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Negative effects on childhood beauty pageants
The negative effects of beauty pageants on society
Negative effects of child beauty pageants essay
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Child beauty pageants have gotten popular on reality TV, even though it's shocking what some of the parents in these shows put their children through. Some people will argue that it's all harmless fun, but if you really take a look at how much these pageants consume people’s lives, you'll see how “harmless” they really are. For one, just the sheer cost of doing these pageants is mind blowing. The parents of the girls spend thousands of dollars on just the dresses and costumes, let alone the “beauty” expenses such as hair, makeup, and even “flippers”- Fake teeth to fill in gaps (O’Neill, 20). Which brings along the next point, the kids’ safety. These girls have to go through things like spray tans and eyebrow waxing, which is not a
In “Toddlers In Tiaras” Skip Hollandsworth purpose is to get readers to understand Pageants are fun but can also be dangerous many predators attend them to seek out their next victim. Pageants can be very overwhelming and sometimes affects the participants in the long run. His exigency is the unknowing exploitation of little girls who are decorated with makeup, fancy clothes, and extensions added to their hair and the death of JonBenet Ramsey was taken serious but is believed to be a consequence of being in a pageant. “We love the beautiful dresses and the big hairstyles. We love the bling and makeup. We love our girls showing lots and lots of style, and we love seeing them sparkle”(Annette Hill). In the article Skip is speaking to many types of audiences.
In 2009, TLC aired a reality television show entitled Toddlers and Tiaras. It was instantly a hit with home viewers and also brought major controversy over child beauty pageants. The show focused mainly on glitz pageants; which requires all contestant, however young, to compete with make-up, spray tans, acrylic nails and revealing costumes. Many, such as I were entertained at first with the pint size Barbie dolls; however after watching a couple episodes, controlling stage moms and toddler melt downs reveal that glitz beauty pageants are nothing less than objectification and exploitation of young girls. Beauty pageants not only exploit children but are detrimental to the child’s physical, emotional and psychological health.
Beauty pageants that involve children are a booming industry and growing fast in popularity. This is partially because of television shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and Living Dolls, which glorify pageants that threaten the innocence of childhood. According to Lucy Wolfe, “in 2011, three million children participated in pageants across the country” (454). With so many children, some as young as six months old, partaking in pageants and countless more aspiring to be pageant princesses, a closer look needs to be taken at the practices that are used to prepare them for the show. Often working long hours, not only prepping for the pageant but also performing in it, the children have no laws protecting them from being harmed or exploited.
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.
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.
This is the premise of Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC, a reality competition show that pits young girls against one another as they compete for the crown, title, prizes and cash. Following select individuals each week, the show follows the little pageant queens and their families as they travel across the country to compete in pageants in a variety of different states. False eyelashes, spray tans, flippers (fake teeth) wigs, and sparkly costumes are just one of the aspects of the show. While the premise of Toddlers and Tiaras details the contestants parading across the stage in all their made up glory to be judged on beauty, personality, talent, and costumes. Drama is imminent as the competition grows fierce, and the families of the contents lament about the struggles and sacrifices they have made to get to this point. Part fantasy and part reality, viewers, connect with the show and assess the possibility of particular occurrences similarly occurring in their
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...
The thought of raising a child and having the child ripped away, especially murdered, is a very hard thought to take in. Having the weight of a guilty conscience on top of the pain is an even worse thing to think about. Its hard to imagine that being a reality, but it was exactly what John Ramsey and his family had to face in 1996 when their six-year-old daughter JonBenet was murdered after being displayed in the pageant world. Being on that stage was the very thing that brought Ramsey to her killers’ attention. The world of pageants is a dangerous place, not only in respect to safety, but also in respect to negatively affecting the children’s futures by teaching them damaging qualities. There are benefits to children being involved in pageants, but the bad seems to outweigh the good. In today’s society, some see sexualizing children at such young ages are beneficial for them because they gain confidence and poise, but they indeed are impacting their futures in harmful ways by teaching them to be disobedient and have bad attitudes, inviting predators and phedophiles in, and exploiting their young bodies.
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
When one looks back at their childhood, what pops into their head? For most people their response would be playing with dolls, going outside, or having sleepovers, but for others that isn’t reality. Britney, an eight-year old girl from California, spent her childhood getting Botox and competing in child beauty pageants. According to her mother, Britney had been complaining about wrinkles and agreed to trying Botox. This sounds absolutely crazy, but it is not uncommon. Over 250,000 kids participate in beauty pageants each year (Lindsey). These children, who start competing as early as age 2, are being judged on their looks, capability, perfection, and confidence. The controversies over these pageants have erupted in the past few years because of TLC’s reality show, Toddlers and Tiaras (Nussbaum). Many believe it is not right for young children to parade around on stage wearing make-up and inappropriate clothing, while others believe it builds confidence in children. Despite what people who are pro child beauty pageants say, these pageants can have major effects on the kids participating in them. One may argue that these girls gain much more than they lose, but in the end the negative affects far outweigh the positives.
It was the day after Christmas in 1996 when 6 year old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was murdered, she was found with a skull fracture and there was evidence of sexual molestation. The investigation is still unsolved and ongoing but it is thought that her prominence in the local pageant circuit made her an obvious target for child predators (Bio., 2011). Child beauty pageants are pageants in which the contestants are under the age of 16, many of the participants start performing when they’re as young as a few months old and continue doing pageants until adulthood. Underage beauty pageants have been around for over 50 years, and have now become a common hobby and are most commonly found in the South. While these competitions have gained popularity
Treating others and valuing others for who they are on the inside and not how they look from the outside. That’s how we were raised and how we are going to raise our children later on. Parents care about every detail that concerns their children. They always want the best for them, they care for their happiness and health. And although some people may think that child beauty pageants has no harm on the child and that it's a way for the child to express herself and have fun by wearing tiaras, makeup, dresses and even heels. Others strongly disagree with that and even ask for those pageants to be canceled and banned just like France, due to its financial strain, possible emotional problems and the physical harm that might happen later on.
Beauty pageants have long been a form of entertainment, exhibiting beautiful women with ideal bodies competing for their talent and 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.”
Today there are many new extracurricular activities that occupy a lot of young Americans minds. One trending activity is beauty pageants. It is more common in children where the ages may vary between eight months and even older. The trending debate is whether or not beauty contest serve any purpose in society. While many Americans feel as though pageants are helpful to a child’s self esteem, many feel that the effects of the contest have a very harsh effect on child development by devaluing a child. Researchers have found that beauty contests are effective for women to help make platforms for their careers and also create new jobs for women to create like mentoring children.