The Sexualization Of Child Beauty Pageants

Ever since the 1920s, where a rising entrepreneur used ‘the most beautiful child’ to promote tourism for his hotel business, child beauty pageants have ascended into a hot topic worldwide (Roche, 2013). In our current day, society has begun recognizing the various limitations and antagonistic consequences that arose with such contests. For the most part, the darker side of such pageants may have remained glossed over if it hadn’t been for the gruesome murder case of the pageant star, JonBenet Ramsey (DeWitt, 1997). Some still argue that the children involved in such competitions enjoy the attention and grow up to become some of society’s high functioning individuals, when in fact, the harsh reality of the repercussions remain overlooked due to the need for personal satisfaction.

According to the American Psychological Association (2007), numerous studies were conducted from which the result emphasized the grave impact that our culture contributes towards the objectification and sexualization of women, and thus affecting the subconscious thoughts of young girls nowadays. This behavior is expressed on both cultural and interpersonal levels, as well as self-sexualization that is sometimes subconsciously implemented. According to De Witt (1997), child beauty pageants are the perfect description of the American blend between showcasing childlike innocence, and “the aura of childhood”. Furthermore, she emphasizes the sudden uproar in the fear of children’s safety after numerous accounts of kidnappings and murders of children have been reported at the time. De Witt continues her statement by showing how on one side of America there is a revolt against the sexual exploitation of children in the media, as opposed to many other states that support child beauty pageants and more child-like models to be on the front covers of