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Social media and kids
Effects of beauty pageants
Beauty pageant and its effects society essay
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The show “Toddlers and Tiaras” which aired on TLC for six years showed the lives of little girls who competed in beauty pageants; this is how beauty pageants recently became popular. These pageants focus on beauty, modeling gowns and swimsuits, as well as a talent portion. The winners of these pageants are called beauty queens and they receive a tiara and possible cash prizes. The contestants range from ages two to sixteen. As quoted by Kahlil Gibran, “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” When it comes to beauty pageants, what’s on the inside does not matter. For many years, children have been participating in beauty pageants, which are mainly judged, based on the appearance of whoever is competing, rather than their …show more content…
These young girls are sexualized. According to the American Psychological Association, “girls who are sexualized early will tend to gather their self-worth as an adult based on their appearance” (Healy). In France, legislators are working to ban child beauty pageants because they over-sexualize these young girls. In the United States, a ban like this would never happen. Sociologist Hilary Levey Friedman, a research associate at the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy quotes, “Historically and legally, our system defers to parents to make the right decision for their child…we see the family as more of a private entity” (Healy). But the question is, are parents making the right decision for their children when they choose to let them wear promiscuous clothing and act older than they truly …show more content…
These parents need to recognize that their children’s participation in these child beauty pageants teaches their kids that outer beauty is what makes one successful in life. These adults and children need to realize that there is so much more to a person than their out beauty. Some people agree that child pageants are a great experience for a child and may be rewarding. If a parent loves their child and does not have that competitive mindset in their head, a pageant may be a good experience for both the parent and child. Child pageants may be important to some people, but what is also important is to balance out pageantry and school. One can do so much more with an education than with their physical beauty. Mandy Hale once quoted, “Outer beauty pleases the EYE. Inner beauty captivates the HEART.” Yes, participation in child pageants may be a fun experience to many, but it could possibly have negative effects on the child participants. Child beauty pageants exploit young children and are detrimental to their health and development. In this day and age, contestants in pageants are judged by their looks, the clothes they are wearing, and the special stunts they can perform. Pageant judges should look for the inner beauty within a
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...
First of all, glitz beauty pageants sexualize small children. As seen in the television hit show, Toddlers and Tiaras, a 3 year old toddler is dressed up as a prostitute, prancing around on stage dressed like Julia Roberts’ character from Pretty Woman. The revealing outfits, caked-on makeup, and inappropriate dance routines are introducing sexuality to young girls at such an early age. Girls dress up in short, tight outfits, showing off their midriffs, and performing like Lady Gaga is unacceptable. Two-year old toddlers dressed like Madonna w/ pointy cone bras is unacceptable. Toddlers wearing butt and chest enhancements to look like Dolly Parton is unacceptable. During the beauty portion of the competition, the girls are coached to flirt with judges, blowing kisses to them, winking, and batting their eyes to earn extra points. These are just a few examples of the promiscuity that is considered acceptable at these pageants. With teen pregnancy being such huge conflict in today’s society, adults should be teaching these girls about self-respect. As a solution, parents need to be instilling morals in their daughters a...
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
The world of beauty pageants is dramatic, heartbreaking, and downright hateful. Villines says “[c]hildren learn a host of unhealthy values, including the desire to defeat their competition at all costs”. (qtd. in “Beauty Pageants and Children: It’s Not Always Pretty” 6). A child should never have to go through the pressure that is put on them when entering a pageant nor should they learn to try to bring everyone down to get what they want. The pageant world can change a child for the worst. Unfortunately, it causes most of these children to become a sexual image at such a young age. Cartwright stated in her article about seeing pictures in French Vogue of, “a ten-year old model lying [o]n a sea animal print wearing a chest revealing gold dress, stilettos and heavy make-up”. (qtd. in “Child Beauty Pageants” 1). How could this child’s parents allow her to look so grown and sexy when she is just a baby? The answer to that is simple, the parents gain from it too.
" 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...
I strongly believe that is absolutely horrendous that innocent young children participate in such sickening beauty pageants. Approximately 250,000 children participate in beauty pageants in each year. This is an absolute abomination to our country! Beauty Pageants are not meant to be for toddlers, for the following reasons that they sexualize young girls, put children on public display, can cause emotional problems- some such as depression and make innocent children competitive at a young age. It is clear that negatives overweigh positives in beauty pageant.
Children should not be allowed to compete in pageants at such young ages. Getting a child ready for a pageant can be physically harmful and psychologically as well. Children growing up in the pageant world can be lead to believe that life is superficial. These pageants can lead to three mental health issues- Eating disorders, low self- esteem, and even depression.
Some claim that they help boost self-esteem but that is just not true. India Knight states in her article titled, France had said ‘non’ to those creepy child beauty pageants-why don’t we? that “no confidence was ever bred by a child being judged on its looks.” She also goes on to say that pageants involve “the indoctrination of the poor children… that all that matters are looks, ‘glamour’, and ‘sparkle’” (Knight). Not only do the pageants teach that outer beauty is everything, they also “encourage girls to change their looks to fit narrow, invented standards of beauty” (O’Neill). With so much pressure being put on them to look good, they can lose confidence and even possibly suffer from eating
...mpeting in beauty pageants, there are also significant and potentially harmful drawbacks to these extracurricular activities. They contribute to individual and cultural perceptions that winning is the only important thing in life, they compound the risk of children developing emotional and psychological issues around their self-esteem and body image, and they enable the objectification and sexualization of young girls. These children by definition lack the ability to advocate for themselves, and thus depend on their parents to make healthy decisions on their behalf. With the growth of the child beauty pageant industry, and the large influx of revenue thanks to shows like “Toddlers and Tiaras,” the question of whether a significant number of parents who involve their children in these competitions will be able to set and enforce healthy boundaries remains unresolved.
Child beauty pageants have become quite the topic of conversation over the years, with the constant debate on whether or not they are harmful to the youth. With heavy makeup, revealing clothing, and an overwhelming emphasis put upon one's appearance, there is one question that still remains about these competitions. Are they really worth it in the long run? Unfortunately, many child beauty pageants these days are demoralizing and unhealthy for our children. They create this mindset where the only true quality to get far in life will be how one looks.
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)
Beauty pageants have long been a form of entertainment, exhibiting beautiful women with ideal bodies competing with their talent and their 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.” (University of Kansas,
Many people are against beauty pageants, because people think that pageants are sexist, judgmental, and degrading of women. Do beauty pageants still serve their purpose in society? Yes, many contestants gain a lot by doing pageants. Contestants of any age and gender have their benefits from doing pageants.