“High heels aren't made for small feet” (Unknown). Beauty pageants are outdated. They objectify women and young girls, treating them as sexual objects. They create in these girls an inappropriate body perception about themselves, which can lead to eating disorders and harmful dieting rituals. Also, starting pageants at such young ages can cause physical and mental problems for the girls and women, as they grow up. They can create feelings of overconfidence or even lack of confidence, which can lead to depression and even suicide. These psychological disorders can last a lifetime. These pageants are also very expensive to enter into, and to equip and prepare for, taking limited resources from potentially more productive uses that could benefit …show more content…
the girls in many ways. What all of this really means, is that beauty pageants are bad for young girls. Beauty pageants became popular in the 1880’s, so they are very much outdated, and objectify women. Such pageants should be ended for many different reasons, including the objectification of women and young girls. Pageants start when girls are very young, and the girls are forced to participate without really having a choice. Also, pageants sexualize women as a form of entertainment and they promote standards of beauty that are unrealistic in real life. Society then expects these unrealistic feminine qualities to become the new normal. Women are expected to wear makeup and dress in skirts, and to act in certain ways that may not be natural to them. Beauty pageants, such as the Miss America Organization, have made contests into a form of entertainment by sexualizing young women, and are just a way for people to make money off of the women. Dorothy Poteat, the Director of Southern Elite Pageants, said that a “glitz pageant six times a year can easily run $10,000” (Panetta). Participating in these beauty pageants may be impacting participants psychologically. Having young girls being involved in early sexualization can impact that child emotionally. Before anyone decides to get their kids involved in these competitions, it is important that they consider the possible long lasting impacts, to which participation may lead (Hassan). The beauty competitions tend to put a strong focus on appearance rather than inner beauty (“Long Term Effects on Woman - Beauty Pageants”). Children who take part in beauty competitions are brought up putting a huge deal of focus on their outer appearances, which can cause substantial emotional and psychological damage. Children learn their values when they are young and when they compete in beauty pageants they grow up thinking that a woman's worth comes mostly based on how attractive they look. Girls in the competitions, and even girls who watch these pageants on TV, are learning that they need to look a certain way to be attractive enough for other people (Hassan). This is an example of inappropriate body perception. Beauty pageants may boost the kids' confidence, but that can also cause the kids to become narcissistic. Of course, all kids need some love and affection, but the participants receive an overwhelming amount of attention. These kids are constantly receiving attention and compliments from their parents, the audiences, and the coaches (Hassan). The kids' can grow up having the “princess syndrome” where they think they are better than all of the other kids' around them and think they should be treated like princesses. This can cause them to not be well liked by others in school. Being disqualified or losing in a beauty pageant can often lead contestants to depression, and can even lead to suicide. When the girls lose the pageants, they often think to themselves, “am I not good enough?” or “am I a loser?” Those thoughts can be the beginning of self-hatred, which can eventually lead to depression in the participant. If this is something that is repeated over, and over, this type of abuse can have a long lasting, negative effect on a girl's psyche. The idea that everything that kids' do in the pageants is judged, can really have a long term effect on them (“Long Term Effects on Woman - Beauty Pageants”). This can cause the participants to suffer depression if they lose. Long lasting depression can, in time, lead to suicide or attempted suicide. Children who compete in the pageants are put in these competitions by their parents, and that just is not fair. The children are too young to know what they are signing up for, yet they are being set up for a certain way of life that essentially takes away from them a "normal childhood." The children are required to practice their walk, stay in shape, dance and even perform singing routines. A previous participant, Brooke Breedwell, has come out and is now advising other parents not to put their kids through what she had to suffer. The parents force their young girls to wax their eyebrows, shave their legs, wear sexy outfits, and they even do teeth bleaching. They have their kids wear heavy makeup and flippers, which are fake teeth for kids that are missing their front teeth. It has changed from a time when innocence and missing teeth were considered cute (Hassan). Beauty pageants can be very expensive and use money that could benefit the contestants in other ways, such as for education, or even for things that may actually be fun. Just to enter into the pageant can cost a participant over $400. There are also many other costs that need to be paid, including costs for expensive dresses, sometimes several different costumes for the events that each contestant needs to wear, and for lessons on different aspects of pageantry that can help a contestant to victory, or not. A glitz dress, one that is supposed to catch the eye of a judge, can cost about $4,000. Each costume can cost $300 to $500, and may only be used one time. A coaching lesson can start at $50 per lesson, and can go much higher for top coaches and each lesson is only an hour long (Chan). They also need pictures for the pageants. One of the types of pictures used is a head shot, but they can be super expensive. These photographs are done by professional photographers, who are in high demand. They charge very high rates for the photography, and there are additional costs for makeup and the outfits used in the photographs. There are also expenses for travel that include hotel stays, gas or airlines flights, car rentals and numerous other travel expenses. So all this all gets pretty expensive very quickly. A 2005 study in the Journal of Treatment and Prevention, found that there is "a significant association between childhood beauty-pageant participation and increased body dissatisfaction." Participants in a beauty pageant put a great deal of pressure on themselves as to how they are perceived by other people around them. That pressure can lead to body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa and body dissatisfaction are already a growing problem in America, especially among young girls. Anorexia is an eating disorder that causes people to obsess about their weight and what they eat. Anorexia can even become deadly in some cases. Eight out of ten girls that are ten years old in the United States have been on a diet. 42% of girls in first through third grade want to be thinner and 37% of those girls have already been dieting. Participation in competitions such as child beauty pageants can only further add to feelings of body dissatisfaction among young teens (Hassan). While competing in beauty competitions, many girls are encouraged by their parents to go on a strict diet to fit into small dresses. This causes the kids involved to learn unhealthy eating techniques very early on in their lives, which can eventually contribute to the chances of them developing an eating disorder later on in life. Dieting can have a major effect on a child's body. Dieting can cause the child to not grow properly because the body needs a variety of healthy food in order to grow and that does not mean just eating lettuce (“Is Dieting OK for Kids”). The age at which girls are starting to diet is alarming. Beauty pageants promote an unrealistic image of beauty.
The judges at pageants expect the contestants to be skinny, beautiful with a lot of make-up, and to be wearing something “sexy.” This causes the girls to grow up and think they have to be super skinny, wear make up, and wear “sexy” looking clothes in order to look pretty. If the contestants are not thin, physically beautiful, or even perfect, then the judges will pick someone who is, in their eyes, beautiful. Beauty pageants, like Miss India and Miss World, definitely promote that type of unrealistic expectation of beauty. Promoting an unrealistic expectation of beauty can cause anxiety among many (“Body Image Issues). This is wrong because people are able to look naturally beautiful, without being skinny and wearing all that make up. Placing young girls into beauty pageants sets an unrealistic body image in their heads.
Young girls in pageants are judged by their physical beauty and not by any other qualities. The judges do not judge by the characteristics that the contestants have on the inside, they only really judge them on what they look like physically. They judge by how skinny they are and if they fit the criteria on what they consider “beautiful.” People do not necessarily have to be beautiful on the outside because they can be the most beautiful person on the
inside. The image of female beauty promoted by beauty contests is culturally specific and western. The images that are promoted in beauty pageants are culturally specific because they use criteria from western cultures to judge the beauty of the contestants. For instance, Asian women must compete in the swimsuit competition in order to take part in the beauty contest. Wearing bathing suits is not considered appropriate dress in some Asian cultures, but the contestants are not allowed to just skip that part of the competition. In order to compete, they must endure, what may be to them, a degrading activity. One extreme example of this was in Bangalore in 1996. There were demonstrations against Miss World by feminists and Hindu nationalists, because many aspects of the pageant went against their cultural norms. Similarly, there were riots over Miss World 2002 in Kaduna in northern Nigeria, when the pageant was held there. These riots left more than 200 dead and led to the contest being moved to London. Although these events do not always lead to such violence, they are still problematic because they sometimes violate other culture's morality (“Beauty Contests Are Harmful”). Beauty pageants are not good for young girls who should never be placed in such competitions. Beauty pageants objectify and sexualize women and young girls and are outdated for our modern world. The pageants can create an inappropriate body perception in the participants and can cause long lasting and harmful physical and mental problems that can lead to depression and even to suicide. These pageants are also very expensive and waste limited resources that could better be used for more productive uses to benefit the girls in many ways. What does all of this really mean? Beauty pageants are bad for young girls.
“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
Most young girls like to play dress up in they’re mother’s clothing and messily put on old makeup at least once when they are young. This is all in good nature for the child to express them self’s and have fun with it; after all they are just curious. But pageants are not harmless fun, they take innocent dressing up to a whole new level with fake hair, professional caked on makeup, fake eyelashes, spray tans, fake teeth, and tons of embellished outfits that are sometimes vary improper. With all of this the kids also have to learn routines and poses that are also sometime not appropriate for young girls. According to Wiehe, “to the child, a message is given that sexuality- expressed in clothing, makeup, and certain postures- is appropriate and even something to exploit.” (493) I’m sure not all young girls will come up with this message, but for some that have been doing pageants for years that might think that their only self worth is their body
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.
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.
The effect that beauty pageants have on American women is overlooked because of the popularity of the event. I do not blame the pageant completely for the insecurities of women, but, it contributes to their insecurities. It is not fair that women who are 100 pounds are favored over women who are 130 pounds because they are slimmer. If beauty pageants are not banned at least stop televising them to the millions of public viewers. Society can be very influential when it comes to the appearance of women. Women should not feel like they have to reach certain standards or they will not be accepted. A women’s beauty should not be based on their weight, and height. Beauty comes in all sizes, shapes, and
Child beauty pageants have been a part of American society since the 1960’s. These pageants consist of modeling swimwear, evening attire, dance and talent. The young children entered in the pageants are judged on perfection, confidence, capability and looks. Judges would call this “the complete package.” Children are divided into different age groups to make the pageants fair. They are guided by there parents who spend well over 200 dollars for the pageants. Money is spent on fake nails, hair extensions, makeup, clothing, eyebrow waxing, and anything else their parents are willing to do to make their child the best looking. Keep in mind that these little girls range from ages 1-12. The issues with these pageants are that these extremely young girls are beginning to compare themselves to other “prettier” girls, which leads to negative effects in the future.
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...
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?
“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.
Now let us know the other side of the story. Others argued that beauty pageants promote self-esteem. Facing other people is not easy. Only few are capable enough that can face the crowd with great confidence. It is indeed in beauty pageants that women gain confidence. It is in beauty pageants that allow women to be empowered. They are given the chance to meet other people. Meeting those new faces will boosts their confidence. It is in meeting those new faces and seeing people happy and proud on what they are doing on stage that they feel that they are given importance and they are idolize. It is also their time to show to others their hidden talents. It is in beauty pageants also that they want to prove to all that they can overcome their shyness in facing different types of people.
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.
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)
" Money, ratings and attention fuel the pageant/dance media machine, with parents and adults reaping the benefits. Purpose of Child Beauty Pageants For these young pageant girls, brains before beauty is not the case. Real-world priorities such as schooling, family, and friends are trumped by tiaras, makeup, and evening gowns. More value is often placed on being beautiful in the eyes of the judges, than on each girl’s individuality.
Can anyone actually justify judging someone by their physical appearance? Although parents enjoy seeing their little girls in the spotlight all dolled up, most children don’t enjoy the pageant experience as much as the parents, and this vicarious living is dangerous, and the pageants have the capability of exploiting the children. Beauty pageants have a background of treating women disrespectfully and as if they are not equal. Women’s bodies are seen as objects of beauty, as if we are just here to parade around for others. Today’s pageants are still set up in the same direction, even for the youngest contestants.
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.