Society’s Standards: Causing Girls to Change Themselves

792 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social media and its effects on body image

Recently, the conflict of young girls portraying characteristics of women is increasing. Because of media influences, children are beginning to look and act in ways that mimic the lives of adults; the information they are learning is nowhere near age appropriate for these children. Girls are being taught to focus more on their appearance. They are being taught from a very young age that it is most important to be skinny and look pretty. Girls are learning to treat themselves as objects rather than people, and allowing themselves to be seen as objects, they allow others to treat them that way. One program in particular, “Toddlers and Tiaras,” sexualizes young girls, and produces such thoughts due to the broadcast that it has to the world. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...these portrayed lives, and these girls want to become them. Parents do want the best for their children, but can’t fall into the media belief of what is “beautiful”. In the media, advertisements, and even the toys and clothing young girls wear, they all try to fit into the media’s standards. The effect of the media is precedent in how these younger girls develop faster then they should. With media being around everyday, the impact is emanating. Work Cited Abbasi, Jennifer. Live Science. 16 Jul. 2012. “Why 6-Year-Old Girls Want to be Sexy.” 20 Mar. 2014. Douglas, Susan. "Killing Us Softly 3." Jean Kilbourne, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. Mathais, Joan C. "Barbie Commercials across the Decades." Harvard University, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. Morgan, Mandy. Deseret News. 17 Nov. 2012.“Toddlers and Tears: The sexualization of young girls.” Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Toddlers In Tiaras By Skip Hollandsworth

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “Toddlers In Tiaras” Skip Hollandsworth purpose is to get readers to understand that pageants are teaching young girls to young women that the sexualization of their looks are their main value, leaving a negative effect on contestants physically. He believes parents are usually the main reason why young girls join the pageants to begin with so, he targets parents as the audience of his essay. To get readers to understand his point of view and to persuade them to agree with him he displays evidences from reliable sources using ethos, pathos and logos throughout the article.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Little Girls Or Little Women: The Disney Princess Effect

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect,” Stephanie Hanes covers the sexualization of young girls and women in every aspect of the media that influences children and teens. She explains that girls see media figures, movies, and sports being sexualized, and how this is causing children to associate looking and acting a certain way to being ‘the perfect women’. Hanes believes the hypersexualized media is causing girls to obtain a negative body image and it’s killing their self-esteem. The author proposes what she believes society should do about overcoming this obstacle, and how people can crush the stereotypes about women; to her everyone is responsible and should aid in fixing these problems. She explains that the media

    Read More

  • Commentary on Mary Finucane´s Article: The Disney Princess Effect

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    Little girls or little women, the Disney Princess effect, Author Mary Finucane started to notice her three year old daughter stopped being a child, she no longer cared about running, playing, she only cared to dress up and was “waiting for her prince”. Finucane argues that due to the media little girls are growing up to fast. She uses logos, pathos, and ethos to illustrate the deterioration of youth in little girls today. This topic explores the incline of influences towards young girls by the media on how they perceive the modern “Hot Look”.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Article 'Little Girls Gone Wild'

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    Erica Zhang Professor Nelson Intro to Mass Media & Communications 3/11/2013 Media Analysis Assignment In today’s media, the sexualisation of women has unfortunately also extended to young preteen girls, through a myriad of detrimental social constructs and internalized prejudices spanning centuries. The commodification of their sexuality is unnerving, as it encourages predators to project their fantasies onto unwilling participants that are too young to understand the nature of these harmful actions, and know how to escape or refuse them. In an attempt to shed light onto this issue as a concerned parent, Rachael Combe wrote the article Little Girls Gone Wild as a response to this sudden boom in increasingly sexualised behavior among and towards preteens. While her intentions remain sincere and her concerns as a mother legitimate, the article is flawed in the sense that she is not delving deeper into the causes behind this phenomenon, shaming the young girls for indulging in their outward appearances and for participating in a role that society has forced them into, instead of the predators that reinforce this sexualised image and make it something to be desired and aspired to.

    Read More

  • The Negatve Effects of a Little Miss Monster

    1822 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • How Do Beauty Pageants Affect Children

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How the Media Affects the Self Esteem and Body Image of Young Girls

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    The misconception of what is beautiful can be detrimental to young girls. In a television industry attempt to sell goods, they are depicted as sexy. Creating a need for parents to intervene and present a more realistic and normal view of physical beauty. Today, TV presents sexually based images crafted to appeal to young girls. Unfortunately, they are led to believe that their value is only deep, causing flawed expectations, illusions, and wrong information about the truth of the physical body in the real world.

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In Toddlers And Tiaras

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most of the audience would believe that these girls are overly concerned with their appearance and how people judge them based on them. In general, Toddlers & Tiaras provides a stereotype that all children in pageants are “dramatic divas” that are too young to be worried about how they look, especially girls. The world today is so centered around sexuality and beauty that in airing a show plotted around these values in young children is giving the wrong message to viewers, including toddlers themselves. Another stereotype given is the typical pageant mom, and how crazy they can be, in demanding their children to undergo drastic beauty measures and wear sexy costumes, even if they’d rather just play and be a

    Read More

  • Cannibalism In Peggy Orenstein's Cinderella Ate My Daughter

    442 Words  | 1 Pages

    She has visited Disneyland, American Girl Place, beauty pageants, and concerts. Many of these mainstream events and ideas are common to see in a child’s life and by using such well known companies the author allows the audience to make a personal connection to her experiences. She presents the ideas as how they are viewed generally, but also analyzes the deeper meaning behind those ideas. Along with the stories she tells, she provides “ample evidence that the more mainstream media girls consume, the more importance they place on being pretty and sexy” (Orenstein 16). Through the use of ethos, Orenstein builds character around her personal stories to persuade the audience of her point of view and how these ideas can objectify and be harmful to girls.

    Read More

  • The Decline of Self-image in Women

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, the female form has always been a prevalent source of artistic muse. The introduction of the modern photographic camera allowed the objectification of women to increase exponentially. In today’s society, women of all ages struggle to exemplify what is perceived as the ideal female form. Studies show that women – beginning in their mid-teen years – experience a steady degeneration of self-esteem relative to the level of dissatisfaction with their internal body image. The decline of self-image in women can be directly linked to several contributing factors including: film and print advertising, social media, and the early exposure of adolescent girls to overly-sexualized products and media.

    Read More

  • Mental and Phyhsical Issues Caused by Beauty Pageants

    1423 Words  | 3 Pages

    "How Do Child Beauty Pageants Affect a Child's Development?" Everyday Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014

    Read More

  • Toddlers And Tiaras: Feminist Criticism

    2945 Words  | 6 Pages

    Every once in a while when channel surfing, I have come across a show called “Toddlers and Tiaras”. This is a TLC hit reality TV show that follows families as they prepare their children to compete in a “glitz” beauty pageant. Not only are these children contestants between the ages months old and ten, but they are contestants that give off the self-image of a teenager. Stage moms are seen choreographing dance routines or hiring a choreographer to get the job done, to do what they came to do, which is to win!

    Read More

  • Reflection Paper On Miss Representation

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    For this reflection paper I would like to discuss some of the topics that were in the documentary Miss Representation. One of the issues that really stood out for me was the pressure that the media put on young women to look their best at all times. What was most important that someone stated that “no matter how accomplished a woman is, she is still judged based on her appearance.” This is very disturbing, because the media’s goal is to maximize profits and constantly get women and young girls to consume beauty products and diet regime products to live up to unattainable or unrealistic expectations. For this paper I would like to discuss self-objectification and how it have mostly negative effects on young women and girls.

    Read More

  • Beauty Pageants Essay

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.”

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Beauty Pageants

    1699 Words  | 4 Pages

    They are dressed up to look like adults and sometimes dressed provocatively. “Beauty pageants are a reflection of a culture in which women are not equal. Women’s bodies are not their own but are seen as objects of beauty for others.” (Nasso). Parents of the pageant world don’t always understand how provocative and wrong it is to dress their children up in show outfits or give the child additives to make them look better.

    Read More

More about Society’s Standards: Causing Girls to Change Themselves

Open Document