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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. 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) Some cons might be that if the child does not win, they may get upset and they might end up feeling unappealing and undesirable, pageants can be very expensive and then, of course, is the entry fee and the costumes are extremely costly, you will most likely have to pay someone to do your child’s hair, makeup and tanning. Some pageant moms can be pretty mean; some moms think their child should win every time. When the child does not win, they may place the blame on the judges or even the di... ... middle of paper ... ...le do thing that they do is a good way to prepare for such a career.” In the end, pageants have their good ways and their bad ways. Some parents put their kids in pageants to prove that they are better than others, but other parents do it for their kids to make lifelong friends. (Cromie, 2000) So in the end, they may not be terrible. I do not think little kids should be allowed to do pageants, but when they are older and know better it is okay. We have talked about pros and cons and whys and woes and why pageants should be banned and whether or not they are exploitative or beneficial. So the question still remains; Are beauty pageants harmful or beneficial to young children? Who is to say whether or not they are good or bad? Maybe one day down the road, all these tiny tots that are doing pageants now will grow up to be doctors and lawyers and help for greater good.
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.
Pageants have been around for a long time. In the past, pageants were an interactive way for girls to display poise and to compete against each other in different categories. Nowadays pageants have transformed completely. Young girls are being treated and made up as if they were women or dolls. On the TLC show, Toddlers and Tiaras, we begin to see this trend happening. Girls as young as the age of two to fifteen months are being put into these pageants and are shown off to the world as “role models” to other children. The show starts off with a glimpse of the young girls’ lives. We see how they interact with their families and we get a feel for how they live. Most girls display all their trophies and how well they do in each pageant. All of these young girls display attitudes and throw temper tantrums throughout the show. Parents spend an enormous amount of money for each pageant on things like dresses and make up. Other children who watch “Toddlers and Tiaras” might be impacted due to being the...
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.
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 ... ...
...ppease to audiences. I believe pageants are bad for children and young girls because of the severity it causes them with low self-esteem, and the pressure to be perfect.
... Pageants 'About Parents Feeling Good, Not Kids). A few parents will even go as far as to deny their children essential things such as food or naps. If the child were allowed to take a nap they would be risking messing up their hair and makeup and possibly having to do retouches. As for food, it may cause bloating which would then lead to a less than perfect body in the swimsuit portion of the pageant (Could Child Beauty Pageants Be Banned in the USA?). Instead, the parents will give their children around ten Pixy Stix, also known as pageant crack, to keep their energy levels high. If the Pixy Stix alone don’t work, the child will also be given an energy drink to help amp them up (O'Neill). Pageants can be a huge source of stress for the children involved. The long demanding hours and lack of sleep mixed with the constant need to be perfect begins to take a toll.
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...
Kendrick, C. Ed.M. LCSW. (2011). Are beauty pageants bad for children? Life, Retrieved June 20, 2011, from http://life.familyeducation.com/emotional-development/girls-self-esteem/41305.html
One thing America has taught its youth is that you need to have ambition for something. That is clearly evident in beauty pageants. Pageants give young girls a chance to experience a competitive atmosphere at a young age which is very beneficial. Most kids don’t have the maturity and drive to be dedicated to an activity so time consuming. These girls have learned to love what beauty pageants bring to them and take full advantage of what they learn. Beauty pageants aren’t all about beauty. They require kids to have a talent which can potentially lead to a successful career. It teaches them confidence which is crucial to have in the workforce to stand up or yourself. Gaining self-confidence at a young age will definitely benefit a child as they will be more open to opportunities presented to them in the
Beauty pageants have been a competition in society as long as anyone can remember, whether it is formal or informal. From one girl comparing herself to a magazine, judging another when changing in the locker room, or attending a full, all out, extravagant and official pageant; it is really all the same. In this case, the direct topic being discussed is if beauty pageants are exploitive for young girls. Considering the stories on the news and reality television shows that display the craziness of it all, it is safe to say that entering in any young girl to beauty pageants is a brutal way of raising a child and does not hold any positive benefits in the long term.
When entered into a beauty pageant there is a talent portion and swimwear/active wear categories, by having these portions of the contest we are teaching our girls to use their bodies to feel beautiful. A majority of the young girls who are doing the talent portion of the pageant will dance for their talent, these girls are taught to use their cute smiles and sometimes sexual movements to impress the judges to get a crown as representation of their beauty. Over the years a controversy of the swimwear portion of the contest has made an impact to the point where teen pageant competitions now have active wear instead of swimwear in a way to promote a healthy lifestyle that all the girls must have. Even with the switch to active wear girls are still being taught to idolize their bodies, “many of the young women with eating disorders were trained at an early age to value physical perfection, thinness, athletic prowess and attractiveness”. ( Cartwright, Child Beauty Pageants: What Are We Teaching Our Girls?) Another issue that Cartwright brings up about what we are teaching our girls is we are teaching young girls to strive for the wrong form of attention. These young girls are learning that the best kind of attention comes from the way you look. That the outward appearance is what matters, vs whats inside. Pageants also teach girls the wrong form of competitiveness, pageants are teaching them to compare themselves to the girl standing next to them and try to be more beautiful than they are. On the contrary some pageant parents will state that “competing in beauty contests is no different from playing a sport, which also requires time and money and puts intense pressure on young competitors…. like young athletes, little beauty queens learn discipline,and feel great pride in
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.”
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.