grow up before their time and acquire the demeanor of adult females," the organizations said in a letter sent to Yakushev and the region's children's rights ombudsman.
"Instead of upbringing chastity and humility, it makes them look like vulgar women."
In the near future, the organizations plan to ask President Vladimir Putin and Kremlin children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov to ban children's beauty pageants nationwide.
The Children's Top Model pageant — organized by modeling agency Imidzh and Tyumenskoe Vremya television channel — requires girls aged 8-12 to take part in photo shoots and fashion shows.
The winner will represent Tyumen at the Russian Children's Top Model competition in Moscow.
