Author Mary Howitt’s famous children’s rhyme says: “Will you walk into my parlor said the spider to the fly? ‘Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy. The way into my parlor is up a winding stair, and I’ve a many curious things to show when you are there.” Like the fly, young girls are lured into a fanciful web of illusion and false hope. Beauty pageants are a complex snare of mental and physical stress, financial burdens, time consuming hours, and unrealistic beauty features.
Beauty pageants are unnecessary activities that possess a unique history. Atlantic City, New Jersey was always a popular vacation spot during the tourist season. Usually, the excursionists would disperse around Labor Day, making the business run stagnant for the rest of the year. In 1921, the city leaders discovered a way to draw people in instead of losing their business; they would put on a fall pageant. This “fall pageant” would soon be known as the Miss America pageant. In the introductory contest, only eight women competed for the title Miss America. Margaret Gorman, a sixteen-year-old from Washington D.C, won the first Miss America pageant. She was awarded a magnificent crown identical to the one that rests on top of the Statue of Liberty’s head. The city leaders were correct and the vacationing in Atlantic City increased along with the business. Because of the huge success the contest was to be continued for many years to come (Alter 20-23). The Miss America Pageant premiered on television in 1954 and became very popular throughout the nation in the 1950’s (Nussbaum). Encouraged by the Miss America Pageant, many other beauty contests and pageants began to emerge in the United States.
Girls and young women are affected...
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...olmes, R. M., & Holmes, S. T. “JonBenet Ramsey Case”. JonBenet Ramsey. College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University. 2002. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.
Lieberman, Lindsay. “Protecting Pageant Princesses: A Call for Statutory Regulation of Child Beauty Pageants. Practicum. Brooklyn Law School. 28 Jun. 2010. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. .
Merino, Noël. Beauty Pageants. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Print.
Nussbaum, Kareen. “Children and Beauty Pageants”. Beauty Pageants. A minor Consideration. N.D. Web. 31 Jan. 2014. .
Simon, Harvey. “Eating Disorders”. Health Information. University of Maryland Medical Center. 8 Mar. 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. .
Many mothers who allow their children to participate in beauty pageants would argue that performing in the pageants isn’t as stressful and serious as the television shows portray them. In fact, “the pageant industry promotes this idea by advertising pageants as family affairs that are great for a child’s self-esteem and poise” (Wolfe 445). Also, in an article written by Lise Hilbodt-Stolley, a mother of a pageant princess stated “that while pageants may be ‘politically incorrect’ they are drug, alcohol and gang free” (3). However, many parents push their children to win because they are either greedy for the money and fame that accompanies a win, or are living through their young children because of their own feelings of inadequacy. These same parents who are blinded by the possibility of their baby...
...ever, bad press was bound to come about. Younger girls were often spared criticism, being seen as young and fun-loving. The elder competitors, though, were greatly disapproved of because of the indecency of the pageant (Carter, 1977; Deford, 1971)
Daniel Andrews’ Herald Sun article published on the 26th of July 2011 asserts the detrimental effect the US style beauty pageants are set to have on Victorian children when hosted in the state in 2011. Andrews begins by arguing the other the top expense the pageant events that are run by money hungry companies. He continues further asserting our children should not be dressing up in the way these beauty pageants require. Additionally, Andrews conveys the long-term harmful effects that the participation in these events can have on the young children who enter them.
who have their children in beauty pageants say that their children gain confidence through performing. They also say that they are more prepared for life and will be more socially comfortable. They argue that their children mature at a younger age than "normal" children do. Why would any parent want their children to grow up any faster than they already do? Beauty pageants are not the only way that a child at such a young age can gain confidence.
Besides the attractive women in half-naked outfits, what does the Miss America Beauty Pageant really represent? This pageant lowers the self-esteem of women who don’t feel like they meet the standards of what society thinks is a beautiful woman. The pageant alone requires contestants to spend a huge amount of money. The message that this pageant is sending is that all women should compete against each other. The Miss America pageant gains millions of viewers, but people fail to notice the population of women who are not happy with themselves. This pageant has many issues regarding women’s image and the definition of beauty that people need to pay attention to.
"Effects of Beauty Pageants - Writing.Com." The Online Community for Writers. Web. 02 Mar. 2012. .
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
American’s unneeded celebration of beauty in the pageantry world is digging a hole for the country and has been the contributing factor to the downward spiral we are presently in. The system of this pageant needs to change tremendously in order for it to become a beneficial contest in the future. Beauty pageants to...
Day, Elizabeth. "Living dolls: inside the world of child beauty pageants." The Observer. Guardian News and Media, 11 July 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. .
"How Do Child Beauty Pageants Affect a Child's Development?" Everyday Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014
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...
Dancing on stage in tiny, sequenced outfits, consuming tons of sugar and energy drinks, and being embellished with spray tans, fake hairpieces, and heavy makeup seems like a lot of fun for young girls. The chance to dress up like a princess and win tiaras or money is every little girl’s dream. Sadly, they do not know any better and are getting involved in activities that they should not be attracted to. According to Martina M. Cartwright’s article, “Beauty pageant participation has skyrocketed since the late 1990’s, and today more than 16,000 natural and glitz child pageants are held annually in the United States, with an estimated 290,000 contestants” (1105). Writer Lucy Wolfe, states in her article that many bloggers have scolded the parents of young girls for “pumping [their] young daughter full of uppers, teaching her that self-worth is tied to what other people think of her[,] and turning her into a total [expletive] monster” (429). She also describes a situation in January 2012 with a mother filing a $30 million lawsuit due to a public article that “[a]s a result, Isabella is now perceived sexually, erotically[,] and pornographically” (430). Unfortunately, Lindsay Lieberman states, “though commonly criticized for such outlandish and destructive practices the child pageant industry enjoys heightened success and widespread popularity” (745). The negative effects of children’s involvement in beauty pageants are becoming evident in their growth and development as young women. Examples include the physical, emotional, and societal lifetime challenges including body shame, perfectionism, depression, and eating disorders. Beauty pageants are brainwas...
Modern beauty contests started in the United States of America in 1880 with the first Miss United States bathing beauty contest held at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Since then, beauty pageants had been popular in many parts of the world. Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss International, participated in every year by more than fifty countries, ceaselessly attracts huge audiences and supporters. The biggest, the Miss World competition, had been running annually since 1951, and although it is less popular in the UK now than it was in 1968, when it attracted 27.5 million TV viewers, it still attracts an enormous worldwide audience of up to 3 billion viewers in 120 countries. [1] Although the main purpose of these pageants are to empower women, the crowned winners are also traveling around the world in order to support causes like HIV/AIDS and children's charity organizations. [2] Due to the success of these internationally produced pageants, various beauty contests for different classes of age, sex and sexuality stemmed up. However, even with the huge diversity, the content of each pageants have almost always been the same: all of them are comprised of the mainstream categories like swimwear portion and evening gown portion. With these content, beauty pageants gives out strong messages regarding what the ideal type of woman is, hence undermining the purpose of a beauty pageant: to empower women. Thus, although beauty pageants contribute to the entertainment of the masses, it promotes an ideal of female beauty that only a minority of women can realistically aspire, objectifies women, further advances cultural insensitivity among its candidates and uses up too much resources which is why it should be banned.
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,
Palmero, Paul “Do Beauty Contests Still Serve their Purpose?” Lifestyle.inquirer.net. 2010-2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.