Mayra Fajardo Caroline Henderson Ap Seminar 25 January 2024 Should the US provide age restrictions on beauty pageants for minors? Right now in the United States, there are beauty pageants for children who are a couple of months old to adults who are in their late 50s. According to Oxford Bibliographies, “While child beauty pageants have existed in the United States for decades, they were thrust into the media spotlight after the 1996 death of a child pageant star JonBenét Ramsey. Since then, pop-culture attention has intensified as documentaries and television series have focused on the American subculture of child beauty pageants”(Friedman 2021). After incidents such as the JonBenét Ramsey case, people have started to question child beauty …show more content…
According to the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network, RAINN, “Every 9 minutes child protective services substantiates, or finds evidence for a claim of child sexual abuse”, One in 9 girls and 1 in 20 boys under the age of 18 experience sexual abuse or assault”(RAINN). According to an excerpt taken from the Internet public library, child beauty pageants are making the situation mentioned above a possibility and allowing others to view these young children as older than they are by the actions they take on stage. According to the Hofstra Chronicle, one convicted pedophile in Canada, speaking of a popular child beauty pageant show, was quoted as saying “It’s legal eye candy that nobody will admit.” If we allow these pageants to continue in the United States, we are damaging the future of these children and exposing them to inappropriate themes such as sexual concepts and abuse. In addition to this, these children deserve a chance to live their childhoods with the innocence, experiences, and activities they deserve. …show more content…
Many will still argue that child pageants should be allowed up to any age, and that banning them might be considered unconstitutional. However, this action would not be considered unconstitutional due to the fact there are age regulations and laws on almost every matter and the US does this to protect minors' bodies and mental/emotional states. There are age restrictions on alcohol consumption, nicotine use, voting, and many more. In addition to this, some might say that many young girls and boys do genuinely enjoy beauty pageants and do it out of their own free will. According to the Telescopic Newspaper, this can be true but it does not mean it is beneficial for them or their development due to all the exposure and risks that come with child beauty pageants. In conclusion, beauty pageants should have an age restriction of 16 years old and above because of the repercussions the children will face later in life that they can not foresee at such a young age. If this law is broken, there could be a penalty of up to one year in prison and a $150 fine. In
Two words: reality TV. We’ve all been there before watching endless hours of personal drama and documentary shows that never cease to be jaw dropping hilarious to downright shocking. But did you ever think that a reality TV show would display all the horrors behind all the glitz and glamor? Toddlers and Tiaras a child pageant reality TV show, displayed to the world what families will do to get the title of “Ultimate Grand Supreme”. Vernon R. Wiehe in the article “Nothing Pretty In Child Pageants” argues about the damage that child pageants could do to the kid that is participating in them. I agree with Wiehe that there is really nothing beautiful about child pageant’s in the way that nothing in pageant’s seems age appropriate for a young child,
...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.
Beauty pageants that involve children are a booming industry and growing fast in popularity. This is partially because of television shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and Living Dolls, which glorify pageants that threaten the innocence of childhood. According to Lucy Wolfe, “in 2011, three million children participated in pageants across the country” (454). With so many children, some as young as six months old, partaking in pageants and countless more aspiring to be pageant princesses, a closer look needs to be taken at the practices that are used to prepare them for the show. Often working long hours, not only prepping for the pageant but also performing in it, the children have no laws protecting them from being harmed or exploited. There are multiple negative effects associated with pageant participation law makers need to take action and find a way to regulate the trends of these controversial displays that sexualize young children.
When I hear the word toddler I think of little girls walking around in mommy’s shoes, and miss matched clothing (because she’s getting to the age where she likes to dress herself.) And of course a cute smile that’s missing a few teeth. The word glitz, glamour and sashes don’t come to mind. Nor does the image of a little girl who’s fake from head to toe. Wearing wigs, flippers (fake teeth), inappropriate /reveling attire and fake tans. I don’t think of little girls dancing around a stage in front of hundreds of people getting judged on their “beauty.” Well, that is exactly what children’s pageants consist of. Pageants exploit a child for their outer beauty, their talents and over all perfection or as pageant judges would call it having” the whole package.” I bet pedophiles think the same thing and find these pageants very entertaining. And most of all, I don’t want to see a mother trying to live out her dreams through her three-year-old child.
Fake hair, false teeth, spray tans, and waxed eyebrows are just a few things that some of these girls have when preparing to compete. The competition consists of young girls competing for the crown of beauty. Attention starved moms put their daughters in older aged attire and layer them up with makeup and glam to compete for the winning title. The judges pick for the most beautiful girl wins the title, a sparkly crown, a trophy, and cash. Even though beauty pageants teach children to compete, child pageants are affecting children’s childhood because the children grow up faster than they should and it teaches young girls that their true beauty doesn’t exist and they should dress and act older to make people think they are beautiful.
"Could Child Beauty Pageants Be Banned in the USA?." Asbury Park Press. 22 Sep. 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
“Based on statistics about 5,000 child beauty pageants are held every year and about 250,000child contestants are participating” (Occupy Theory). Beauty pageants obtain the purpose of growing skills and confidence for contestants. Over the years, beauty pageants have gone over the top for young contestants because parents will do anything to win even if it means exposing their child. Beauty pageants may bring the physical beauty out of your children but pageantry is only neglecting your child because it brings these negative effects and pageants are only teaching children that the physical beauty will get them anywhere in life.
Imagine you are at home, watching tv. Flipping through the channels, you see a preview for next week’s episode of Toddlers & Tiara’s. They show the girls dressed in frilly, sparkly attire, fake teeth, fake hair, fake tans, and makeup that could transform their faces into someone in their 20’s. These children are usually misbehaving, disobedient, overdramatic and they are between the ages of four and six. Any person could see that this lifestyle is incredibly harmful to these children not just because of what it does to their appearance, but what happens when these little girls’ minds become tainted with the thoughts of needing to be beautiful and talented in order for people to like them. They also learn that being beautiful means doing whatever it takes to make yourself look perfect, even if it means that everything about you is fake. At the same time, when these little girls are dressing up for these shows, they are being put in outfits that could be worn by strippers. This draws attention to sex offenders and pedophiles, which could potentially end up in something tragic. Claude Knights, the director of child protection charity Kidscape, says, "We do know that predators or paedophiles continually tend to justify their interest in children by saying children are sexual beings. That children are now given a channel to become little Lolitas, to be portrayed as older, to almost become mini adults – these are all trends that give legitimacy to that kind of thinking." In the end, children’s beauty pageants are essentially harmful to both young girls safety and minds.
The first reason that Child Beauty Pageants should be put to an end is that the behavior of parents are abusive as they sexualize their children in order for them to gain success. Although, many parents are against the decision of hitting children, the case has become worse at child Beauty Pageants. Types of action are being made for refusing to wear or do something they do not wish. According to ABC News, a pageant mom, whose daughter is only 9 years old got her daughter to wax her eyebrows after her eyebrows ripped off because an accident previously. The daughter pleaded and cried to her mom that she does not want to tear her eyebrows, but yet never paid heed to her daughter and still got them done.The mother had stated that she would
Picture this, your child is being administered shots to prevent wrinkles at the age of eight. This is something a mom did to her eight year old child for a beauty pageant. The worst part about all of this is that the mom said it was pretty common in the child beauty pageant community. Children should not be being administered shots, but instead they should be going to the park and having fun with other kids. The life that these children live is stressful and not a life that young children should be experiencing at such young ages.
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.
With the murder of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey in 1996, whether or not the contests should be available for children has sparked off a lively debate.(“JonBenet Ramsey Murder Fast Facts,” 2015) While many consider that messages of beauty pageants do not help children develop correctly since the origin of the beauty pageants are not to encourage women to show their virtual beauty to the public, but rather entertain people by dressing in different types of clothing. Others maintain that some contests have evolved to also incorporate personality, intelligence, talent as judged criteria. With the fact that the promotion of an ideal of adult feminine features from beauty pageants adds to the pressure on the children to conform to it, this
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. The pint-size stars pile on fake hair, heavy makeup, and even false teeth before taking the stage. Many kids wear revealing clothing that critics say aren’t age appropriate.” (Anastasia, Laura) Pageant participants range from ages six months to sixteen years, depending on what competition section they are a part of, and participate in categories of swimsuits, talent, evening wear, and themed costumes. Most girls at these young ages wear overalls and pigtails rather than slinky ensembles and fake hair that overwhelms their features. Not many young girls have the opportunity to dress up in fancy clothes and flaunt what they can do, but there are other pains that come with such moments that can be uncomfortable and confusing to these children, yet to look good they are compelled to grin and bear it. “Four-year-old Karley stands in her
Parents should know what is best for their children as they grow up, and should know what is right or wrong for young children to do. Competing in child beauty pageants can affect a child’s development because it takes away children, childhood by forcing them to act and look like adults. Child beauty pageants started in 1921, it allows children under 16 year of age to express themselves such as dressing up and dancing. Parent still seems to force, and not knowing the affects on the child. Parents should know that by letting their children join beauty pageants can exploit and also sexualize young girls.
There are over 100,000 beauty pageants held in the United States every year, and over 2.5 million girls, ranging from ages zero to mid-twenties all across America compete in these competitions. A bountiful amount of people all over the world feel that beauty pageants are degrading to women and objectify them. I support these pageants to an extent. I do not feel that toddler/ child beauty pageants are okay considering they teach girls at a young age that they have to compete to look better with other girls. The youngest you should be to compete in a beauty pageant is 12. At this age and beyond I feel that beauty pageants are a valuable thing since they teach you life lessons on how to be healthy, confident, and informed about current events.