In the year of 1880 a spontaneous event took place which piqued the interest of young woman and girls in competing in a competition which was solely made up upon having good looks; this competition is called a beauty pageant. Approximately 700,000 pageants take place a year all over the world, but the first pageant ever originated in Delaware in the United States. Although pageants claim to be an event which promises to help bring world peace, they are actually a very costly event which showcases young children in inappropriate clothing, acting much older than their age. To add to all of the negativities, mothers of these pageant beauties are manipulatively living their childhood dreams through their own child. Because beauty pageants can be detrimental to a young child’s physical and emotional psyche, they should be banned for children under the age of 12.
The pageant world is a place where mothers are able to hide their own insecurities by flaunting how “perfect and lovely” their children are. As shown on the TLC television program Toddlers and Tiaras, the children who would love to live out their childhood instead of spending all of their free time preparing to win pageants are incapable to do so because they have mothers who would much rather see them miserable and winning contests, instead of seeing them with a smile on their face, having fun, and enjoying their childhood with friends and family. Kayla McDowell, a freshman at Stephens College, and pageant critic, addresses “In the end, child beauty pageants force children to grow up much too soon, and they release them into a word they are too young to understand” (n. pag.) Children are being sexualized at a very young age, because in the pageant community, dressing like a ho...
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...as Miss USA and Miss Universe are competitions intended for mature, self-assured women who are capable of making their own decisions. Child beauty pageants, however, ruin childhoods and force them to grow up believing in their looks, rather than in themselves. It is no surprise, that emotional distress plagues the contestants that participate in beauty long after stepping off of the stage; subjecting young girls of any age to judgment and ridicule is not only humiliating but horrific to think that we are sitting back being entertained by their competitive nature. Rather than raising strong, confident girls who want to achieve the best in life; the parents and the hosts of these competitions provide a platform on which little girls are dressed up as skimpy Barbie dolls and paraded around, trying to achieve some form of perfection that shouldn’t exist in little girls.
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Lights, camera, pouty lips welcome to the four dimensional world of children 's beauty pageants. Over the years, child pageants have become a hot topic gaining a great deal of delight from numerous people around the world. From having a strong standing, ongoing fan base that keeps the hit TLC TV show Toddlers and Tiaras; on air to having some of Americans ' favorite beauty queens making guest appearances on shows such as the Ellen Show. Regretfully, the idea of putting an end to child pageants has become somewhat of a hotter topic than the pageants themselves. People often put down what they do not understand why dress a child like that? Why all the make-up? What some do not seem to understand is that there are advantages to being a beauty
In the 1920’s, when beauty pageants began, the main reason for these pageants was to gain tourists. At the time, Atlantic City, New Jersey, was a popular tourist resort. To bring in more business to the city, they came up with the idea of a Fall Pageant. The city got sponsors to represent these young women, and a panel of judges would decide on the most beautiful bathing beauty in America (Alter 2). Since these times, beauty pageants have grown to be a huge part of today’s society. Child beauty pagean...
Shappert, Rhonda. " The Pageant Expert | What Are The Benefits Of Beauty Pageants?." The Pageant
" In the end, children’s beauty pageants are essentially harmful to both young girls safety and minds. It may not happen to some, but most of the young girls that compete in beauty pageants seem to have a bit of an attitude towards their parents and other people who will not cooperate with them.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Pageants have been around for a long time. In the past, pageants were an interactive way for girls to display poise and to compete against each other in different categories. Nowadays pageants have transformed completely. Young girls are being treated and made up as if they were women or dolls. On the TLC show, Toddlers and Tiaras, we begin to see this trend happening. Girls as young as the age of two to fifteen months are being put into these pageants and are shown off to the world as “role models” to other children. The show starts off with a glimpse of the young girls’ lives. We see how they interact with their families and we get a feel for how they live. Most girls display all their trophies and how well they do in each pageant. All of these young girls display attitudes and throw temper tantrums throughout the show. Parents spend an enormous amount of money for each pageant on things like dresses and make up. Other children who watch “Toddlers and Tiaras” might be impacted due to being the...
However, in child beauty pageants, the real contest is whether if parents are still able to still distinguish the line between their own needs and the needs of their children. Often when these lines a blurred, parents may engage in behaviors such as abuse and exploitation of this child. “She [Martina Cartwright, Ph.D.] also witnessed parents putting high pressure on their young daughters to look “flawless” and win at all costs, pushing them to adopt an unnatural and adult-like physical appearance and chastising them for poor performance, lack of enthusiasm or a flawed appearance”
Beauty pageants demand that competitors spend large amounts of money in synthetic enhancement. This is a poor focus for vulnerable girls and destroys the girls at a very young age. Beauty pageants convince girls that outer beauty is more important than inner beauty, which is totally a false claim. In this paper, we are going to talk about the pros and cons, whys and woes of pageants and if they are manipulative or valuable to kids. Even though that beauty pageants are a good way for girls to make friends. Beauty pageants are harmful to young children and they should not be able to compete until adulthood because beauty pageants teach kids that outer beauty is more important than inner beauty and beauty pageants pose a threat to the safety of children.
Issues regarding the purpose of beauty pageants alarm women since majority of the beauty pageants are for them. Let us look at the good side of beauty pageants. First, allows the use...
Beauty pageants have long been a form of entertainment, exhibiting beautiful women with ideal bodies competing for their talent and looks. Many pageant moms involve their daughters in children’s pageants to help them improve their social skills, exercise their talents, and boost their self-esteem. Although the pageants may seem like harmless competition with benefits, research shows that they may be doing the young beauty queens more harm than good. “.the girls are receiving conflicting messages: In order to win, the girls must show a unique personality, but they must also act and dress in a hyper feminine manner and conform to the pageant world's ideal standard of beauty and narrow set of conventions.”
Cromie, William J. “The Whys and Woes of Beauty Pageants.” News.harvard.edu. 2000-2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Today there are many new extracurricular activities that occupy a lot of young Americans minds. One trending activity is beauty pageants. It is more common in children where the ages may vary between eight months and even older. The trending debate is whether or not beauty contest serve any purpose in society. While many Americans feel as though pageants are helpful to a child’s self esteem, many feel that the effects of the contest have a very harsh effect on child development by devaluing a child. Researchers have found that beauty contests are effective for women to help make platforms for their careers and also create new jobs for women to create like mentoring children.