Child Glitz Pageants

Cath Manning once said, “Babies, not barbies! Sandpits, not glitz!” There was very little, to know knowledge about the five-billion dollar child glitz pageants until late in 1995. The Children in these high glitz pageants are covered in makeup and costumes with some enormous price tags. The expenses include entry fees, photos, false teeth, wigs, and fake tans, averaging costs between $3,000- $5,000. These pageants may be considered child abuse. They have been believed to cause developmental problems and health disorders. Most importantly, the kids are being forced to grow up and lose part of their childhood. When these young girls are put in these pageants, they are being forced to grow up. The pageant girls spend hours sitting in a chair while adults are covering their faces in makeup and fake eyelashes, while many times the child is crying, causing the process to take even longer . Parents are forcing their daughters to leave their friends and many activities that they love just so their parents can make them practice things they do not enjoy so they can win these petty competitions. Brooke Breedwell has stated that her mother pulled her away from her close friends just so she could cover Brooke’s face in makeup, get her hair done, and then practice for hours at a time

After being in pageants, many girls begin to view their bodies and physical appearances as a source of reward. These young ladies are learning to treat themselves as objects to be judged for their looks. Young women who see their bodies as a source of reward are more likely to develop low self-esteem, eating disorders, and depression. The fact that girls have less confidence in their abilities and a higher vulnerability to depression has been well documented (www.brighthubeducation.com). These child beauty pageants could be harming the future of our nations