Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Effects of child beauty pageants
Essays on child beauty pageants
Essays on child beauty pageants
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Effects of child beauty pageants
Child beauty pageants have become quite the topic of conversation over the years, with the constant debate on whether or not they are harmful to the youth. With heavy makeup, revealing clothing, and an overwhelming emphasis put upon one's appearance, there is one question that still remains about these competitions. Are they really worth it in the long run? Unfortunately, many child beauty pageants these days are demoralizing and unhealthy for our children. They create this mindset where the only true quality to get far in life will be how one looks. However, if rules and regulations are applied to these competitions so that they are more focused on the social and educational aspects, kids could actually benefit from them. Children will get to compete, while the …show more content…
However, many former beauty queens can vouch that being in the correct programs have taught them many valuable lessons. In an article by Sabrina Nooruddin, a former pageant competitor, she defends the competitions that she has competed in and hopes to bring light to the controversial activity. She argues, “The pageants that I participate in, coach other young women for are scholarship organizations that require women to be poised, elegant, talented, and well-spoken.” This just proves the potential these competitions can give children, yet some organizations are still not steering in the right direction. With the constant sexualization and dramatic changes in the youth that are exposed by beauty pageants, it creates this idea where being cute and flawless is the center of the competition. Now, what needs to happen is for these organizations to find a happy medium where our kids can still compete and perform in pageants, without the harsh extremes that come with
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...
...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.
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.
McDowell, Kayla. “Child beauty pageants: big no-no.” Comp Blog. N.p., 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 31
In this 21st century, it is not odd to see beauty pageant competitions all around the world. Atlantic City was the first to introduce beauty pageant in the 1920s. The world of pageantry was introduced when the business owner need a source of attraction for tourists after Labor Day. This business started with swimming suit competition and later added as the years passed by. In the 1950s, pageantry became famous when it was aired on television. However, in the 1970s, this competition received negative press due to the Feminist Act. The age limit for beauty pageant range from 0 to 18 and this has been going on for over 50 years (Williams, 2010).
Many children are involved in pageants, and many varieties of people have different opinions. Some people feel that they are good, others not so much. Opinions vary from person to person, and reasoning also varies. But, the real question for this topic is "are these pageants good for them in the long run?"
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.
"How Do Child Beauty Pageants Affect a Child's Development?" Everyday Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 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
Beauty pageants are linked with an immense variety of negative effects. These children are trying to be someone that they are not. The effects on these children can escalate quickly and affect them their entire life. When a parent first enters their child in a pageant, they do not think about the negative consequences they could have on their child. No parent wants to experience the tragedy that the Ramsey family did. Although some children do gain things from these pageants, the majority of them are harmed. The effects from these pageants range from eating disorders and body image problems to social and psychological problems. If there are not regulations put on these pageants in the near future, our young children are going suffer from growing up to fast. When will people learn that looks are not everything and we should let the kids be kids?
" 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 ... ...
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...
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)
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.
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.”