Negative Effects Of Children In Beauty Pageants

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.

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,

Beauty pageants are an unnecessary entertainment of society because they set unrealistic beauty standards for an audience of easily influenced young women. In the world of beauty pageants, there is only one kind of beauty. This one kind of beauty is "Barbie": tall, long-legged, tiny waist, straight white teeth, long thick hair. These beauty pageants can be misleading and harmful, not only to women without this body type, but also to society as a whole. The standard that beauty pageants strive for is not an all-encompassing idea of beauty, but one that is shallow and looks only at a woman's physical appearance. In a study released in September 2013, 131 female beauty pageant contestants from 43 states completed an anonymous study. 26% reported that they had been told or perceived they had an eating disorder, 48.5% reported wanting to be thinner and 57% were trying to lose weight. Beauty pageant organizers have striven for years to ensure that contestants have an opportunity to show their skills before they are crowned a "beauty queen", but the reality is that a woman not fitting the unrealistic ‘Barbie’ physical standards of beauty competition would never be considered to win a competition.

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.

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.

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.

“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

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.

Capretto, Lisa. "Former Child Beauty Queen: Pageants Helped Me Overcome My Eating Disorder (VIDEO)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 Aug. 2014. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.

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,

Beauty pageants harm young girls self of stem. The women in beauty pageants sets unrealistic standards for young girls. Since pageants only stress looks young girls believe that they should only concentrate on outer beauty. When girls see the pageants contestants they think thats how they're supposed to look.

Unfortunately, the negative effects only continue, becoming increasingly harmful. In addition to being ripped away from friends and missing out on chances to have a regular lifestyle, a 2013 study done by the American Psychological Association asserts that all pageants do is teach young girls “to see themselves as objects to be looked at and evaluated for their appearance.” Children who enter the pageant world are suddenly drilled with unrealistic beauty expectations, telling young kids with impressionable minds that they can only win if they are pretty. This negative ideology only contributes to negative body image, which can be extremely detrimental and have long term consequences. For instance, the British Journal of Psychology reported

Beauty pageants send the message to contestants that appearance is the most important thing about a person. Children will think that they need to spend thousands of dollars to make themselves look good. They will only desire to try and look beautiful and they won't care about more important things like paying bills and saving money for future things like a new house, cars, and many other things that are more important than just beauty. Pageants also encourage girls to fit narrow invented standards of beauty. Girls try and act like adult celebrities; dressing and walking like them across the stage.

Beauty pageants have been around for years and has become more accepted in society but