Negative Effects Of 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.

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,

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.

This makes girls be less confident in them and be more self conscious about their looks. Having a low-self steam then leads into depression. According to Martina M. Cartwright, a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Arizona, teens that used to participate in beauty pageants are more likely to develop eating disorders and have body problem images (5 Reasons Child Pageants Are Bad for Kids). In the long run, girls could get into many eating disorders because they try to hard to achieve a rocking body and they can develop anorexia or bulimia.

Pageants with beautiful little girls that look as if they could be in their twenties can catch the eye of anyone. Dating back to the 1960’s when beauty pageants first started out, young girls have been participating in them, showing off their looks and talents to the world. Ever since the beginning, pageants have been very popular and the popularity is always growing. Most people watch the movies and tv shows about it and even attend these pageants and do not see anything wrong with what is going on. However, these pageants are harmful to the little girls and cause body image and self-esteem issues in the adult years of the competitors. As you watch the pageant as it is going on, you never think of what the outcome of these little girls will be like in 10, 20 or even 30 years. Makeup, hairspray and spray tans are extremely harmful to the skin and health of anyone let alone a small child. These girls grow up with body dissatisfaction when they are applauded on how gorgeous they look with their hair and a face full of makeup. Sooner rather than later they begin to feel as if they are not good enough without the aide of makeup, tan skin and beautifully done hair. Whether it is a current problem or something that is going to come about later on in life, child beauty pageants are harming the lives of little girls all around us. The focus on appearance, issues in adult years and being forced out of their childhood are the three most harmful

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.

I remember being home one day, surfing through the television channels. I stumbled on TLC, and saw a show named Toddlers in Tiaras. The show is about child beauty pageants and all the work children have to do, and also all the money parents put into it. It portrays how crazy some moms could be, and how spoiled some children are. Beauty pageants can boost confidence and self-esteem, but it is degrading to women all over the world. Only one part deals with intelligence, but that doesn’t prove anything. Someone could easily come up with an answer out of thin air, say it out loud and everyone would think she is brilliant because of how much words they say. Child beauty pageants deprive children of their childhood. Parents become obsessed with winning and they take away the joy that their children could possibly have while in or preparing for a pageant. The controversial question on beauty pageants is: Does competing in beauty pageants adversely affect child development? My answer is yes it does, and in the following I will explain why.

Beauty pageants have been around for some time and have even become apart of our American society, however parents don't realize or comprehend the risk they are taking with their children. Society has made the beauty pageant industry seem appealing, especially with shows like "Toddlers and Tiaras". Meanwhile, young girls are being forced to grow up in an environment where they are taught to look and act like adults. Instead of having normal encounters with costumes, high heels, and makeup, they are being forced by their mothers to wear tight sexualizing dresses, more makeup than most women, and even false teeth to present themselves as beautiful. These factors could lead these children to have depression,

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).

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

Most child beauty pageant supporters think that these pageants actually promote a girl’s developing self confidence and communication skills by pushing them outside of their comfort zones, but this is not the case and is not true at all. These child beauty pageants should be banned because they promote an unattainable standard of beauty

Thesis: Beauty pageants cause psychological problems in young girls. Beauty pageants are all a contest over physical attractiveness.  Contestants try to sway the judges by having the brightest smile, cutest clothes, and prettiest hair.  Pageants make them think that beauty is being anyone but yourself.

Beauty pageants are public entertainment where children of all ages are judged on how physically attractive they are. They create many insecurities within the children and can later result in multiple issues that affect their life later on. Susan Hassan, who has a major in psychology, stated “studies have shown that children who have participated in beauty pageants ages “first-grade through third-grade want to be thinner” (Hassan 2). This shows the lack of confidence children begin to develop at such a young age and the effects that go along with them. Beauty pageants should be banned because they create a negative-self body image, increased stressors, and an altered ego.

In conclusion, beauty pageants are harmful to children physically, mentally, and emotionally. The pageant atmosphere is very negative. This type of an environment may lead to mental and physical disorders. Judging criteria of beauty pageants is based on the contestants’ external beauty. Having to buy costumes and beauty enhancing products plus enter the pageant costs lots of money. Save your child emotional and physical disorders, keep them away from beauty