The Ugly Side of Beauty Pageants

Pageants world wide have caused plenty of drama and arguments, for example Toddlers and Tiaras. Have you ever realized how many arguments and disputes happen on that show? And, have you ever realized how bad beauty pageants are to our youth? Beauty pageants teach kids at a young age to think that they are better than someone else. Parents sexualizing kids by putting them in pageants the kids are too young to tell there parents no, and they use too much hairspray, are all good examples of how beauty pageants can be bad!

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].

The opinion that beauty pageants are all fun and games is a very dangerous one to have. The lives of participating children are never the same because of the long term emotional and psychological effects that are brought on by early

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.

“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

commences to elevate in the early 1920’s where it was originated to be a marketing implement by a hotel owner. He wanted the city’s tourists to remain in town longer, therefore the rise of beauty pageant blooms and grows until today. It was in Atlantic City where the first Miss America Pageant was staged in September 1921 as reported by an online article on American Experience by PBS, Public Broadcasting Service. Child beauty pageant on the other hand began in the 1960’s where they are judged predicated on individuality looks, capability, poise, perfection and aptitude.

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,

'Most people love you for who you pretend to be. To keep their love you keep pretending, performing. You get to love your pretence. Its true we're locked in an image, an act' a quote from the lead singer of The Doors, Jim Morrison (Cartwright). Pageantry has been around for 95 years. Starting in the 1920's in an Atlantic City hotel, originally for adults, pageants have slowly become more popular for children in the past 40 years (Nussbaum). Over the years child pageants have grown more and more, with the hit TLC show Toddlers & Tiaras people are able to have a firsthand look at what really goes into the pageantry behind the scenes. Many people believe that pageants give the contestants confidence and self-esteem (Williams). Does pageantry really have any

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.

There is nothing wrong with little girls wearing cute pink dresses and walking down a stage to perform a few adorable stunts or tricks. However, there is everything wrong when these actions could potentially lead to long term damages in young girls. And therein lies the problem with child beauty pageants, they have the potential to create long term issues for the many of the female children who are asked to participate in them. This is the stance that “Toddlers and Tiaras” takes regarding the issue of child beauty pageants; the author of the article, Skip Hollandsworth, asserts that “many psychologists believe that developmental and emotional problems can stem from pressure and value system that pageants embody” (493). Hollandsworth in her

Most people have seen or heard of the reality television show Toddlers and Tiaras. The show is often what people first think of when people think of pageants,in fact, when it comes to the topic of beauty pageants, most of us will readily agree that they are looked down upon. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whether beauty pageants should be banned. Whereas some are convinced that they should be banned, others, including myself, maintain that they should be allowed, considering, they build self confidence, foster girls ambitions and help develop critical thinking.

The message that is portrayed behind beauty pageants are not necessarily the most honorable. Beauty pageant/contest are defined as: a contest in which people judge a group of women or girls and decide which one is the most beautiful (“Beauty Pageant”). The concept of beauty pageants was introduced by B.T. Barnum back in the 1920’s as casino attractions in Atlantic City. The women would compete to be crowned for their physical attractiveness. In the 1960’s children’s pageants were established and incorporated the traditional features of adult pageants (Lieberman 742). Beauty pageants are intended to judge beauty however, what is being judged? Numerous parents attempt to give their daughters an added boost of beauty by improving their daughters with many different things, such as fake nails, spray tans, hair dye, permanent eyelashes, teeth whitening strips, eyebrow wax, and even fake teeth, they are also

The little girls are raised with the misconception that they can rely on their beauty to help them achieve success in life, and that “the ‘art’ of being a woman is embodied in how she looks” (Paperalla, paragraph 5). With the obsession to look perfect and beautiful, the girls wear make-up, hair extensions, fake nails, and fake teeth, some girls grew up “see[ing] themselves as not good enough without improvements” (Child Beauty Pageants, paragraph 22). A study conducted in 2005 examined a small, controlled group of young women who participated in pageants at a very young age to all have reported “greater dissatisfaction with their self-image, decreased impulse controls, increased instances of eating disorders and overall trust issues” (Dela Cruz, paragraph 10). This is evidence that child beauty pageants do not promote confidence in one’s self when they’re being judged on how perfect their appearance are.

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 may be expensive, however most households do not spend thousands of dollars on pageant costs. Typical expenses would be hair, nails, make-up, shoes, evening wear, and possibly a pageant coach. The cost incurred is minimal compared to what benefits can be gained in personal growth, potential awards and the feeling of accomplishment. Many parents enjoy having their kids participate because there are prizes awarded. Prizes can range from participation trophies; everyone wins, to grand champion. “The girl or boy who wins the pageant receives an academic scholarship which usually reimburses some of the school fees from the current or previous school year” (Maliakal). In pageants for middle school and high school, children can receive college scholarships or awards. Often the money they obtain typically can only be used for purchasing books, housing costs or possibly towards tuition. “Some