Pageants; the Popular Parody
Year after year it never fails—another girl whose parents are well represented in the community has taken the local pageant crown. True winners and qualified young women tend to be overlooked. Like my close friends and me, a fair chance was never offered. At rehearsals, I often questioned my character when I overheard girls criticizing peers they envied.
Every Sunday practice consisted of gossiping drama queens, fake conversations, and debating whose wardrobe topped the others. Yes, some activities were enjoyable: practicing the dance performance, indulging in cupcakes, and strutting in our budget braking high heels. However, expenses add up after purchasing all the necessary attire; interview outfit, evening gown,
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Training and previous judging experiences were supposed to take place prior to the contest. Sadly, in recent years the “judges” are no different than any other person walking the streets. When I signed up for this contest, I was assured that all of these precautions would be in place, but—to my surprise—none of them were.
A typical pageant is an all-day event for the contestants. In the morning, hair and makeup appointments are scheduled in order to prepare for the show; a crucial part of the judges’ first impressions—does she look well put together? Interviews are looked at as an opportunity for girls to express their individual uniqueness to the judges. They are to use this conference to get to know each contestant better. During this time, the judges should be asking themselves, would this young woman represent her community well?
In determining which contestants speak to professionals most fluently, judges usually pay close attention to such details: posture, eye contact, supporting one’s own opinion, and authenticity. From what I have noticed in past pageants, the deciding factor is a popular last name—that’s it. Girls who lacked these credentials of not speaking up, saying too many “ummm’s”, and not supporting their beliefs were still considered to be top contenders, according to the “top pageant judges” that
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Since the rest of the show will be formal, it’s a good way to lighten up the mood for the contestants and judges. The choreography is as easy as a six-year old’s first dance recital, but at least it gives the contestants an opportunity to shake their hips. And, without admitting it, the girls need this time to build confidence before dressing in their evening gowns.
Stage presence is the next crucial component for determining who should represent the community. Contestants need to be able to confidently present themselves in front of a large audience and speak clearly with accurate reasoning. Except, this factor does not apply to all contestants; after all, if they are fashionable, why should they have exceptional interview skills?
The instruction for the slow walk, the first formal presentation of your evening gown, is to come across as the most confident girl on stage—tall posture, shoulders back, walk heel then toe, and put on your most sparkling smile. Or should I say fake smile? If the dress is not current in the fashion industry, the judges don’t need to converse whether that girl is a contender: no fashion, no crown. After all, outside beauty is the only thing that matters in a pageant. Who cares who the young woman is deep down or what her intentions are after the makeup comes
Recent female contestants they will understand the dangers of pageants and become more aware of what they need to do to protect themselves. Some will not care and believe it will not happen to them, that they are the one who can survive in the game. Economic classes are spoken to; upper class all they see is the glitter and trophies so they go to the extreme to go for the prizes of thousands of dollars and don’t care about what they need to do in order to get it. “Parents, many of whom have only modest incomes, pay for high-glitz coaches ($50 to $100 an hour), high-glitz photographers ($300 per session, with $150 for retouching), high-glitz wig makers ($150 to $175 a pop), and high-glitz spray tanners ($25 per pageant)”(Hollandsworth). Middle class they don’t see it as you have to have money to do it they can do just as good as those who have lots of money and do it better. Fans who support the pageant will consider how they perceive the girl as the model and perform their talents on
The judges of the Miss America pageant have changed through the years to reflect the changing ideals of the pageant itself. “In the early years of the pageant, the judges were primarily artists and illustrators, in part because such men – and they were all men – were considered to have the best eye for the beautiful feminine form. In more recent years, efforts have been made to attract judges who represent the various facets of the pageant” (Banet-Weiser 54). The selection of judges from the fields represented in the pageant show that the Miss America pageant is more than just a strictly beauty pageant. “Defining beauty is an elusive, if not impossible task. No single definition fits because as culture evolves, so does the...
People always say that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but what if the beholder is three judges who have seen the same type of beauty throughout their entire career. When Willowdean walks across the stage she is not the type of beauty queen that the judges are used to. Instead of going to pageant boot camp just to fit into her swimsuit, she fills every inch of her red with white polka dotted one piece. Although she might abhor her thunder thighs, she realizes that when she is on stage “no one boos. The world doesn’t end. The audience doesn’t go blind” (359). This type of mentality can be compared to that of twelve year-old Alana Thompson from the reality TV show, Toddlers and Tiaras. Alana started beauty pageants when she was six-years old and just like Willow was not the typical beauty queen. She is overweight for her age, but when she walks across the stage she exudes confidence. Though she had been told that she should not do pageants because of her weight, she did not listen and continued doing what she loved. Willowdean also experienced being told that
...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.
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...
She grabs the foundation and smothers her face with it; she creates a mask. She sprays the hairspray till the fumes clog the air. She squeezes into her bejeweled dress and puts on her heels. She transforms into someone who is unrecognizable, and fake. This is a little girl. The process of preparing for a beauty pageant is very demanding and stressful while little girls spend hours training and getting ready for their appearance on stage. Weeks are spent choreographing their dance routines and thousands of dollars are spent on, “glitzy” dresses, fake teeth, and spray tans. As long as beauty pageants for girls under the age of 16 continue, there will be an increase in mental and physical issues, an increase in the objectification of women, and there will be negative impacts for little girls.
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
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...
Many young girls are forced to wear preposterous outfits and enormous amounts of makeup that deny them of their innocence at a young age. Beauty contests are meant more for adult women who are mature enough to understand all that’s going on and can handle losing competitions to the other contestants. Children should not be able to compete in pageants because of the harmful effects on self-confidence and character. Some people think they are good and some do not agree that they are good. (Leo, 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...
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.
" Money, ratings and attention fuel the pageant/dance media machine, with parents and adults reaping the benefits. Purpose of Child Beauty Pageants For these young pageant girls, brains before beauty is not the case. Real-world priorities such as schooling, family, and friends are trumped by tiaras, makeup, and evening gowns. More value is often placed on being beautiful in the eyes of the judges, than on each girl’s individuality.