Summary Of The Article 'What Are We Teaching Our Girls'

March 6, 2014
English 102
Annotated Bibliography
Annotated Bibliography
Cartwright, Martha. What Are We Teaching Our Girls? New York City: Sussex Publishers, 2011. Print. In the article, What Are We Teaching Our Girls, Martha Cartwright starts by describing the history of beauty pageants. She states that the first pageants were not only about judging contestants on their outward appearance. The pageants also judged contestants on how respectable they were as a person. She says that beauty pageant winners once were viewed as positive role models for younger girls. They were models to show young girls what a well-rounded woman should be like. These role models were used to show girls that being beautiful on the outside is not everything
and that internal beauty is equally important. She continues to say, that as the competitions became more popular the pageants became more intense. Many girls involved in these pageants will do almost anything in order to win and be better than the next girl. She states that because of the continuously growing intensity of the beauty pageants more and more girls are developing a negative outlook about themselves. She believes that today’s beauty pageants are wrong because a child’s adolescence is a time when they should be molded to become strong and confident teenagers and beauty pageants are destroying that. She ends the article by saying beauty pageants are stripping young girls of their innocence and causing long-term damage. This article may be the most useful of all the articles I have found thus far. It have a bountiful amount of information. Lunman, Kim. Beauty Pageant Winners Are Not Good Role Models. Detroit: Green Haven Press, 2006. Print. Kim Lunman wrote the article, Beauty Pageants Winners Are Not Good Role Models, in 2006. In the article, she discusses the negative effects of beauty pageants. She believes that childhood pageants can alter a young girl’s self-worth and body image. She proves her beliefs by referring to a study that was conducted in 2005. The study showed that girls participating in beauty pageants had higher rates of dissatisfaction when it came to their bodies. Lunman goes on to speak about personal encounters she has had with former beauty pageant contestants. She speaks about the obstacles she has had to help these girls overcome. Some of these obstacles include eating disorders. The girls admitted to being trained at a very young age to value attractiveness, thinness, and physical perfection. Lastly, she speaks about the pressure and stress put on young girls by beauty pageants. They live their lives with the idea that they are constantly not good enough if they do not win, which often causes children to suffer from emotional breakdowns. She closes the article by saying she believes these girls are hindered in life because most of them think they achieve anything other than being beautiful. This article is also going to be useful to my research paper because it includes very good information not found in other articles I have found. Merino, Noel. Introduction to Beauty Pageants: At Issue. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Print. Noel Merino wrote the article, Introduction to Beauty Pageants: At Issue, in 2012.
She takes a neutral opinion about beauty pageants and sheds light on some positive effects surrounding beauty pageants as well as the negative on young girls. In the article, she writes about the different types of pageants. The first pageant discussed is one that involves contestants performing a talent and participating in an interview in order to win a prize aimed toward their education, such as a scholarship for college. The second type of pageant talked about is the pageant based only on the physical appearance of the contestant. These types of pageants often do not contain an education prize to the winner. She argues that the second type of pageant objectify young girls and make them believe that only outward beauty is important. She then opposes her statement by saying there is no reason that young girls should be ashamed of flaunting their physically beauty. I think this article has potential to be useful in my paper. It gives both a positive and negative view of beauty
pageants. Reed, Billy. Child Beauty Pageants Should Be Ended. Detroit: Green Haven Press, 2010. Print. Billy Reed wrote the article, Time to End Child Beauty Pageants, in 2010.
In the article, he provides information about the negative outlook on child beauty pageants. He states his belief that child beauty pageants exploit young girls who are entered in them. He states that many of the girls will have a distorted view of themselves, which can eventually progress into major issues such as bulimia or anorexia. He also states that many of the young girls enrolled in the pageants wear clothes that are too mature for their ages. He believes that by dressing up children in provocative outfits and having professional hair and makeup done this will attract pedophiles. After he announced his two main points, he ends the article by saying he believes that no one under the age of eighteen should be allowed to compete in these beauty pageants. This article will be very useful for my research paper because it correlates with the argument I am
supporting. Bletchly, Rachal. Innocent Dressing up or Sexualizing Young Girls? United Kingdom: Mirror News, 2010. Print Rachal Bletchly wrote the article, Innocent Dressing up or Sexualizing Young Girls?, in 2010. In the article, she speaks about a pageant in which two-year-old children had to partake in a swimsuit portion of the beauty pageant. She believes this is inappropriate for children so young to be flaunting around in bathing suits and this kind of activity will attract pedophiles. She goes on to interview one mother whose children were entered into the pageant. The mother stated that she saw nothing wrong with beauty pageants or a swimsuit portion for younger contestants. She claims that there is no difference between being on a stage in a bikini and being at a local beach. She then goes on to say, although, she does not have a problem with beauty pageants she would never allow her daughter wear fake hair, nails, or teeth. She then interviewed a psychologist named Linda Papadopoulos. She states that beauty pageants disturb her greatly. She feels like it is very unhealthy to show young girls that the most important thing about themselves is their outer appearance. She mentions a study conducted. In the study, it was proven that girls who were in beauty pageants had negative body image of themselves. This often leads to girls being in abusive relationships due to not being able to stand up for themselves. This article will be useful in my paper because it includes interviews with people who are directly involved in the child beauty pageant world.