How Does Media Affect Child Beauty Pageants

“A small 2005 study, published in Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, that involved 22 women, half of whom had participated in child beauty pageants, concluded that there were ‘no significant differences’ between the two groups on measures of bulimia, body perception, depression, and self-esteem. But it did find that the former pageant girls scored significantly higher on body dissatisfaction, interpersonal distrust, and impulse dysregulation” (Hollandsworth 7). With this statistic, readers can see the negative effects on a smaller scale which enables them to understand and agree with what Hollandsworth is saying. “The promise of a tiara has always been a fast, easy sell to young girls who pine to be princesses— just ask Disney, which reportedly makes approximately $4 billion annually from its more than 26,000 princess-related retail items. The connection between princesses and pageants exploded in 1954 with the first televised broadcast of the Miss America pageant; 27 million viewers tuned in” (Hollandsworth 3). This shows an example of cause and effect; they can see that the media encourages little girls by giving them an unrealistic dream in order for them to join pageants. The facts that he uses are based on the idea that pageants are allowing companies to sexualize children by offering them things that are unnecessary for their age. "Now,

If these little girls succeed in their pursuit of the pot of gold at the end of their bedazzled rainbow, if not handled correctly, these girls can turn into selfish narcissists. Most americans are familiar with the show, “Toddlers and Tiaras” that portrays some insight into the world of child pageantry. Young girls and their parents are filmed throughout their journey of preparing, participating, and either partying, or pouting once the results are revealed. In “Glitter and Glamour: Inside children beauty pageants,” Jackie Salzano addresses this particular show, and how it portrays child pageants. She says that the children are seen “being rude to their parents, be extremely physically altered,” and the parents doing whatever it takes for their child to win. In this cutthroat world of stages and lights, both the child, and their parents can turn into ‘pageant-zillas’. Also, these competitions are teaching girls that the extremely fake make-overs that they undergo, is what they are expected to look like in order to be beautiful. Nobody naturally looks like that in the real world, so why are people teaching these kids that they should look like this not only to win the competition, but to be seen as beautiful in everyday

The most important factor of these pageants, beauty. When competing in and watching beauty pageants at a young age, girls believe that their outer beauty matters most. Girls who watch Toddlers and Tiaras focus on the contestant’s beauty, causing them to do the same with themselves. The skinny girls hidden under piles of makeup on tv make both the contestant and viewer think that this is normal. Before a pageant, a mom injected botox in her 8 year old daughter’s face to take away her wrinkles. Another mom fed her daughter tapeworms to make her skinnier. Soon after, the girl was in the hospital. In no situation should little girls have to go through this just to improve their outer appearance. If this is what it takes for a girl to win, then we are better off without these pageants.

Vulnerable girls can get the incorrect message sent out from the media and pageants; leaving the girls insecure and embarrassed of their body and face. Megan Seely stated in her article “Is the Miss America Pageant Good or Bad for Women?” that “We cannot ignore the negative and harmful impacts of this event has on thousands of women of all ages who struggle to find their

In America Over 250,000 children are entered into a beauty pageant annually and out of that number over 50% of those children wind up having issues in their teenage and adult years. Also 73% of parents who have kids in beauty pageants spend more money on the pageant instead of their kids' education. Is this a serious issue? Yes, Child beauty pageants became part of the American society in the 1960’s. They were originally for teenagers 13-17 years old. However child beauty pageants have become more and more popular and now children as little as toddlers participate in these pageants. Children who are entered in beauty pageants have a negative future ahead of them. Beauty pageants have created unrealistic expectations for young girls because these stereotypes contribute to low self esteem, depression, and eating disorders.

“Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect” notes that girls are being conditioned to accept gender norms at an early age be it by “toys, clothing, and play activities” (Hanes 487). Pageants being one of these so called play activities. Young girls are being influenced by these pageants to accept certain stereotypes that are associated with women in general. They are being taught at these events that pink is a girl color, girls should stick to dresses, and that women should be pretty are all harmful byproducts of this industry that doesn’t seem to realize the dangers it is creating. And while some might assume that this type of thinking is not something of concern and “girls will be girls,” the truth is that it is of a grave concern. For these gender stereotypes confer back to a period of time when women were expected to subservient towards men, women were expected to look pretty and act nice, all in the hopes of attracting attention for the sake of someone, usually men. This exactly what these child beauty pageants teach, that girls should act, look, and feel pretty for the sake of validation. Usually the validation is asked from men, but it can also be from other women. Regardless, the end goal is still the same troubling one, child beauty pageants instill in girls with the belief that a women’s value is

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.

There are a few factors that cause the onset of the effects, here are just a few. Mary E Dohney ,Ph. D, of the Family Institute at Northwestern University says, 'there girls are taught from a very early age that what is most important in life is their physical appearance, along with superficial charm.' (Hollandsworth). Girls are given fake teeth and hair when they lose baby teeth and when their hair isn't long enough (Cromie). On pageant days the contestants are woken up early to have their hair pulled, curled, brushed and sprayed into place. Their makeup being caked on and mothers running around getting costumes and outfits situated, making sure there child looks perfect for the day ahead. By the end the contestants have been transformed into life sized Barbie's. Is this really what the future generation should grow up like? Starting at a young age with that pressure to be perfect that will only get worse and cause more problems when they are

Beauty pageants became popular in The United States around the 1920’s. They originated to serve as a marketing tool. Women were formally displayed like trophies because of their sexual appeal however; children were taken a step further. In “Child Beauty Pageants”, Hilary Levey Friedman points out, “Instead of a typical runway walk, child pageant modeling is a set routine, choreographed with facial expressions and spins. At many pageants a “grand supreme” title is decided based on the highest score for the entire event or for an age group, such as zero to six.” The popularity only increased over the years as it spread across the nation. Media jumped over the chance to endorse them and the fad only spiked.

In modern day society, people often tune into TLC’s hit show Toddlers in Tiaras. Most see it as a harmless pastime for the children, but child beauty pageants are far from harmless. In recent years, child beauty pageants have become increasingly popular all over the U.S, making it a 5 billion dollar industry. Almost 5,000 pageants are held with 250,000 children participating with the majority of the contestants under the age of twelve (“Child beauty Pageants”). Unfortunately, what most viewers do not realize is that many contestants will suffer from sexual abuse and eating disorders by the time they are teenagers. With that being said, beauty pageants have a negative impact on female adolescents.

“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.

Additionally, there are parents that enroll their toddler daughters in beauty pageants that encourage the young girls to act flirty to win votes. Breslin continues her article by referencing TLC network reality series Toddlers and Tiaras. The reality series records young girls in beauty pageants wearing makeup, false eyelashes, and high heels while dressed to look like adult women. One episode features a young girl wearing fake breasts and padded rear-end to resemble like Dolly Parton. Meanwhile, her competitor is dressed to resemble the prostitute character from the movie Pretty Woman (Breslin 14). In her article, Christine Tamer discusses “glitz” beauty pageants from the US (87). According to Tamer, the popularity of the U.S. glitz beauty pageants and their potential to expand worldwide raises concerns among foreign countries because it could lead to pedophilia (87). Additionally, Tamer argues that there is evidence to suggest that parents are doing their children a disservice by putting them in beauty pageants (101). Lastly, Tamer claims that parents are risking the chance of causing both psychological and physical harm to their daughter(s) by allowing them to participate in beauty pageants (101). In conclusion, if parents continue to contribute to the sexualization of girls by purchasing provocative items for their daughters, paying for their daughters to get plastic surgery, and/or enrolling their daughters in beauty pageants parents are endangering

Beauty pageants have been around in America for decades; however, they have not gained notoriety until the show "Toddlers and Tiaras" aired on national television. The airing of "Toddlers and Tiaras" has brought child pageants to the attention of many Americans. Not many people were aware of what took place in beauty pageants, but ever since the show debuted in 2009 there has been an intense controversy about children as young as newborns being entered into pageants. Some people say that pageants raise self-esteem and teach responsibility, whereas others say that pageants are necessary and children should take advantage of their youth. Although pageants teach etiquette and communication skills, ultimately they carry a vastly high

Beauty Pageants over sexualizes little girls at a young age. As it seen in “Toddlers and Tiaras” a show by TLC show, little girls are being sexualized at a young age, by introducing them to hair extensions, make up, flippers (fake teeth), sexualized dresses. According to Paul Peterson, president and founder of A Minor Consideration, beauty pageants are “feeding the sex industry (Agadoni).” Girls are not physically ready to wear make up or hair extensions, and all of that just hides the natural beauty of a child making them more self conscious about themselves at such a young age. Little girls are going to think of themselves as not beautiful because they hide their real selves behind a ton of make up.

First, we will talk about how child beauty pageants started. The upbringing of child beauty pageants is very interesting. It started off with “Pageants celebrating female beauty and charm being fixture at fairs and festivals the U.S. since the 19th century”(Hilboldt), and then “Their rise in popularity probably dates back to 1954, when the miss America pageants was first broadcasted on TV”(Hilboldt). “In 1960, a miami broadcaster hosted the first locally televised pageant for children, Little Miss universes”(Hilboldt). Around “The 1980’s child pageants had become an inextricable part of life in the South…”(Hilboldt). Pageants have dated back for centuries, but did not rise in popularity until it was first broadcasted on TV. Furthermore, the number of kids that participate in beauty pageants is eminence. A majority of little girls wanted to be in pageants, because “They began dreaming of one day becoming Miss America”(Hilboldt). With so many kids in pageants “It’s estimated that 25,000 children compete in more than 5,000 pageants in the U.S. each year”(Hilboldt). It is crazy how many little girls participate in beauty pageants each year just so they can hopefully become the next Miss America. While beauty pageants are still relevant and legal in the U.S. France is trying to ban them. “France is considering a move to ban beauty pageants for girls under 16 as a way to fight the hyper-sexualization of children”(“France”). While,“Under the proposal, organizers of beauty pageants aimed at young children...could face up to two years in prison and fines of $40,000”(“France”). Also, “The measure is a part of of a wider law on gender equality and was approved by the French Senate after garnering 197 votes in favor of the ban,