What Is Wrong with Beauty Children Pageants? Essay example

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,

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.

In “Beauty Pageants Draw Children and Criticism” by Kristen Schultz and Pleshette Murphy, it discusses how girls from infants to 16 years old enter beauty pageants and those who support beauty pageants would say this is a great way for girls to play like cinderella but they don’t realize

1. There are about 250,000 children in child beauty pageants all throughout the United States. As many people know, child beauty pageants consist of children dressing up in revealing dresses, tons of makeup, and fake hair. Many of these kids grow up to have struggles with perfection, dieting, eating disorders and their body image. These kids need to learn that beauty isn't just what’s on the outside and that there’s a lot more in life than the need to always look perfect.

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 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

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, 73% of parents who have kids in beauty pageants spend more money on the pageant instead of their kids' education. [ Women’s News 2016 ] 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. [Kelly Kammer 2016] 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 eating disorder, depression , and low self esteem.

Child beauty pageants have created a lot of controversy over the years. Contests that determine who is the most beautiful are known to have been around since Ancient Greece. Child beauty pageants occur whether or not they do harm to children. Some people believe beauty pageants have positive effects on Children. While others believe it negatively affects children’s self image.

Child Beauty pageants have been around for about fifty-five years already and are becoming more and more common throughout society. There have been many TV shows such as Toddlers and Tiaras in which young children are judged based on their beauty, personality, and talent. Although some people might think that child beauty pageants are beneficial because they teach discipline, patience, and improve self-confidence, in reality, they give children an unrealistic idea about what a perfect body is and often lead to an insecure future.

The first beauty pageant geared towards children was the Little Miss America Pageant which took place in the 1960’s in New Jersey. Originally participation in these pageants was intended to be for young girls between the ages of 13 and 17. Since then these pageants had a steady following. “Pageants aren 't the "dress up" play we knew as little girls, they are a multi billion-dollar industry.” (Cartwright, 2011) However, over the past few years the child beauty pageant has gained mass popularity thanks to popular television shows such as Toddlers and Tiaras. Shows like this have the purpose and goal of glamorizing

Imagine seeing your little girl on stage prancing around in a bikini in front of all of your friends, family and even strangers. This is in fact happening everywhere. Parents are putting their children in skimpy outfits just so they can parade around on stage, hoping they could win an award. The issue with this is the fact that children are having their childhood taken away from the because they are learning to act like adults. Most of the time this is forceful and mainly done for the parents affection. People are then arguing about whether beauty pageants are negatively affecting our children. Some people claim that beauty pageants do not negatively affect our children but boosts their self esteem and confidence. However, beauty pageants definitely affect a child’s development negatively since it does in fact make children think that physical beauty is all that matters, takes away your childhood by making you pretend to be an adult and it can then lead to depression.

A little girl’s psyche is extremely fragile; it cracks under the pressure of being perfect and is no match for the insanely high standards of the pageant world. A 2007 study conducted by the American Psychological Association found a link between the seemingly fun and harmless beauty pageants and the development of low self-esteem, eating disorders, and depression. In addition to being mentally damaging, pageants are also damaging to the wallets of parents. Families may spend thousands of dollars on artificial tanner, teeth whitening treatments and glitzy pageant attire. Beauty pageants send out a wrong, toxic message to young minds. “Pageant girls are taught from a very early age that what is most critically important is their physical appearance along with a superficial and erotized charm. They are presented in a hyper-sexualized manner.” (Hollandsworth 8). With the pressure to be perfect at an all time high as young girls are bombarded every day with images of unrealistically beautiful and thin women in today’s media, the effects of childhood beauty pageants are damaging and the practice should be banned entirely.

According to the Miss Universe website, “Research has shown the #1 obstacle for women to overcome in reaching their potential in any endeavor is a lack of self- confidence” (Missuniverse.com). The supposed benefits and positivity surrounding beauty pageant seem to be all smoke and mirrors. As revealed by studies stating, “2.5 million girls participate in 100, 000 beauty pageants each year in the US…6% had suffered depression” (demographicpartitions.com) beauty pageants are not a good look for the women’s mental health.

Not only can we blame the beauty pageants alone for the mostly negative effects, but the parents of these beauty queens should also be held responsible. It can be argued that most parents that sign their children up for these pageants are trying to get rid of their own emotional baggage. In an article written by psychologist Lucia Grosaru it states, “Mothers of these children are usually trying to live their own dreams through their young daughters. I am talking about dreams that they either could not accomplish or accomplished in such way that they’ve become a way of life.” This quote shows that maybe these parents could have lost beauty pageants as a child; maybe they weren’t/aren’t as attractive as their child. Parents push their children to tears by having them repeat their performances over