Beauty Pageants: Destroying Self Confidence

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Recommended: Effects of child beauty pageants

Beauty pageants not only destroy self-esteem, but they are very unhealthy in a young child’s life. Just picture it, a young girl winning her first crown. Look at the joy in her face and her parents face. This was her first beauty pageant, she did it all for the fun and thrill of being the cutest. What happens when her parents get too “involved” with their daughters winning? What if she loses more than she wins, with thousands of dollars flushed down the drain? As she gets older she feels less and less confident, and this can lead to eating disorders and many other emotional problems. This cute young girl grows up with ideals of perfection she can never meet, an image of what is “beautiful” that is unattainable, which can lead to emotional and psychological issues. Even though some say pageants are just for fun, beauty pageants in America should be limited due to the emotional and physical stress that is being put on young girls.
There are so many confidence issues teenagers have to go through but when one is placed into pageants from a young age, those issues of confidence are compounded beyond what is normal. “Pageants, particularly those designed for young children; focus primarily on appearance, attire and perceived cuteness” (Villines). These young girls, most of the time, are being forced to look and act a certain way by their parents. Whether a child is willingly participating in pageants, or is coerced by a parent to participate, they primary focus is on beauty and that means a parents focus is on beauty too. “…Some children who enter, can suffer from depression or anxiety due the feeling that they are being forced to do something they do not want to do…” (Crow). This tightly entwines the image, supported by the parents...

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...eeping 252.8 (2011): 150. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
Laura Agadoni, Demand Media. “How do child beauty pageants effect a childs development?” Global post. http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/child-beauty-pageants-affect-childs-development-3088.html
Martina M. Cartwright, Ph.D., R.D. “Child Beauty Pageants: What Are We Teaching Our Girls?” August 12, 2011 http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/food-thought/201108/child-beauty-pageants-what-are-we-teaching-our-girls
Susan, Wloszczyna. "Young nominees can face a hard go-round." USA Today n.d.: MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
Erica Sandburg “Toddlers, tiaras -- and debt: the costs of child beauty pageants” July 21, 2011
Triggs, CharlotteWest, KayAradillas, Elaine. "Toddlers & Tiaras TOO MUCH TOO SOON? (Cover Story)." People 76.12 (2011): 160. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.

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