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Perspectives on beauty pageants
Negative effects on childhood beauty pageants
Perspectives on beauty pageants
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A child beauty pageant can be described as a contest featuring contestants from ages below one year to eighteen years old. They first started in 1921 when the owner of a hotel in Atlantic City wanted to help boost tourism. But, even before those pageants, there were “Most Beautiful Child” competitions throughout major cities across the country. Some pageant moms and dads believe that it is a helpful thing to put their children in pageants and it will help them in the future but I beg to differ. I believe pageants promote the sexualization of children, leaves them emotionally neglected and can teach young girls to value the wrong things at a young age. Early childhood is a critical period for development and early experiences can have long-term effects on brain function and cognitive and psychological functioning. Early childhood is a critical time in a person’s life because it is when we learn how to act, what to do, and what to value in life (Alderman). So, putting children in beauty pageants at such a young age can really harm them in the future. Pageants teach children to put the most values on their appearance, and that is the only way that they can gain respect and have people like them. These parents are not focusing on what is important and waste most of their time with pageants. Lisa J. Rapport, a psychology professor at Wayne State University in Detroit studied 74 former young performers in television and film. She found that mothers who served as managers were likely to have a far less stable and positive relationship with their children than were mothers who kept business separate. Most of these children dream of having careers in their future that is based on their appearance such as a model or an actress. But, for o... ... middle of paper ... ...erfect." The New York Times 12 Jan. 1997: 1. Print. Gado, Mark. "Crime Library –The Slaughter of Innocence." Crime Library – Crime News and Stories. 28 Jan. 1997. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. Healy, Michelle. "USA TODAY: Could Child Beauty Pageants be Banned in the US." USA Today. Gannett, 25 Sept. 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. Kuczynski, Alex. "Tough Times on the Children's Pageant Circut." The New York Times 13 Sept. 1998: 1-3. Print. Levey, Hilary. “Pageant Princesses and Math Wizzes.” Childhood: A Global Journal of Child Research 16.2(2009): 195-212 ERIC. Web. Nov. 2013 Lindsey, Claire. "California Polytechnic State University- The Ugly Truth to Child Beauty Pageants ." College Prowler. 13 Apr. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. "The Premier Online Debate Website - Are Beauty Contests Harmful to Children?." The Premier Online Debate Website | Debate.org. 2 Nov. 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
Michelle Healy's "Could child beauty pageants be banned in the USA?"(Article A) appears in the USA Today on September 25, 2013. This article gives a response to the issue of France's proposal to ban beauty pageants. “Instead of following France’s proposal to ban child beauty pageants, researchers in the USA say safety regulations and education about how the competitions affect children are needed.” Healy uses persuasive techniques such as logos, pathos and ethos to convince people that it’s the parents’ responsibility to take responsibility on how they betray their daughters. The article also shows both sides of the disagreement therefore convincing other people even more since it shows that there are many reasons to agree or disagree with beauty pageants for children under the age of seventeen.
In 2009, TLC aired a reality television show entitled Toddlers and Tiaras. It was instantly a hit with home viewers and also brought major controversy over child beauty pageants. The show focused mainly on glitz pageants; which requires all contestant, however young, to compete with make-up, spray tans, acrylic nails and revealing costumes. Many, such as I were entertained at first with the pint size Barbie dolls; however after watching a couple episodes, controlling stage moms and toddler melt downs reveal that glitz beauty pageants are nothing less than objectification and exploitation of young girls. Beauty pageants not only exploit children but are detrimental to the child’s physical, emotional and psychological health.
Beauty pageants that involve children are a booming industry and growing fast in popularity. This is partially because of television shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and Living Dolls, which glorify pageants that threaten the innocence of childhood. According to Lucy Wolfe, “in 2011, three million children participated in pageants across the country” (454). With so many children, some as young as six months old, partaking in pageants and countless more aspiring to be pageant princesses, a closer look needs to be taken at the practices that are used to prepare them for the show. Often working long hours, not only prepping for the pageant but also performing in it, the children have no laws protecting them from being harmed or exploited.
Goldstein, Richard. "What are the Risks?" Beauty Pageants and its Effect on Children. 6 Dec. 2010. 5 Feb. 2014
Child beauty pageants have been a part of American society since the 1960’s. These pageants consist of modeling swimwear, evening attire, dance and talent. The young children entered in the pageants are judged on perfection, confidence, capability and looks. Judges would call this “the complete package.” Children are divided into different age groups to make the pageants fair. They are guided by there parents who spend well over 200 dollars for the pageants. Money is spent on fake nails, hair extensions, makeup, clothing, eyebrow waxing, and anything else their parents are willing to do to make their child the best looking. Keep in mind that these little girls range from ages 1-12. The issues with these pageants are that these extremely young girls are beginning to compare themselves to other “prettier” girls, which leads to negative effects in the future.
Children beauty pageants encourage young girl’s to wear make-up, dress in fancy, expensive clothes, and prove to the judges they have what it takes to beat the other contestants. Jessica Bennett states in Tales of a Modern Diva “But this, my friends, is the new normal: a generation that primps and dyes and pulls and shapes, younger and with more vigor. Girls today are salon vets before they enter elementa...
Schultz, Kristen, and Ann Pleshette Murphy. "Beauty Pageants Draw Children and Criticism." ABC News. ABC News Network, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.
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
When one looks back at their childhood, what pops into their head? For most people their response would be playing with dolls, going outside, or having sleepovers, but for others that isn’t reality. Britney, an eight-year old girl from California, spent her childhood getting Botox and competing in child beauty pageants. According to her mother, Britney had been complaining about wrinkles and agreed to trying Botox. This sounds absolutely crazy, but it is not uncommon. Over 250,000 kids participate in beauty pageants each year (Lindsey). These children, who start competing as early as age 2, are being judged on their looks, capability, perfection, and confidence. The controversies over these pageants have erupted in the past few years because of TLC’s reality show, Toddlers and Tiaras (Nussbaum). Many believe it is not right for young children to parade around on stage wearing make-up and inappropriate clothing, while others believe it builds confidence in children. Despite what people who are pro child beauty pageants say, these pageants can have major effects on the kids participating in them. One may argue that these girls gain much more than they lose, but in the end the negative affects far outweigh the positives.
Heavy make-up, fake teeth, and adult costumes are just some of the things that glitz beauty pageants encourage. An estimated 250,000 children participate in beauty pageants every year. That number is increasing due to shows like Toddlers and Tiaras, and Honey Boo Boo. While it may be amusing to watch, the life of a pageant girl can be detrimental and have negative effects on their childhoods. Many of these girls are put into pageants because of their mothers. Once involved in the pageant life, children rarely have a say in what they want. Children’s Glitz beauty pageants should be banned.
Child Beauty Pageant Statistics. Occupy Theory. N.p., 20 Dec. 2013. Web. The Web.
...le do thing that they do is a good way to prepare for such a career.” In the end, pageants have their good ways and their bad ways. Some parents put their kids in pageants to prove that they are better than others, but other parents do it for their kids to make lifelong friends. (Cromie, 2000)
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.”
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.