The Ugly Faces Behind Beauty Pageants

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A certain idea of beauty has become very prominent in today’s American society. Parents having children have grown up with this fundamental idea of beauty in their minds. As a result, their children must endure the same stipulations and scrutiny. Children are forced by their parents to comply with the strict views of society. They must be smart, beautiful, and perfect in all ways. Parents put these pressures on their children by forcing them to play sports, take intense course loads, and prioritize their lives, based on the views of their parents. Parents do this in an attempt to give their children the best chance that they can to succeed. Ultimately, parents make decisions like these in their child’s best interest. Pageant parents micromanage every action and every word. While they may believe that constant evaluation and domination of their child’s life is beneficial, its actually damaging. These parents put their children at risk for societal, physical, and emotional harm. The intense actions of pageant parents are detrimental to the safety of their children. Parents who support pageants are not trying to be bad parents. They are just misguided. The pageant world will change a child and everything that they do. Parents love and care for their children. They want their children to succeed, and that blinds them. Supporters of pageants do not acknowledge the severe effects that these contests can have on a child. They may be oblivious to the immediate and long term effects. Pageants can influence the way a contestant lives their entire life, not just their pageant performances. Though these parents may agree with pageants they do not agree with the harming of children. In this respect, if parents realized the dangers of pageants... ... middle of paper ... ...d Carrwright, Martina M. "Princess By Proxy: What Child Beauty Pageants Teach Girls About Self-Worth And What We Can Do About It." Journal Of The American Academy Of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 51.11 (2012): 1105-1107. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. Lieberman, Lindsay. "Protecting Pageant Princesses: A Call For Statutory Regulation Of Child Beauty Pageants." Journal Of Law & Policy 18.2 (2010): 739-774. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. LIEU, NHI T. "Beauty Queens Behaving Badly." Frontiers: A Journal Of Women Studies 34.1 (2013): 25-57. Literary Reference Center. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. Wendym. Babble.com. n.p n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014 Wolfe, Lucy. “Darling Divas Or Damaged Daughters? The Dark Side Of Child Beauty Pageant And An Administrative Law Solution.” Tulane Law Review 87.2 (2012); 427-455. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Feb. 2014

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