Why The Beauty Queens Should Be Banned 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.

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,

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.

Many Children are actively involved in beauty pageants, and many people have different opinions about them. Some feel that they are good for kids, others think that all they do is harm them. Opinions vary from person to person, and reasoning also varies. But, the real question is “Do child beauty pageants harm kids in the long run?” What comes to mind when the words “child beauty pageants” are spoken? What some people think about them are, crazy moms pushing their daughters to win, and little girls dressing up to look like Barbie dolls. What these people do not see is that beauty pageants teach girls to be confident and independent.

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.

The world is a beautiful thing but society has corrupted it to the point only perfection can be appealing. Pageants display what society finds attractive. Contests held like this are only toxic for young minds because they only influence their views of beauty. Media has evolved this into the competitive game that’s seen today. Parents should stop participating their children in beauty pageants because they cause psychological problems, unrealistic standards, and social prejudice.

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

Every year in the United States there are about 5,000 child beauty pageants with around 250,000 participants. Of these a shocking 6% will suffer from depression later in their lives. So that's 15,000 children suffering from depression due to beauty pageants. Girls who have been in beauty pageants suffer from high levels of body dissatisfaction which can lead to depression; they may feel that they are not beautiful unless they have make up caked all over their face and skin looking orange from fake tan. Is this really how we want children to feel? Pageant girls are also more likely to struggle to achieve perfection when they are older. This may make them more vulnerable to eating disorders. From a young age they have been taught to value outer beauty and thinness, and they will go to any lengths to achieve it.

There are situations in pageants where eating disorders, low self esteem, and depression were caused, because they could not handle all of the pressure. Also hair spray is bad for the contestants, because hair spray contains phthalates that can disrupt hormones. Excessive exposure to phthalates is causing stunted growth and even lung cancer. Pageants are also time consuming and very expensive, contestants have to spend hours practicing their smile, walk, and turning, plus pageant

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.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the negative effects of children beauty contest on its contestants. Although many people argue that there are some benefits of this contest such as build up the confidence, self-esteem, public speaking skills, tact, and poised it is also true that it can result to negative psychological effects and interferes in child development worldwide. The Toddlers and Tiaras, and Little Miss Perfect are popular reality TV shows that features young girls the real hardship and obstacles from their mother’s pressure or preparation for the pageant. They are ages from 1 to 12 years old, with main goal of winning and get the tiara and money or ribbon or teddy bears. Generally, the parents of these young girls believe and make decision that the beauty pageant is okay. Pageants, particularly those designed for younger children, focus primarily on appearance, attire, and perceived “cuteness.”

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