Child Beauty Pageants Good For Children

Beauty pageants have been around for a long time, making people believe that nothing could go wrong in such events. Nevertheless, when I consider women who glide across the stage, I recall skinny women, in specific, who appear to have unrealistic features such as: perfect teeth, skin, and bodies, putting pressure as only women who appear that way are in magazines, television, and movies. Subsequently, this begins when young women participate in beauty pageants. [ Dante Ultius] Society today thinks that entering young children in beauty pageants can help self esteem. Society believes it will make them feel beautiful, perfect, socially involved, discipline, self confidence, and so on. Well it turns out thatś the exact opposite of what they think. Putting children in beauty pageants at a young age can cause health issues like depression, low self of esteem, anxiety, eating disorder, and also the absense of a normal childhood. Research shows that over the past 10 years, there has been a 270% increase in the number of girls being hospitalized for eating disorders, some of these girls are as young as 7 years old [Kelly Kammer]. Competitions can display adult body dissatisfaction in their later years, and that it is also possible for them to suffer from various eating disorders [Psychologist Martina Cartwright].

A Child Beauty Pageant is a beauty competition among children under 15 years old. These competitions are divided into different sections, includes talents, casual and swim outfit, interview,Evening wear and theme outfits. Beauty pageants make children to believe that without heavy make-up, fake lashes, wigs, expensive outfits and also white teeth, they will be one of the ugliest and weirdest child in society, it teaches children that they have to be fake until everyone like them. Because of the many detrimental effects on young children, society needs to abolish child beauty pageants.

Each year, around three million children, ages 6 to 16, will compete in a beauty pageant. When a child enters to compete in a beauty pageant, it not only damages the child now, but as well as later in life. Also, the standards that these children are held to while competing in a beauty pageant is affecting their development.

Imagining if one day you saw your five year old daughter with a full face of makeup and high heels. Now she looks like a miniature adult. Not only is she a miniature adult, but now she also is very self conscious of herself and has an eating disorder at five years old. Child beauty pageants have some pros and a of lot cons to them. Also, they can affect a child’s development. One should consider that child beauty pageants can lead to a lot of mental health issues for kids at a very young age.

“It doesn’t matter if you can breathe. All that matters is if you look good”. Just Googling the search term “beauty pageants coming up,” will result in 2,710,000 results appearing in 1.18 seconds. Children are the fastest-growing segment of the beauty pageant market, with annual children's competitions attracting an estimated 3 million children, mostly girls, ages six months to 16 years, who compete for crowns and cash. Infants, carried onto the stage by their mothers, are commonplace. April Brilliant, reigning Mrs. Maryland and the director of Maryland-based Mystic Pageants, says pageants give little girls a chance to "play Cinderella." However, playing ‘Cinderella’ can cause children to develop insecurities or self-hatred if they don't

Zinzi Williams explains the downsides of pageantry in “Do Pageant Children Behave Differently than Other Kids?” The central claim is that there are many psychological differences between children who compete in the world of pageantry and children who don’t. Williams states the minor claims that children who compete in beauty pageants put beauty ahead of schoolwork and play time. Her other minor claim is that beauty contests affect the way the children who compete view their bodies and there overall appearance. She states that statistic that if there are 20 girls competing in the pageant, that each contestant only has a 5% chance of winning, which is very slim! Williams explains that in her research she found that on WebMD, a medical website,

In some ways, child beauty pageants can be great for young girls to compete in. Pageants can build confidence by putting girls in front of lots of people to perform and speak. This leads to confidence through life and public speaking skills. Another positive outcome of competing is winning scholarships and prize money. Scholarships will help a child receive a higher education later on. Next, in order to continue competing well, a girl needs to stay fit and healthy. She must also work hard and be disciplined. While these are great life traits to have, there are many

Throughout time, beauty pageants is the main topic that society have been disputing about. On camera the children are wearing their pretty dresses and a big smile on their face to look cute and in the end to hopefully get 1st place, on the contrary, off camera there’s a lot of stress taken to the child by their parent as well with problems with the child’s stamina, therefore the little girls would have to grow up faster than those who aren’t in beauty pageants.

The majority of children pageants will be found with teased hair, makeup caked on their faces, and in outfits far more mature their ages. A prime example being JonBenet Ramsey, “Here she was dancing, singing, smiling, flirting. Shirley Temple redux. But where Shirley at least was allowed to be a little girl, JonBenet was made up, coiffed, and dressed to look far older than her age, which was six at the time.” (Reed) JonBenet Ramsey, a former child beauty queen, had her childhood stolen from her, literally and figuratively. While not all children participating in pageants will not have their life taken from them at a young age, they do have major elements of their childhood taken from them. For example, as child everyone had one close friend, that is where most children learn the important values of friendship. Rebecca Eder states on her article "Is Winning a Pageant Worth a Lost Childhood?", “Learning how to be a good friend lays the foundation for a child's ability to develop intimacy, trust and empathy. Given the intense competition among beauty pageant contestants, it is unlikely that contestants will befriend each other”. By putting children in competitive competitions, they will not learn these skill as well, or as early on in life. That could lead to various problems later on in life while trying to make friends. As well as a lack of social development, children are also being

The world of child beauty pageants is similar to the twilight zone. It’s hard to believe that children as young as 2, have hair extensions, professional grade makeup, and spray tans. TLC’s hit television show “Toddlers & Tiara’s”, depicts the horrifying and true events of what actually goes on in these pageants. Nationally broadcasting the inherent sexualization of little girls for all to see has become completely desensitized. The lasting effects that preforming in beauty pageants has on girls who have been through years of competing is far greater than the trophies and tiara’s displayed on their shelves. Dressing toddlers in costumes, forcing them to dance and parade around on stage only to be judged on who is the prettiest by adults is sick and disturbed.

“Mommy I am tired, and I don’t want to perform,” a young girl pleads as her mother urges her to go up on stage. At the tender age of four, children are not independent enough to make their own decisions, and many parents take advantage of this by forcing their young kids to compete in pageants. Money prizes, trophies, and praise overcome the better judgement of many parents who continuously spend thousands of dollars on glitz and glam for their children. Childhood beauty pageants are continuously on the rise due to reality shows that follow pageant children and their families. Many parents seem to find nothing wrong with having their children compete in them, but beauty pageants are not great activities for young kids to partake in. Childhood beauty pageants should be banned because they sexualize young children, force children to use artificial means to gain self-esteem, and can lead to long term psychological effects.

Julie Costello Pre-College English #7 Mrs. Flynn March 9, 2015 Child Beauty Pageants (Little Miss Perfect) Most people believe that child beauty pageants are ridiculous and should be banned. They feel this way because these girls do not have a choice to be in the pageants. “Beauty pageants started in the 1920s in Atlantic City. The business owners needed a way to keep tourists there past Labor Day so they introduced pageantry.”

Many children throughout the United States are in high-end glitz beauty pageants. Children can start competing at the age of 12 months and keep competing until they are 17, then they move up to an adult beauty competition. Children beauty pageants have been banned in different countries, due to the negative aspects. Many Americans do not see that beauty pageants can be harmful to children, and the pageants get worse and worse each year. They utilize many tools adults do and use on an everyday basis, do things that adults do, and wear artificial cosmetics that are not healthy for them (Cromie).

Cartwright explains that pageants cause "Princess Syndrome, an unhealthy drive to achieve physical perfection that can lead to dissatisfaction with one's body and eating disorders later in life" (Cartwright 1106-07). Judges base their decision mainly on appearance because a talent category is not always included in pageants. Being constantly exposed to different options from various unknown people makes children self-conscious about their body. Adults and especially children feel pressure to be perfect on and off the stage; in effect, they develop low self-esteem and are tormented by the "negative" characteristics in their bodies. In the article, Childhood Beauty Pageant Contest: Associations with Adult Disordered Eating and Metal Health, the study concluded, "Childhood pageant participants [show] body dissatisfaction, interpersonal distrust, and impulse dysregulation than non- participants, and showed a trend toward greater ineffectiveness" (Wonderlich 291). Due to beauty pageants children have unwillingly allowed beauty pageants to take over their life's and future without even noticing.

Beauty pageants are filled with little girls wearing beautiful dresses, glamorous makeup, and feeling like princesses. Pageants are a fast growing industry attracting almost three million children who compete for a cash and crown prize. Unfortunately, pageants are not the innocent “dress up” play we used to love when we were little girls. Meant for fun and healthy competition, these beauty contests have resulted in harming self-image and promoting unhealthy ideals.