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To What Extent Do the Parents/Guardians of Child Beauty Pageant Contestants Meet the Criteria for Factitious Disorder by Proxy (Fdp)?

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To What Extent Do the Parents/Guardians of Child Beauty Pageant Contestants Meet the Criteria for Factitious Disorder by Proxy (Fdp)?
1. To what extent do the parents/guardians of child beauty pageant contestants meet the criteria for Factitious Disorder by Proxy (FDP)? Introduction In the Western society, it has long been argued that child beauty pageant (CBP) is perversive because of its emphasis on sexualising innocent children. Child pageant’s parents tend to be the objects of social criticism and condemnation because they are in a position to encourage and authorise the CBP ideologies. Sarah Burge from the United Kingdom, who has dramatically ‘made over’ her seven-year-old daughter Poppy, and taken her to compete at the Darling Dolls of American Contest 2012, will be the object of study. The aim of this essay is to provide an assessment of Sarah as a child pageant’s mother, analyse and discuss whether her motivations and behaviours constitute the criteria for Factitious Disorder by Proxy (FDP). Although atypical, it is argued that Sarah’s behaviours and motivations have met the majority of the FDP criteria, including fabricating pre-pubertal maturity in Poppy and assuming a sick role in Poppy as sexually inadequate by proxy. In addition, this essay will critically analyse whether Sarah’s behaviours were encouraged by a set of intangible motivations, such as her illogical or even pathological demand for power, control, and excitement. Since FDP assessment takes both sociological and psychodynamic perspectives into consideration, Sarah’s FDP behaviours have implication for her coping with patriarchal suppression and trauma at both social and familial levels.

Factitious Disorder by Proxy and child beauty pageant
Although atypical, characteristics of Factitious Disorder by Proxy (FDP) suggest its relation to that of a child beauty pageant (CBP). FDP is also known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (Rosenberg, 1987) and Induced Illness by Carers (Parrish & Perman, 2004). FDP usually involves a caregiver, almost always the mother, who deliberately induces physical or


References: Mirror 2011, ‘Surgery addict Sarah Burge explains why 100 cosmetic procedures still isn 't enough’, 7 Aug, 2011, viewed 3 Oct 2012, http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/surgery-addict-sarah-burge-explains-184308 Pearce, D 2012, ‘Does this girl have the worst mum in Britain?’, The Sun, 25 May 2012, viewed 3 Oct, 2012, http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4337082/Does-this-girl-have-worst-mum-in-Britain.html
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