Zinzi Williams 'Do Pageant Children Behave Differently Than Other Kids?'

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].

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.

“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

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.

Many pageant parents say that doing pageants help their child’s self esteem. How does not winning the beauty pageant boast a child’s self esteem? In fact many children start to cry after not winning a crown. Some even say they feel guilty or like they have let their parents down. The parents also get upset if their child loses. One mother admitted that after hearing her daughter won overall princess instead of overall queen, she stormed out, threw the crown on the ground and ran over it. I bet that did wonders for her child’s self esteem and taught her self-discipline (Lets not forget the crown was her daughters, and not hers to smash.) Not only do these children feel bad after not winning a crown but they are also being sent a very bad message. They are being taught that beauty is everything, and the more crowns you have the more beautiful you are. This is only going to hurt them when they get older and forced to realize nobody’s perfect, and looks

“Mommy I am tired, and I don’t want to perform,” a young girl pleads as her mother urges her to go up on stage. At the tender age of four, children are not independent enough to make their own decisions, and many parents take advantage of this by forcing their young kids to compete in pageants. Money prizes, trophies, and praise overcome the better judgement of many parents who continuously spend thousands of dollars on glitz and glam for their children. Childhood beauty pageants are continuously on the rise due to reality shows that follow pageant children and their families. Many parents seem to find nothing wrong with having their children compete in them, but beauty pageants are not great activities for young kids to partake in. Childhood beauty pageants should be banned because they sexualize young children, force children to use artificial means to gain self-esteem, and can lead to long term psychological effects.

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.

Dazzling dresses, sparkling jewelry, and perfect makeup sounds like every girl’s dream, right? Sadly, these are just a few of the things that are used to lure children into the clutches of the detrimental world of pageants. Child pageants may seem to be fun and games, just look pretty to win a prize, but the damages it can do to a young girl brings new light to the subject. Parents are submitting their kids to be judged by fully grown adults, based solely on their child’s incredibly altered appearances. These parades of artificial beauty can lead to both low self-esteem, an inflated self-image and irregular growth in the developing children involved.

The seven-year-old girl caught a glimpse of herself in a small, cracked mirror as she was walking towards the stage. After spending countless hours sitting in a chair getting her hair and makeup styled to perfection, she looked up to see an unrecognizable version of herself: a little girl with a spray tan, lush lashes and bright red lips. She eerily resembled a plastic barbie doll. With her face covered in cosmetics, she couldn’t help but feel that somewhere hidden behind all the layers of makeup was a small, innocent child whose thoughts and beliefs were being negatively altered due to a Child Beauty Pageant competition. Many people believe that this competition promotes self-confidence and social skills, but unfortunately, some fail to realize that participating in these contests harm more children than it does them good. First of all, Child Beauty Pageants drastically lower the self-esteem of children and adults, which then tend to bring forward a series of disorders at an early age. They also destroy the childhood every kid deserves to have, pulling them away from activities that are essential in building their character. Finally, all the procedures the contestants have to unwillingly go through can be, and sometimes are, considered to be child abuse. All these impacts play a large role in the future of these young contestants, and can possibly ruin their upcoming lives as adolescents and adults.

Child beauty pageants have become an increasingly controversial topic throughout the years. By some, it is considered to be a form of child exploitation and abuse. However, opponents argue that beauty pageants allow children to learn how to compete in a healthy environment. Young children, starting at just a few years old, are paraded around a stage dressed in provocative clothing and faces full of makeup. Children need to grow up in an environment where tolerance and acceptance of everyone's differences is the general mindset, not where competition is the driving force in their lives. Although it is true that child beauty pageants can help children gain confidence, they should be banned because of their negative impact on self-esteem, attraction

“What they are learning basically is that they have one characteristic which is of total primary importance, and that is their body and their attractiveness.” Many people believe that these young children are sacrificing their self image and self confidence when they become older, but there are so many biased opinions about beauty pageants for kids. After seeing young kids spray tanned, in revealing attire and a full face of makeup, beauty pageants are nothing less than blatant objectifications of these young girls. As entertaining and hysterical beauty pageants can be, pageants have raised immense controversy throughout the world.

¨Child beauty pageants cause children psychological problems, such as; anxiety, paranoia, feelings of inferiority, and low self esteem¨ (last name page number). Most kids that participate in beauty pageants often develop anxiety. The scientific definition of anxiety is a feeling of nervousness about an upcoming event that you do not know the outcome of. They often feel worried that they will mess up their routine, and it will cause them to lose the competition. Low self-esteem is also a big problem in these children’s lives. They often sustain low self-esteem when they lose the beauty competition. The kids begin to feel as if they are uglier than the rest of

A scantily clad four-year-old girl struts across the stage, her perfectly white teeth gleaming as she flashes them at the judges. Her long, blonde, flawlessly curled hair bounces behind her as she strikes a sassy pose. Her candy apple, red nails catch the light. This is just one of many girls that will participate in this particular beauty pageant, each looking like a mid-twenties girl on a night out shrunk down to a perfect mini me. Through these pageants, girls are taught that outward appearance is of primary importance and they must stick to a strict routine to accomplish this. If they fail to live up to these expectations, they can face disappointment and guilt. Most also learn that sexuality is their currency, which must be traded and exploited to get anywhere in life.

Beauty pageants are contests that started in the 1960s that involve women and mostly young girls who compete by showing their beauty and charm through body images in order to have the title “Beauty Pageant queen”. For a child to be called a beauty pageant queen, she should change or add many things in her body and face. Beauty pageants should have perfect postures, well-shaped body, and Barbie or doll face, charming modeling walk, and attractive pauses (Day, 2010). Beauty pageants have been affecting children badly since the late 1900s including child abuse, deaths, and mental and physical illnesses. Beauty pageants are mostly found in America and Britain since the 1960s and were being used for a marketing purpose and nowadays they increased