pageants

Pounds of makeup, clouds of hairspray, false lashes and exotic hairstyles. This seems to be the perfect description of a Barbie doll right? No, nowadays this is what we call a beauty pageant contestant. Young girls will use a Barbie doll as a source of inspiration and this is perceived as completely normal in the eyes of society. Among other things, girls are judged on individuality, poise, perfection and confidence. But are these really things a 5 or 6 year old should be thriving to achieve? Young girls should not be allowed to participate in beauty pageants because they are taught the wrong values from an early age, they affect the emotional and mental health of its participants and most of the time, parents try to live through their kids.
Firstly, young girls should not enter beauty pageants because it teaches them the wrong values from an early age. We all know beauty pageants are all about the glitz and the outrageous costumes. This, however, causes girls to use artificial means to be beautiful, teaching them that looks are the most important asset to possess. Doing this is wrong because they will grow up with that same mentality and suffer from a variety of self-esteem issues. Also, while participating in these pageants, girls don’t learn the value of money. "When being prepared for these pageants, you need a fake tan, fake teeth, fake eyelashes, fake hair and dresses ornated with diamantes along with other jewels." (Kareen Nussbaum) This all costs between 5 and 10 thousand dollars, and, for these girls, it’s normal. They are so used to have their parents spend an immense amount of money on them in order to participate in these pageants that girls expect their parents to do so every day. "A child is not yet grown, they have not yet come to terms with who they are or what they really want. Give them the world, they will become spoiled." (Martina M. Cartwright Ph.D.) Teaching kids that constantly spending money where it isn’t needed will undoubtedly create bad habits in the future. Another thing beauty pageants teach is not to value friendships. For a lot of these girls, pageants become a full time job. At 5 or 6 years old, you’re supposed to be building healthy relationships with classmates or neighbours. Instead, they are constantly walking up and down a stage in ridiculous outfits, makeup and hairstyles. This teaches girls not to value the importance of friends because they never have time for any. In all, pageants teach the wrong values of life to its participants and should be banished.
Secondly, beauty pageants affect the emotional and mental health of its participants. To begin, the judging in pageants focus primarily on appearance, attire and hair styles. By doing this, it shows the children that they need to value their appearance in the eyes of others in order to become successful. For these reasons, girls train from an early age to value perfection. "Many experts agree that participating in activities that focus on physical appearance at an early age can influence teen and/or adult self-esteem body image and self-worth." (L, Sinpetru) "Consequently, this can lead to eating disorders and all kinds of destructive behaviours in girls." (Kareen Nussbaum) Another reason why pageants have an emotional toll on young girls is the great amount of pressure that is placed on them to be the best and win. As a result, they are exposed to high stress levels at an early age when they have yet to develop coping mechanisms. This could cause them to act out and throw temper tantrums because they still don’t know how to deal with the stress that is imposed on them. Kids at that age don’t know any better and will communicate through their behaviour. Lastly, another emotional and mental risk caused by beauty pageants is sexualisation. When entering kids in beauty pageants, they are expected to look like an adult would. Unfortunately, this sexualizes the children because they learn to gain attention and status when wearing revealing clothes. “By dressing young girls as mature women, the parents and organizers of these events are, however inadvertently, parading their children as objects.” (Myke Bartlett) By doing this, you send a message to the child stating that sexuality, expressed in clothing and makeup is appropriate and could even be something to exploit. "A young girl will learn this at a young age and carry it with her for the rest of her life, setting her up for depression and other mental illnesses." (Henry Giroux)
Lastly, kids should not be allowed to participate in beauty pageants because parents try to live through their kids. Parents who, at a young age, did not have the chance to participate in extracurricular activities because of their own strict parents, or lack of financial resources, usually have a tendency of living through their children. This happens often in kid beauty pageants, where we observe mothers yelling and ridiculing their children because they didn’t place as high as they would’ve hoped. "Parents seek fame and financial rewards from their child’s pageant achievements." (Zawn Villines) This causes them to overwork their kids. They spend an immense of time practicing and reciting, that they barely have time for anything else. This is what’s called achievement by proxy distortion. "It occurs when parents struggle to differentiate between their own needs and their children’s needs, and in order to achieve what they perceive as success, they may engage in risky behaviours." (Martina M. Cartwright, Ph.d.) Another reason why parents try and live through their children is because he or she might not have felt beautiful when they were younger. Due to this, they turn to extreme measures in order to make their child feel as beautiful as possible. The artificial beauty products used in pageants are not things 6 years old needs. But in the eyes of some, it’s necessary to insure success. In another order of ideas, parents get so competitive with other contestants mom’s that they feed their child unhealthy substances in order to keep them awake. "We see several parents giving their children caffeinated beverages and pixy stix candy to keep their energy levels high." (Kareen Nussbaum) Feeding young children with such foods will create bad eating habits in the future. In all child beauty pageants should not exist, because parents resort to extreme behaviours so that it insures their kid’s success.
In conclusion, children should not be allowed to enter beauty pageants because they are taught the wrong values from an early age, they affect the emotional and mental health of its participant and they cause parents to live through their children. Pageants focus primarily on looks, which teaches the next generation of kids to value their appearance in the eyes of others. By doing this, what are we really teaching our kids? Pageants bring no good to society so parents should stop entering their kids.

Bibliography
Bartlett, Myke (2008). "Sex Sells: Child Sexualization and the Media". Screen Education. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
Buildingatlantis, "Child beauty pageants: Right or wrong", (online), retrieved from http://buildingatlantis.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/child-beauty-pageants-right-or- wrong/, March 15th 2013. Giroux, H. A. (2009, May 11). Child beauty pageants: A scene from the “other America.” Truthout. Retrieved from http://archive.truthout.org/051109A, March 15th 2013.
Hansen, Rachel," Child beauty pageants are not ok", Retrieved from http://www.rachelhansen.org/1/post/2011/08/child-beauty-pageants-are-not-ok.html , March 15th 2013.
Nauert, R, "Child beauty pageants may be more about parents." Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/10/29/child-beauty-pageants-may-be-more-about- parents/46818.html, March 15th 2013.
Nassbaum, Kareen, "Children and beauty pageants", Retrieved from http://www.minorcon.org/pageants.html, March 15th 2013.
Sinpetru, L. (n.d.)" Child beauty pageants foster adult body dissatisfaction, eating disorders." Retrieved from http://news.softpedia.com/news/Child-Beauty-Pageants-Foster-Adult- Body-Dissatisfaction-Eating-Disorders-302540.shtml, March 15th 2013.
Villines, Zawn, "Beauty pageant and children: It’s not always pretty", Retrieved from http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/beauty-pageant-children-effects-1115127, March 16th 2013.

Bibliography: Bartlett, Myke (2008). "Sex Sells: Child Sexualization and the Media". Screen Education. Retrieved 18 March 2013. Buildingatlantis, "Child beauty pageants: Right or wrong", (online), retrieved from http://buildingatlantis.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/child-beauty-pageants-right-or- wrong/, March 15th 2013. Giroux, H. A. (2009, May 11). Child beauty pageants: A scene from the “other America.” Truthout. Retrieved from http://archive.truthout.org/051109A, March 15th 2013. Hansen, Rachel," Child beauty pageants are not ok", Retrieved from http://www.rachelhansen.org/1/post/2011/08/child-beauty-pageants-are-not-ok.html , March 15th 2013. Nauert, R, "Child beauty pageants may be more about parents." Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/10/29/child-beauty-pageants-may-be-more-about- parents/46818.html, March 15th 2013. Nassbaum, Kareen, "Children and beauty pageants", Retrieved from http://www.minorcon.org/pageants.html, March 15th 2013. Sinpetru, L. (n.d.)" Child beauty pageants foster adult body dissatisfaction, eating disorders." Retrieved from http://news.softpedia.com/news/Child-Beauty-Pageants-Foster-Adult- Body-Dissatisfaction-Eating-Disorders-302540.shtml, March 15th 2013. Villines, Zawn, "Beauty pageant and children: It’s not always pretty", Retrieved from http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/beauty-pageant-children-effects-1115127, March 16th 2013.