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negative effects on childhood beauty pageants
should beauty pageants be allowed
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Beauty pageants are interwoven into the everyday lives of Americans. Citizens grow up watching pageants on television, idolizing pageant girls, and comparing themselves to those girls that they see. While it is normal for American society, it is not healthy. Idolizing and comparing themselves to these perfect people can give girls body complexes about appearance and issues that could be prevented with the abolishment of beauty pageants in the United States. Pageants not only give girls unrealistic expectations for beauty, they also change the relationships between parents and children. High-pressure situations are never good for young kids, but beauty pageants take stress to the next level. Pageants should be prohibited in the United States …show more content…
One of the criteria for winning a beauty pageant is, of course, beauty, this encourages girls to dress up like adults in order to appeal to judges. Mothers and professional pageant coaches adorn the children with makeup, spray tans, hair extensions, and flippers in order for the girls appear more attractive to the judges and to the crowd. This puts pressure on the young children to always appear more attractive, and it also starts to teach them that beauty is one of the most important things that a person can have. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists released a statement saying that "direct participation and competition for a beauty prize where infants and girls are objectified and judged against sexualised ideals can have significant mental …show more content…
When children are growing up, they pick up habits and cues from their parents. Marcela Delgado at the Merciad Mercyhurst University stated that “Young girls are ‘sponges;’ they are at an age where they absorb everything in their surroundings, therefore it is not proper for them to absorb a materialistic mentality.” The money spent on pageants teaches children to value material objects, and the idea that it is important to spend whatever amount needed to on looks. The midrange of money spent on a single pageant is $1,500 and they could be as expensive as $3,500 (Sandberg). Many pageant girls pay for multiple outfits, professional hair and makeup, acrylic nails, and spray tans. According to the Pageant News Bureau in 2002 the pageant world makes $5 billion as an industry (Fleishman). Children should be taught to value education and to have good morals, but instead, by spending so much money on these pageants parents are teaching their children that money can be used in place of these things. In addition to the cost of the pageants themselves, according to a study verified by Women’s News, 72% of girls participating in pageants hire pageant coaches (“Child Beauty Pageant Statistics”). These pageant coaches instruct the girls on how to walk, talk, smile, and even wave. Girls hire coaches so that they can be molded into the perfect girl that is most likely to win in a competition based on appearance and manners. Pageants
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...
“A small study published in Eating Disorders the journal of treatment and prevention, that involved 22 women” (Hollandsworth). Girls are choosing unhealthy ways to stay fit and what they call the perfect size just to have a big appeal to the audience when at pageants. The encouragement of this behavior can lead to many body complications and disorders for these girls as they develop, only because they are not truly developing as an average young lady. “A 2007 report issued by the American Psychological Association Task force on the Sexualization of girls claims that parents who put their daughters in beauty pageants can contribute in very direct concrete ways to the precocious sexualization of the daughters” ( Hollandsworth). There has been research to prove that the actions of the young ladies is not all on their own, they have assistance with getting prepared for competitions and what to perform in competitions. Parents add more than what is necessary and can have a negative impact and not even know they are making matters worst than what they have to be. “Kiddie pageants are flourishing. Fueled by a reality TV show, an estimated 250,000 American girls participate in more than 5,000 beauty pageants every year” (Hollandsworth). Exploitation of these young girls is the “NEW BIG THING” to see and enjoy. Adults would rather watch little girls flaunt themselves
The lights are intensely bright as they reflect off the stage, leaving numerous loud, edgy mothers in dim luminosity behind them. Six year old Cindy pounces into the rays of the spotlight with a sham smile, flaunting her rehearsed dance, facial expressions, and postures. She finishes with a brilliant beam and pose, thinking of how much she has gone through to be on that stage: the eye waxing, hair dying, extreme dieting, fake teeth, layers of make-up, clouds of hairspray, extensions that give her headaches throughout the day, and the hours of practice she is forced to execute. Up to three million child beauty contestants experience this scenario per year (O’Neill). Glitz beauty pageants exploit young children, teaching them that self-worth is in physical beauty only, while natural beauty pageants teach child contestants that natural beauty and personality is most important, encouraging them to be confident in who they are. Child contestants should not be allowed to compete in glitz beauty pageants; they should only be allowed to participate in natural beauty pageants, which promote healthy competition for contestants.
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.
Imagine waking up early to get ready after weeks of rehearsals and spray tans, hours and hundreds of dollars spent on a short, sparkling dresses, heels, and at times revealing outfits. Kids are seated for hours to do hair and makeup, and last minute preparations; parents make sure they do not become impatient so, they hand their child a juice box to calm them down. However, this isn’t helpful for a 5 year old being forced to participate in pageants in order to make her parents happy and boastful that their child has won the “Grand Title”. Some parents, in order to win these prizes, have to hide their childrens’ imperfections with heavy make-up, spray tans, and flippers (fake teeth) to make judges see them as a flawless. Parents have entered their children into these activities before the age of one!
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?
...as Miss USA and Miss Universe are competitions intended for mature, self-assured women who are capable of making their own decisions. Child beauty pageants, however, ruin childhoods and force them to grow up believing in their looks, rather than in themselves. It is no surprise, that emotional distress plagues the contestants that participate in beauty long after stepping off of the stage; subjecting young girls of any age to judgment and ridicule is not only humiliating but horrific to think that we are sitting back being entertained by their competitive nature. Rather than raising strong, confident girls who want to achieve the best in life; the parents and the hosts of these competitions provide a platform on which little girls are dressed up as skimpy Barbie dolls and paraded around, trying to achieve some form of perfection that shouldn’t exist in little girls.
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...
Something I see in beauty pageants that reflects American culture is the overwhelming fact that Americans are obsessed with body image. Girls at an early age are expected to be skinny and look like Victoria Secret models. We have instilled the idea of looking perfect into young girl’s everyday life to where they are “growing up” at younger ages and feel the need to fit that image at a younger age. Martina Cartwright, who has a PhD and has studied child beauty pageants said in her article “Child Beauty Pageants Give Children Unrealistic Expectations”
Beauty pageants demand that competitors spend large amounts of money in synthetic enhancement. This is a poor focus for vulnerable girls and destroys the girls at a very young age. Beauty pageants convince girls that outer beauty is more important than inner beauty, which is totally a false claim. In this paper, we are going to talk about the pros and cons, whys and woes of pageants and if they are manipulative or valuable to kids. Even though that beauty pageants are a good way for girls to make friends. Beauty pageants are harmful to young children and they should not be able to compete until adulthood because beauty pageants teach kids that outer beauty is more important than inner beauty and beauty pageants pose a threat to the safety of children.
Is it right to teach children that beauty is solely based on what is on the outside, or should they know that beauty comes from within? Beauty pageants teach children at a young age that people will judge someone based on looks and not personality. For years, beauty pageants have been based on children wearing hairpieces, makeup, spray tans, and false teeth. Beauty pageants diminish self-esteem and teach children bad morals. Beauty pageants create mental and physical harm to a child throughout a pageant. Beauty pageants should be restricted for children under the age of 16; their fragile minds are not ready for the criticism that comes with the idea of being “perfect” in the judges’ mind.
Pageants have a way of exploiting children by changing their looks and attitudes to make them more adult like and entertaining; dressing children in bikinis or provocative costumes just to be judged by how well they wear it and how pretty they are is demeaning and cruel. Children should not be taught that looks are everything and you get everything you want in life because when they're older it will be harder for them to accept reality. Imitating the fashion and looks of an adult is not how a child should grow up. A parent should want their child to grow up knowing that they are naturally beautiful and their personality and smarts can get them far in life rather than beauty beats brains, correct?
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,
Cromie, William J. “The Whys and Woes of Beauty Pageants.” News.harvard.edu. 2000-2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.