Pageants
Monica Murray
Ms. Minguez
Comp 1
April 16, 2013
Child Pageants are Exploitive Like anything, there are pros and cons to Child Pageants. Personally, I think they are wrong. The kids have to wear makeup at an early age, they take from their childhood, the pageants are solely judged on looks, and the costs are outrageous. The rebuttal is that pageants are supposed to promote self-confidence and be fun. Makeup utilization was intended for adults. When these young girls are getting ready for the pageant, they focus and stress over their appearance, which is actually unhealthy. A kid shouldn’t stress over anything at an early age. Kids deserve the chance to be an innocent child rather than stressing over their appearance. These pageants take life from their childhood. Kids should be running around playing, weather its playing a sport, playing outside on a playground, or just around the house. The “getting ready” process for the pageant is tremendously hectic even for an adult; from the hair, make-up, and dresses. Some parents even push their kids as far as spray tans, fake eyelashes, fake nails, and even sometimes false teeth called, “flippers”. When young girls are worrying about if their eyelashes are long enough or if their makeup is just perfect, they have no time to be carefree like kids should be able to. Pageants are exclusively judged on the looks and outer beauty of these children. Shouldn’t a person be evaluated on their inner beauty and personality? If a child doesn’t place in a competition, wouldn’t it lower self-confidence more so than them gaining it? When young girls focus their time on making their outward appearance look better, they take time away from strengthening their personality and education. The costs for these pageants are extremely expensive. “A glitz pageant six times a year can easily run $10,000” (www.creditcards.com/toddlers-tiaras-pageants-debt-costs-1278.php). Think about it, if a parent puts back $10,000 a year into
Ms. Minguez
Comp 1
April 16, 2013
Child Pageants are Exploitive Like anything, there are pros and cons to Child Pageants. Personally, I think they are wrong. The kids have to wear makeup at an early age, they take from their childhood, the pageants are solely judged on looks, and the costs are outrageous. The rebuttal is that pageants are supposed to promote self-confidence and be fun. Makeup utilization was intended for adults. When these young girls are getting ready for the pageant, they focus and stress over their appearance, which is actually unhealthy. A kid shouldn’t stress over anything at an early age. Kids deserve the chance to be an innocent child rather than stressing over their appearance. These pageants take life from their childhood. Kids should be running around playing, weather its playing a sport, playing outside on a playground, or just around the house. The “getting ready” process for the pageant is tremendously hectic even for an adult; from the hair, make-up, and dresses. Some parents even push their kids as far as spray tans, fake eyelashes, fake nails, and even sometimes false teeth called, “flippers”. When young girls are worrying about if their eyelashes are long enough or if their makeup is just perfect, they have no time to be carefree like kids should be able to. Pageants are exclusively judged on the looks and outer beauty of these children. Shouldn’t a person be evaluated on their inner beauty and personality? If a child doesn’t place in a competition, wouldn’t it lower self-confidence more so than them gaining it? When young girls focus their time on making their outward appearance look better, they take time away from strengthening their personality and education. The costs for these pageants are extremely expensive. “A glitz pageant six times a year can easily run $10,000” (www.creditcards.com/toddlers-tiaras-pageants-debt-costs-1278.php). Think about it, if a parent puts back $10,000 a year into