Child Beauty Pageants: Good, Bad, and the Ugly Imagine this, a six-year-old Mia is nervously waiting for her name to be called, just a few hours prior she begged her mom not to make her do this. Her mom bribes her with a new kitten that she knew Mia has been wanting for the past few months. Mia will do anything to get the kitten that has been promised to her if she does the pageant. Then, the show begins. Mia steps out onto the stage not thinking about the crown, kitten, or the judges, but she thinks to herself “am I beautiful enough?” Flippers (fake teeth), spray tans, hair and makeup are just the minimum amount of work that goes into preparing a young child for a beauty pageant. Young children who participate in these beauty pageants …show more content…
Nicole Hunter, a former child beauty queen competed in pageants when she was four-years-old. Hunter stated that “participating in beauty pageants forced her to confront her sexuality, which in turn lowered her self-esteem.” As Nicole was growing up, her mom would tell her that she needed to wear makeup when she did not have any on and talk about how she could improve her appearance making Nicole feel as though she is unattractive without makeup on her face. Nicole is one of many young girls and woman who now feel this way after being introduced to pageantry life at an early age. This illusion of being beautiful and winning the beauty pageants comes with a price as they children age to teenagers and then to womanhood. Situations like these cause beauty pageant contestants to question their natural beauty, and believe that without makeup they are not beautiful and being stripped of their identity. The pageant world is really cut throat and causes jealousy and hatred among other pageant contestants. “The thoughts of other contestants not liking others because they simply want to win the competition can cause for the contestant not to like themselves.” (“Long Term Effects”). Many thoughts of contestants not winning the crown are: Am I pretty enough or am I a loser? These thoughts can quickly lead young girls and woman to have self-hatred, which can easily lead to depression. Hunter also admitted that when she left the pageant industry she struggled with anorexia nervosa. The young ladies that compete in beauty pageants are not able to act their age. They have to grow up in an unhealthy environment that parents seem to think is acceptable. When parents have an attitude and belief system that can be detrimental to their child all one can do is hope the child turns out
Is it acceptable for toddler girls under the age of six to dress and act the way a twenty-six year old women would dress and act, just to participate in child beauty pageants? Young girls dressed in revealing clothing, being caked in make-up, getting fake tans, wearing fake eyelashes, teeth, hair, and nails, or even performing extremely mature routines are a few reasons pertaining to why it is unacceptable for toddlers to be in the modeling industry. Beauty pageants are very popular in the United States, and are growing rapidly (A Beauty Pageant Ban). Toddlers and Tiaras is a popular television show promoting children in beauty pageants causing contestant entries to rise. It’s estimated in the United States alone each year 250,000 children compete in child pageants of that, over 100,000 are girls under the age of twelve (Rapport). Out of the 250,000 participants in these beauty pageants, studies have shown that approximately half of these children are unhappy with their body and wish to go on a diet to fix their self image (Rapport). Youth pageants are clearly causing children to only focus on physical appearance and not the true beauty of the child's personality. Consequently, the negative effects on a toddler’s life, safety, mental, and physical health over power the benefits of toddlers participating in the beauty pageants.
In 2009, TLC aired a reality television show entitled Toddlers and Tiaras. It was instantly a hit with home viewers and also brought major controversy over child beauty pageants. The show focused mainly on glitz pageants; which requires all contestant, however young, to compete with make-up, spray tans, acrylic nails and revealing costumes. Many, such as I were entertained at first with the pint size Barbie dolls; however after watching a couple episodes, controlling stage moms and toddler melt downs reveal that glitz beauty pageants are nothing less than objectification and exploitation of young girls. Beauty pageants not only exploit children but are detrimental to the child’s physical, emotional and psychological health.
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.
McDowell, Kayla. “Child beauty pageants: big no-no.” Comp Blog. N.p., 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 31
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...
Beauty pageant consists of five sections where all contestants have to perform in order to win. Those categories are talent, casual wear, long gown or evening dress, sportswear and question and answer section. The way contestants dress up usually depends on the type of pageant and system of competition. However, they are allowed to wear makeup, have different hairstyles and wear fitted outfits. According to proven statistics, approximately 5,000 child beauty pageants are held per year and about 250,000 child participate in this glittery, full of glam competition. Based on statistical records presented by Women’s News, 72% of 100,000 beauty pageants hire pageant coaches every year in the United States. shockingly, 6% of these beauty pageant contestants suffer from depression because of the pressure put upon the contestants (OCCUPYTHEORY, 2013). As Ioannou(2011) has pointed out, the percentage of girls hospitalized because of eating disorder has increased tremendously by 270% over the past 10 years. Even participants at the age of seven years old have been diagnosed with...
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.
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.
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
When one looks back at their childhood, what pops into their head? For most people their response would be playing with dolls, going outside, or having sleepovers, but for others that isn’t reality. Britney, an eight-year old girl from California, spent her childhood getting Botox and competing in child beauty pageants. According to her mother, Britney had been complaining about wrinkles and agreed to trying Botox. This sounds absolutely crazy, but it is not uncommon. Over 250,000 kids participate in beauty pageants each year (Lindsey). These children, who start competing as early as age 2, are being judged on their looks, capability, perfection, and confidence. The controversies over these pageants have erupted in the past few years because of TLC’s reality show, Toddlers and Tiaras (Nussbaum). Many believe it is not right for young children to parade around on stage wearing make-up and inappropriate clothing, while others believe it builds confidence in children. Despite what people who are pro child beauty pageants say, these pageants can have major effects on the kids participating in them. One may argue that these girls gain much more than they lose, but in the end the negative affects far outweigh the positives.
The lights are intensely bright as they reflect off the stage, leaving numerous loud, edgy mothers in dim luminosity behind them. Six year old Cindy pounces into the rays of the spotlight with a sham smile, flaunting her rehearsed dance, facial expressions, and postures. She finishes with a brilliant beam and pose, thinking of how much she has gone through to be on that stage: the eye waxing, hair dying, extreme dieting, fake teeth, layers of make-up, clouds of hairspray, extensions that give her headaches throughout the day, and the hours of practice she is forced to execute. Up to three million child beauty contestants experience this scenario per year (O’Neill). Glitz beauty pageants exploit young children, teaching them that self-worth is in physical beauty only, while natural beauty pageants teach child contestants that natural beauty and personality is most important, encouraging them to be confident in who they are.
Imagine waking up early to get ready after weeks of rehearsals and spray tans, hours and hundreds of dollars spent on a short, sparkling dresses, heels, and at times revealing outfits. Kids are seated for hours to do hair and makeup, and last minute preparations; parents make sure they do not become impatient so, they hand their child a juice box to calm them down. However, this isn’t helpful for a 5 year old being forced to participate in pageants in order to make her parents happy and boastful that their child has won the “Grand Title”. Some parents, in order to win these prizes, have to hide their childrens’ imperfections with heavy make-up, spray tans, and flippers (fake teeth) to make judges see them as a flawless. Parents have entered their children into these activities before the age of one!
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.
Parents of the pageant world dont always understand how provocative and wrong it is to dress their children up in show outfits or giving the child additives to make them look better. Sadly, some parents find this ‘cute’ or ‘fun’. They don't seem to understand how doing this to their children can change their attitudes in a negative way as they grow up. For example, some parents have dressed their children up as Dolly Parton, the ‘street walker’ from pretty woman, and much more. A pageant mom quoted this “I’d rather she be perfect and have a little frozen face. Some people say her eyebrows look a little pulled already but they look striking” (Child Beauty Pageants are Abuse). This type of behavior from a parent should not be acceptable. Another pageant mom who is a trained beautician said this “I’ll make her frown before injecting, which helps identify a potential wrinkle.” (Child Beauty Pag...