Persuasive Speech – Beauty Pageants Should Be Banned
Did you know that in this year alone, 2.5 million girls will compete against each other and will be judged based on physical appearance and physical skill? These girls that starting at the age of not even one year old are being taught at such a young age that physical beauty and capability are the only ways to win. I’m not sure about all of you but I’m really struggling to see any positives in that at all.
Good morning/afternoon Mrs Spencer and classmates. As most of you may know, my name is Jemma and today I will be talking to about why I believe there are no positives to beauty pageants and that they should be banned.
According to the Australian Oxford Dictionary, the term “Beauty Pageants” is defined as a public entertainment that consists the parading of people that will be judged and graded.
JUDGED.
That word alone should be enough to send alarms to the society of today. These young children are being taught that external beauty all that matters and that the only way to lead a successful life is by hiding behind a pretty face and this IS NOT okay.
Argument One
It is a generally known fact that beauty pageants can be blamed for many cases of psychological problems such and eating disorders.
Statistics show that 60% of children who have been involved in beauty pageants have psychological problems later in life.
This comes as no surprise when you consider the fact that many of these young girls have been told since a young age that physical beauty is the only way to win. This has often led to pageant children feeling they are not good enough and they will go to extremes to improve themselves. Much like the modeling and fashion industry, pageant contestants have turned to...
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...wrong. As I said before, cases such as eating disorders and lack of understanding of the real world in these young, naïve children are traced back to previous pageanting.
What kind of people would think that to instill false ideas of beauty into our youth’s minds is okay?
This just goes to show the lack of understanding and empathy these people feel once they realize there is money in this certain industry.
Conclusion
As I have told you countless amounts of times today, Child Beauty Pageants have no positives and should be banned. Not only do they cause mental illnesses such as eating disorders but they also prevent these young children from living a normal life; both by illuminating childhood activities, or to the extent of death.
It is reasons like these that should lead us all to agree, that child beauty pageants should be banned completely.
Thank you.
“A small study published in Eating Disorders the journal of treatment and prevention, that involved 22 women” (Hollandsworth). Girls are choosing unhealthy ways to stay fit and what they call the perfect size just to have a big appeal to the audience when at pageants. The encouragement of this behavior can lead to many body complications and disorders for these girls as they develop, only because they are not truly developing as an average young lady. “A 2007 report issued by the American Psychological Association Task force on the Sexualization of girls claims that parents who put their daughters in beauty pageants can contribute in very direct concrete ways to the precocious sexualization of the daughters” ( Hollandsworth). There has been research to prove that the actions of the young ladies is not all on their own, they have assistance with getting prepared for competitions and what to perform in competitions. Parents add more than what is necessary and can have a negative impact and not even know they are making matters worst than what they have to be. “Kiddie pageants are flourishing. Fueled by a reality TV show, an estimated 250,000 American girls participate in more than 5,000 beauty pageants every year” (Hollandsworth). Exploitation of these young girls is the “NEW BIG THING” to see and enjoy. Adults would rather watch little girls flaunt themselves
Children of any age are very impressionable and research has been to conclude that the “social acts of a person in later life are a direct correlation of the social network they grew up in,” (Cairns, 2010) Child beauty pageants damage the child’s health, for it can cause cognitive, physical, and psychological problems to the child (American Psychological Association, 2010). According to American Psychological Association, young girls are becoming sexualized in the media and have found that women who have participated in beauty pageants as a child were 39% more likely to suffer from an mental disorder; 28% are currently living with an eating disorder (APA, 2010). William Pinsof, a clinical psychologist and president of the Family Institute at Northwestern University states, “Being a little Barbie doll says your body has to be a certain way and your hair has to be a certain way. In girls particularly, this can unleash a whole complex of destructive self-experiences that can lead to eating disorders and all kind...
One professional psychologist and registered dietician has warned that competing in the beauty pageants may lead young girls to feel that the approval and love of their parents is based solely on their looks and whether they win a crown at the pageant or not. Losing in a pageant category may generate lower feelings of self-worth in young children who do not know how to properly cope with loss at such a young age. Additionally, there are countless examples of women who as children participated in beauty pageants and began stressing at a young age while attempting to maintain an impossible ideal of perfection. Many of the young girls who cannot keep up a perfect look will begin to feel body shame, depression and may even develop an eating disorder. In fact, one study was done on approximately 130 females who had participated in beauty pageants.
Beauty pageants have caused an increase in mental and physical issues in young girls who participate. Participation and competition for a beauty prize where infants and girls are objectified and judged against sexualized ideals can have significant mental health and developmental consequences that impact detrimentally on identity, self-esteem, and body perception ("We must protect our kids from the catwalk of shame."). If young girls don't win, they might take it personally and get hurt feelings. The child might end up feeling unattractive or inadequate ("Child Beauty Pageants Pros and Cons.") which can lead to the development of disorders such as bulimia or anorexia. ("How Do Child Beauty Pageants Affect a Child's Development?") These are both eating disorders girls develop to lose weight excessively. Furthermore, the average BMI of a beauty pageant contestant as of 2010 is 18.3 (Beauty Pageant Statistics), which is classified as underweight...
" In the end, children’s beauty pageants are essentially harmful to both young girls safety and minds. It may not happen to some, but most of the young girls that compete in beauty pageants seem to have a bit of an attitude towards their parents and other people who will not cooperate with them.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Depression certainly is not the only mental health disorder surrounding child beauty pageants. In Australia and New Zealand, psychiatrists are in favour of banning beauty pageants as they feel they are involved in the sexualisation of young children and promote body-concept disorders. The TLC television show ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’ has given a large scale of young girls the ‘Barbie doll body’ impression and influenced other pageant girls that to be successful as they are, you must false tan, spend hours curling your hair, wear false teeth, but most importantly, have the perfect body size. This creates a large problem as ‘the perfect body’ really does not exist and therefore leads to disorders such as anorexia or bulimia as young girls are just trying to fit
Child beauty pageants have changed so much since the 1960’s. Children beauty pageants used to be about the children and having fun. Now, it seems like most children are being forced in these pageants by their parents, looking unnoticeable from all the heavy makeup they wear, fake hair, teeth and nails they use. Children being abuse, sexualize, having self-esteem problems etc in these pageants. Many people have questioned this sport and wonder if it should be ban? In this paper, I have augured and provided facts and information on why children beauty pageants should be ban.
This ideology alone can send 10 year olds running towards eating disorders and expensive treatments starting a battle that they will suffer with for a lifetime. On mental side of the spectrum we see young beauty queens growing into teenagers who are in a world of confusion and disappointment. Also, tying into this is that fact that these pageants are most
Furthermore, various people argue that beauty pageants can be a form of child abuse. As stated by The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, child abuse is, “Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation.” A great deal of people believe these pageants often exploit and, in some cases, cause severe psychological damage to children. Beauty pageants set high expectations and ideals for physical appearance, which can be dangerous for a child. Being exposed to this at such a young age could lead to problems with their body image and increase their potential for developing eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia
Beauty pageants demand that competitors spend large amounts of money in synthetic enhancement. This is a poor focus for vulnerable girls and destroys the girls at a very young age. Beauty pageants convince girls that outer beauty is more important than inner beauty, which is totally a false claim. In this paper, we are going to talk about the pros and cons, whys and woes of pageants and if they are manipulative or valuable to kids. Even though that beauty pageants are a good way for girls to make friends. Beauty pageants are harmful to young children and they should not be able to compete until adulthood because beauty pageants teach kids that outer beauty is more important than inner beauty and beauty pageants pose a threat to the safety of children.
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.
(University of Kansas, U.S. Fed. Statistics show that 6% of girls in beauty pageants record having suffered from long-term depression, 9 out of 10 girls in pageants ages 14-16 admitted to feeling suicidal tendencies or depression, and it is largely caused by the desire to be thin. Facts/Statistics-Child Beauty Pageants The question is, is this a proper place for young girls where they are encouraged to act and look as mature as adults? “These pageants force kids to grow up too quickly.
I believe that beauty pageant are an ugly spectacle in which young women are judged based upon their looks and sometimes their “talents.” Often times these beauty pageants are extremely stressful on people and especially the younger children. The beauty pageants are made up of a bunch of fake girls who use many beauty products and aesthetics to make themselves look better. A lot of the time when young children it’s not because they want to it’s because their parent(s) want them to be and they have no choice. There is also tons of money that goes into beauty pageants and a contestant rarely sees much of it back.
Do beauty pageants really help girls find their inner beauty or do they just change into faulty beauty queens? Looking deeply into what these competitions really create out of a person, anyone can quickly find that the contestants aren’t all rainbows and butterflies. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. Pageantry changes some girls for the better, but can also change them for the worse. Young girls should not participate in beauty pageants because they apply too much pressure by judging females based mostly on their physical appearance and can cost up to thousands of dollars.
Pageants have a way of exploiting children by changing their looks and attitudes to make them more adult like and entertaining; dressing children in bikinis or provocative costumes just to be judged by how well they wear it and how pretty they are is demeaning and cruel. Children should not be taught that looks are everything and you get everything you want in life because when they're older it will be harder for them to accept reality. Imitating the fashion and looks of an adult is not how a child should grow up. A parent should want their child to grow up knowing that they are naturally beautiful and their personality and smarts can get them far in life rather than beauty beats brains, correct?