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Negative effects of child beauty pageants
The effects body image has on self-esteem
The effects body image has on self-esteem
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Beauty Contests Are Bad for Body Image
Many children and adults often compete in beauty pageants regularly. Beauty contests physically harm the individuals who compete in them, “Self-esteem is damaged as they lose touch with what it means to be naturally beautiful” (Bahl 3). Young girls and women should not always have to think that they need to be dressed up or have tons of make up on. Individuals need to know that everyone is beautiful and competing in pageants lead them to think otherwise.
Beauty contests are supposed to be fun, but they actually harm the contestants more than being fun.
Contestants expect a fun experience, but when it is over, individuals suffer from some unsafe effects. Beauty contests hurt more contestants than they help. It is stated that “nearly six participants have suffered from depression” (Bahl 3) in one contest. Suffering from depression at any age is hard, but young children who grow up thinking they are repulsive because they did not win. If beauty pageants want more contestants and
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There are many benefits of participating in pageants; one of them is to help individuals overcome shyness (Wright 1). Many young children are shy and will not talk to many people. Beauty contests allow them to talk to the other contestants and judges, which in the process, help them make new friends. Also, beauty contests are considered a confidence builder for young girls and women (Why Enter Beauty Pageants 2). The event is held in front of an audience of friends and strangers (Why Enter Beauty Pageants 2). Holding contests in front of an audience allows the individuals to showcase what they have been practicing. Win or lose, the fact that she participated is enough to lift her spirts and her confidence (Why Enter Beauty Pageants 2). Even though there are multiple skills that are beneficial to the contestant, the disadvantages still play a bigger role in the individuals’
One professional psychologist and registered dietician has warned that competing in the beauty pageants may lead young girls to feel that the approval and love of their parents is based solely on their looks and whether they win a crown at the pageant or not. Losing in a pageant category may generate lower feelings of self-worth in young children who do not know how to properly cope with loss at such a young age. Additionally, there are countless examples of women who as children participated in beauty pageants and began stressing at a young age while attempting to maintain an impossible ideal of perfection. Many of the young girls who cannot keep up a perfect look will begin to feel body shame, depression and may even develop an eating disorder. In fact, one study was done on approximately 130 females who had participated in beauty pageants.
Beauty pageants have caused an increase in mental and physical issues in young girls who participate. Participation and competition for a beauty prize where infants and girls are objectified and judged against sexualized ideals can have significant mental health and developmental consequences that impact detrimentally on identity, self-esteem, and body perception ("We must protect our kids from the catwalk of shame."). If young girls don't win, they might take it personally and get hurt feelings. The child might end up feeling unattractive or inadequate ("Child Beauty Pageants Pros and Cons.") which can lead to the development of disorders such as bulimia or anorexia. ("How Do Child Beauty Pageants Affect a Child's Development?") These are both eating disorders girls develop to lose weight excessively. Furthermore, the average BMI of a beauty pageant contestant as of 2010 is 18.3 (Beauty Pageant Statistics), which is classified as underweight...
Although the original concept of beauty pageants was less distasteful, I still believe that participants should compete because they want to and not because their parents want them to compete. Although participation in beauty pageants can build
Beauty pageants are linked with an immense variety of negative effects. These children are trying to be someone that they are not. The effects on these children can escalate quickly and affect them their entire life. When a parent first enters their child in a pageant, they do not think about the negative consequences they could have on their child. No parent wants to experience the tragedy that the Ramsey family did. Although some children do gain things from these pageants, the majority of them are harmed. The effects from these pageants range from eating disorders and body image problems to social and psychological problems. If there are not regulations put on these pageants in the near future, our young children are going suffer from growing up to fast. When will people learn that looks are not everything and we should let the kids be kids?
American’s unneeded celebration of beauty in the pageantry world is digging a hole for the country and has been the contributing factor to the downward spiral we are presently in. The system of this pageant needs to change tremendously in order for it to become a beneficial contest in the future. Beauty pageants to...
" 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 ... ...
Some people believe that beauty pageants hinder self-growth and heighten self-hate. In beauty pageants, children are instructed to “cover” themselves with heaps of make-up and wear of façade of sorts. This facade eats at a young girl's self-esteem, for she believes that she must transform into an ideal character fit to appeal to a set of judges based on outfit, personality, and looks ("Child"). If a young girl is constantly shrouded by the false ideologies and superficial aspects of pageantry, she will allow other people's perceptions to define who she is. Therefore, critics argue that beauty pageants teach young girls to focus only on developing their appearances (“Child”). Young girls begin to believe that their self-worth is measured by external attributes. In addition, the vicious cycle of wearing a façade begins to damage the self-worth and the emotional state in the young girls. Children’s pageantry attire consists of glamorous dresses and puffed-up hair and make-up, which builds the assumption in girls that being beautiful, is based on appearance alone. Beauty pageants inherently represent shallow and superficial ideals that persist in society. Once...
Now I have something that when you leave you can think off do you really think beauty pageants are good for little girls and how they spend all that money on makeup, fake teeth and hair extensions. Thank you for listening. (End slide) Bibliography Hassan, S. (2011, November 03). The Psychological Effects of Child Beauty Pageants . Retrieved March 05, 2017, from Psychology:
Since a lot of confidence is being emphasized throughout the contest to go out and be the best performer, it can be draining and damaging to a child’s confidence and self-esteem – even after the beauty pageantry. If the child loses the beauty pageantry, it can take a toll on them emotionally and physically. Losing a contest that the child has put so much focus and energy on, might make the child feel bad, not good enough, and even ugly. It can lead to doubt in themselves, not only in their everyday normal lives, but it can impact them for the rest of their lives. Feeling ‘not good enough’ due to losing in the beauty pageantry can also lead young children to severe depression, eating disorders, anorexia and bulimia, and image obsessions.
Many young girls are forced to wear preposterous outfits and enormous amounts of makeup that deny them of their innocence at a young age. Beauty contests are meant more for adult women who are mature enough to understand all that’s going on and can handle losing competitions to the other contestants. Children should not be able to compete in pageants because of the harmful effects on self-confidence and character. Some people think they are good and some do not agree that they are good. (Leo, 2014)
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...
Modern beauty contests started in the United States of America in 1880 with the first Miss United States bathing beauty contest held at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Since then, beauty pageants had been popular in many parts of the world. Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss International, participated in every year by more than fifty countries, ceaselessly attracts huge audiences and supporters. The biggest, the Miss World competition, had been running annually since 1951, and although it is less popular in the UK now than it was in 1968, when it attracted 27.5 million TV viewers, it still attracts an enormous worldwide audience of up to 3 billion viewers in 120 countries. [1] Although the main purpose of these pageants are to empower women, the crowned winners are also traveling around the world in order to support causes like HIV/AIDS and children's charity organizations. [2] Due to the success of these internationally produced pageants, various beauty contests for different classes of age, sex and sexuality stemmed up. However, even with the huge diversity, the content of each pageants have almost always been the same: all of them are comprised of the mainstream categories like swimwear portion and evening gown portion. With these content, beauty pageants gives out strong messages regarding what the ideal type of woman is, hence undermining the purpose of a beauty pageant: to empower women. Thus, although beauty pageants contribute to the entertainment of the masses, it promotes an ideal of female beauty that only a minority of women can realistically aspire, objectifies women, further advances cultural insensitivity among its candidates and uses up too much resources which is why it should be banned.
(University of Kansas, U.S. Fed. Statistics show that 6% of girls in beauty pageants record having suffered from long-term depression, 9 out of 10 girls in pageants ages 14-16 admitted to feeling suicidal tendencies or depression, and it is largely caused by the desire to be thin. Facts/Statistics-Child Beauty Pageants The question is, is this a proper place for young girls where they are encouraged to act and look as mature as adults? “These pageants force kids to grow up too quickly.
Palmero, Paul “Do Beauty Contests Still Serve their Purpose?” Lifestyle.inquirer.net. 2010-2014. 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.