Child Pageants

Throughout the average kid’s childhood, children are taught to respect education, and that appearances do not define a person. However, beauty pageants interfere with this mindset. A Beauty pageant is “a contest in which people judge a group of women or girls and decide which one is the most beautiful”("Dictionary."). There are 2.5 million girls that compete in the hundred thousand beauty pageants held each year. Child pageants were first started in 1921 when the Atlantic City hotel owner came up with the idea that would help tourism. The Little Miss America pageants began in New Jersey in the 1960’s. Originally pageants were designed for ages thirteen to seventeen, but since there were too many people, they had to make age groups (“Statistic
Brain”). By entering a child in pageants, parents are teaching children that they have to go far and beyond to look better than everyone else. Although beauty is good, it is not healthy to make a kid believe that being the prettiest child is the most essential thing in life. Child beauty pageants should be banned for setting impossibly high beauty standards for children at such a young age, which can cause emotional scars for the rest of their lives. For example, beauty pageants may appear to be the best way to build confidence in young children. However, pageants have many emotional and physical effects on kids. Child beauty pageants frequently force parents to make their child lose weight, so that they can wear smaller outfits or show their body off in swimsuits. Other crash diets are to improve energy and enthusiasm levels. The diets are usually formed from eating sweet snacks and drinking sport drinks for many days prior to competition. These unhealthy eating methods are causing children to have eating disorders by educating them with bad habits (Villines). “An eating disorder is any of several psychological disorders (as anorexia nervosa or bulimia) characterized by serious disturbances of eating behavior”(“Dictionary”). A research was found that women who have attended beauty pageants as a kid had a greater dissatisfaction with their body (“Child Beauty Pageants”). The average body mass index of a pageant girl went from 20.8 in the 1930’s to 18.9 in 2010 (“Statistic Brain”). Young girls are going to the extent of removing lower intestines so that they can process food faster. Some are even having mesh sewed to their tongue to prevent from eating solid foods (Briquelet). It is said that seventy-five percent of pageant contestants have been involved in harmful activities towards their bodies (“Long Term Effects on Woman”). Also, participating in these beauty contest cause children to begin to have depression and anxiety symptoms (“Connectusfundadmin”). According to Tammy McDaniel, “ Nine out of ten girls ranging from ages fourteen to fifteen claim to have suffered depression and six percent say that life is not worth living anymore”(“Long Term Effects on Woman”. The huge amount of stress left with these kids by the constant nagging of their parents to look and to be the best, is the main cause of these horrible problems("Child Beauty Pageants”). Also, Pageants require a family to spend thousands of dollars on each beauty pageant, which could become a financial problem. Sometimes parents are spending as much as three-thousand to five-thousand dollars on a single pageant. The amount spent on each individual by their parents is just enough to make their daughter have a chance at winning a beauty pageant. Contestants are usually more likely to win a contest if they spend more money, and the fees of the pageants is only increasing every year. Winners of these pageants receive cash rewards that go directly into paying for the next contest and usually they are less than what parents pay for makeup, clothes, and training (“Connectusfundadmin”). To participate in a beauty contest, contestants have to include fake nails, eyelashes, hair extensions, teeth whitenings, eyebrow waxing, and large amounts of makeup. Also, breast implants and butt padding are incentives to help their look (Lindsey). The cost of pageants place a huge amount of stress on parents who are putting out more money than they have to spend (“Connectusfundadmin”). The cost of training is also a huge part in a contestants success in pageants. The training allows children to go through several ideas that help build confidence and to decrease the chance of anxiety among them. It also helps to provide a lot of information on how to answer a question during the “dreaded final question”. Headshots and image consultation classes are also taken in addition to modeling, talent enhancement, platform development, fitness and nutrition classes (Ahamad). Practicing and preparing for pageants takes up a lot of time that kids could be using to play, sleep, or do school work (Padmore). No matter what the cost is and how the child feels, parents will do anything to coach their child to be the best. Additionally, Children who participate in pageants are exposed to forms of sexuality that they are not physically ready for.
With the amount of makeup, photoshopping profiles, exuberant quantities of hair extensions, and the constant perfecting of a child’s body, people are forcing adulthood way to early. Children at this age don’t understand what a contest means and what they are truly putting themselves up for (Padmore). The parents of these children are responsible for educating their child the difference between what's right and what is wrong. Instead the parents of pageant kids are teaching the young girls that behaving and dressing like an older women is appropriate (“Stonybrook”). “Sexualization is the tendency to view oneself as a sex object”(“Dictionary”). Sexualization is shown when young children are being thrown on stage in costumes that are presenting a sexual impression to the audience that causes unwanted attention. Many of the dresses worn by these young girls are barely covering their thighs and most of the swimsuits worn are body wear that even grown women should not be presented in. Costumes are also making young girls appear and behave more like a grown-up than their true age(“Stonybrook”). While it may seem that the crowds at these beauty pageants are only consisting of only family and friends, there's no promises that strangers with bad attentions are at these pageants. The guy in the back of the room videotaping could be a relative, but also could be
a pedophile (“Staff, Parenting Today”). Children at this age don’t understand who could be in the audience watching and what the pedophile may be planning on doing. Not only are parents enforcing the maturity and sexual looks on their kids, but also ads and television shows are beginning to target young children. Last summer a french clothing company called “Jours Apres Lunes” began to start producing a child loungerie. The company made thin and revealing undergarments, which were beginning to sell to infants as young a three months old. Also shows like Honey Boo Boo, Dance Moms, and Cheer Perfection are influencing children to act and dress like this by basing the shows on vanity and looks (Morgan). These shows have a huge influence on these young children who look up to the girls on these television shows and ads as their role models. None of the looks these young, talented children are wearing should be flaunted to the public which parents are forcing the girls to do. From another viewpoint, beauty pageants are also considered to be a boost in confidence and give valuable life lessons to the participants.
Confidence is built in pageants because of their performances and interviews in front of large crowds. Performing in front of large crowds allows the girls to get rid of stage fright. Also recognition is valued in pageants to help build confidence because contestants are rewarded for their hard work. Pageant rewards include talent, speech, commercials, modeling, and community service (Shappert). These rewards show that you have to have some talent to win. Also these young children have to have a huge amount of discipline to succeed in beauty pageants. Self-control and discipline are necessary for these girls if they want to continue to follow the strict dieting and exercising they are responsible for each pageant. Another reason pageants can be considered good is that they teach the same values as sports. The values promoted by contests include goal setting, dedication, and sportsmanship ("9 Chief Pros and Cons of Beauty Pageants”). Although young girls gain confidence when they win the pageants they participate in, children who never win pageants self-esteem becomes lower. This can cause further damage to the child's mental stability in the future. Also confidence can be built without putting a child out and sexualizing them in public. A boost in confidence can also make them become selfish and eager to win, while not worrying about
others and their feelings. Also the discipline put on these children that are too young to realize what they are being put in are to strict. Parents can discipline kids to stay healthy without forcing children to constantly be on diets. Sports,however, are different considering they teach kids to work together as a team not on themselves. Lastly, children can learn the value of sportsmanship and dedication without having to worry about having the best body and appearance.
Given these statistics, beauty pageants appear to cause more harm than good to these children who participate in them. Instead of constructing passionate, optimistic girls who want to reach their highest potential, pageants are promoting these continuous financial schemes that depersonalize women and younger children (Lindsey). Appearance does not define a person, although pageant children are forced to think of how perfect they are constantly because pageants make them. Pageants are depriving their kids of the essential educational qualities that would help their young child become passionate young individuals. Pageants are sending a message that can affect a child’s growth and also often cause eating disorders and depression. Beauty pageants have no significant advantages and therefore have no purpose, and should be banned for setting such high standards for young children.