Controversial Topic of Child Beauty Pageants

Child beauty pageants are a quite controversial topic, not only in the United States but all around the world. Beauty pageants teach young girls bad lessons and causes them to grow up too fast. The people who are strongly opposed to child beauty pageants view the children involved as being objectified and treated more like eye candy than little girls. Many people have had enough of the exploitation and are starting movements for change. Some countries such as France, have even gone so far as to ban children under the age of sixteen to compete in pageants. Anyone who violates this law faces heavy fines and possible jail time (Could Child Beauty Pageants Be Banned in the USA?). The United States should also look into the possibility of a law prohibiting the participation of children in beauty pageants. Beauty pageants exploit children and applauded them for their looks. Many people believe that “it’s human nature to be drawn to beauty”, but have they taken it too far (Holland, Kristen)?
American beauty pageants got their start in the 1920’s in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was a kind of tourist attraction created by business owners to keep the tourist in town past Labor Day. Not surprisingly, the first competition consisted of only a swimsuit portion. Eventually as pageants grew more popular, more categories were added. It didn’t take long for pageants to gain popularity, the first Miss America Pageant was held in 1921. Pageants grew bigger still with television in the 1950’s, as it allowed mass amounts of people to watch at once. It wasn’t until the The Feminist Act in the 1970’s that people starting viewing pageants as bad (Goldstein). Some people suggest that beauty pageants really hammer the idea that beauty is the most importa...

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... Pageants 'About Parents Feeling Good, Not Kids). A few parents will even go as far as to deny their children essential things such as food or naps. If the child were allowed to take a nap they would be risking messing up their hair and makeup and possibly having to do retouches. As for food, it may cause bloating which would then lead to a less than perfect body in the swimsuit portion of the pageant (Could Child Beauty Pageants Be Banned in the USA?). Instead, the parents will give their children around ten Pixy Stix, also known as pageant crack, to keep their energy levels high. If the Pixy Stix alone don’t work, the child will also be given an energy drink to help amp them up (O'Neill). Pageants can be a huge source of stress for the children involved. The long demanding hours and lack of sleep mixed with the constant need to be perfect begins to take a toll.