Are Beauty Pageants Harmful For Children?

Zinzi Williams explains the downsides of pageantry in “Do Pageant Children Behave Differently than Other Kids?” The central claim is that there are many psychological differences between children who compete in the world of pageantry and children who don’t. Williams states the minor claims that children who compete in beauty pageants put beauty ahead of schoolwork and play time. Her other minor claim is that beauty contests affect the way the children who compete view their bodies and there overall appearance. She states that statistic that if there are 20 girls competing in the pageant, that each contestant only has a 5% chance of winning, which is very slim! Williams explains that in her research she found that on WebMD, a medical website,

Imagining if one day you saw your five year old daughter with a full face of makeup and high heels. Now she looks like a miniature adult. Not only is she a miniature adult, but now she also is very self conscious of herself and has an eating disorder at five years old. Child beauty pageants have some pros and a of lot cons to them. Also, they can affect a child’s development. One should consider that child beauty pageants can lead to a lot of mental health issues for kids at a very young age.

Why is that we are told everyone is beautiful in their own way, yet society pressures our women to be prettier than the next. Women are taught as little girls that outer beauty is more important rather than inner beauty but there is more to life. Every little girl has fantasized about being a princess and can have a chance in doing so if she participates in a beauty pageant. An estimated 250,000 children participate in child beauty pageants every year, and the number is only rising because of shows like TLC’s “Toddlers and Tiaras”. The industry is now one of the largest growing businesses in America, and on average beauty pageants are grossing over 5 billion dollars.

Are child pageants dangerous? This question can most likely be taken in two ways: literally or defensively. In some cases, this chain of events can cause intentional conflict with a child’s self-esteem. Many controversies have gotten rid of the child pageant world due to jealousy and other outrageous reasons caused by parents and competitors.

Pageants with beautiful little girls that look as if they could be in their twenties can catch the eye of anyone. Dating back to the 1960’s when beauty pageants first started out, young girls have been participating in them, showing off their looks and talents to the world. Ever since the beginning, pageants have been very popular and the popularity is always growing. Most people watch the movies and tv shows about it and even attend these pageants and do not see anything wrong with what is going on. However, these pageants are harmful to the little girls and cause body image and self-esteem issues in the adult years of the competitors. As you watch the pageant as it is going on, you never think of what the outcome of these little girls will be like in 10, 20 or even 30 years. Makeup, hairspray and spray tans are extremely harmful to the skin and health of anyone let alone a small child. These girls grow up with body dissatisfaction when they are applauded on how gorgeous they look with their hair and a face full of makeup. Sooner rather than later they begin to feel as if they are not good enough without the aide of makeup, tan skin and beautifully done hair. Whether it is a current problem or something that is going to come about later on in life, child beauty pageants are harming the lives of little girls all around us. The focus on appearance, issues in adult years and being forced out of their childhood are the three most harmful

I remember being home one day, surfing through the television channels. I stumbled on TLC, and saw a show named Toddlers in Tiaras. The show is about child beauty pageants and all the work children have to do, and also all the money parents put into it. It portrays how crazy some moms could be, and how spoiled some children are. Beauty pageants can boost confidence and self-esteem, but it is degrading to women all over the world. Only one part deals with intelligence, but that doesn’t prove anything. Someone could easily come up with an answer out of thin air, say it out loud and everyone would think she is brilliant because of how much words they say. Child beauty pageants deprive children of their childhood. Parents become obsessed with winning and they take away the joy that their children could possibly have while in or preparing for a pageant. The controversial question on beauty pageants is: Does competing in beauty pageants adversely affect child development? My answer is yes it does, and in the following I will explain why.

There is nothing wrong with little girls wearing cute pink dresses and walking down a stage to perform a few adorable stunts or tricks. However, there is everything wrong when these actions could potentially lead to long term damages in young girls. And therein lies the problem with child beauty pageants, they have the potential to create long term issues for the many of the female children who are asked to participate in them. This is the stance that “Toddlers and Tiaras” takes regarding the issue of child beauty pageants; the author of the article, Skip Hollandsworth, asserts that “many psychologists believe that developmental and emotional problems can stem from pressure and value system that pageants embody” (493). Hollandsworth in her

‘It’s on you, the whole thing, all the money, all the work. It’s on you’. This is what one mother said to her 4 year old daughter before sending her on stage. Imagine if you had a beautiful little girl and you decided to spray tan her, dress her provocatively, tweeze her eyebrows, give her fake hair, nails, teeth and pounds of makeup. Is this really how a little girl should be raised?

Dazzling dresses, sparkling jewelry, and perfect makeup sounds like every girl’s dream, right? Sadly, these are just a few of the things that are used to lure children into the clutches of the detrimental world of pageants. Child pageants may seem to be fun and games, just look pretty to win a prize, but the damages it can do to a young girl brings new light to the subject. Parents are submitting their kids to be judged by fully grown adults, based solely on their child’s incredibly altered appearances. These parades of artificial beauty can lead to both low self-esteem, an inflated self-image and irregular growth in the developing children involved.

I. It is 6:00 a.m. on Friday morning, and Sharon is about to awaken her two year old daughter, Jessica, to prepare for a 4 hour car ride. Jessica has not gotten much sleep in the past few days due to long hours of practice and is now very cranky. The only time Jessica will get to nap is during the 4 hour drive but then must stay awake the rest of the day. They pack the car with numerous suitcases all containing loads of make-up, hair supplies, and costumes, all for Jessica. The family has a long and busy day ahead of them. Sharon is one of the many over-demanding parents who put young and innocent children into beauty pageants each year.

Critic and former pageant star Laura Brown has made her stance clear on the issue, arguing that they force children to be too sexy too soon. The TLC show Toddlers and Tiaras has shown some of the crazier sides of pageantry, including a mothers who have sent their little girls on stage in a Madonna inspired bra, butt pads, or even worse, a full blown hooker costume. Laura laments that while these examples might seem over the top, there is definitely some truth to it. During her pageant career, she found herself being pressured to wax her eyebrows, tan, stuff her bra, diet for the swimsuit and wear padding underneath her clothing, all before the sixth grade. She explains to the Huffington Post on 2015 that a huge focus during competitions are aiming to make participants look as old as possible. According to Brown, “If you're telling a 6-year-old to act like a 16-year-old, you're telling her to be seductive and to be sexy." [author P7]. Similarly, the president of Minor Consideration, Paul Peterson, has also worked to stress this point to parents, he told the [] that the extensions, midriff bearing tops, and fake nails are “feeding the sex industry,” [P4]. And that it “only encourages the already tremendous trade within juvenile

Dating back to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, the standard of “ideal beauty” was looked upon very highly. Now, the idea of following the societal standard of beauty seems to take over the lives of young children and teens. Beauty pageants for young children have been rising in fame through some famous reality TV shows such as “Toddlers and Tiaras.” Young children as young as three enter into these contests with the pressure to win and compete with other young children. While some people say that child beauty pageants teach young girls and boys about confidence and to work their very best, I think it is wrong for young children to be participating in these pageants. Today, young girls and boys are constantly being bombarded with the pressure to look and feel beautiful and the last thing they would want to do is fake a smile and stand pretty for an extended period of time. Are we going to continue to let these pageants sexualize young children?

TLC’s Toddlers and Tiaras takes this too far, sexually exposing children in the world of child beauty pageants, which produces and disseminates the idea of hegemonic gendering about girlhood and girl identity” (TLC’s Toddlers and Tiaras: Way Too Much or Just Enough?). Young girls are being taught at a young age that beauty is what gets them further in life. The idea that the most beautiful is always the happiest and most successful. Editor Maggie Furlong, touches about how the show really alters the minds of young girls, “’ Facial beauty is the most important thing, in life and in pageants,’ Daisey Mae says, almost too matter-of-factly. And she also has some advice for parents looking to expose their children to the pageant circuit: ‘If you think your kid is ugly or sumpin’, you might not want to do pageants because you’re not going to win or anything.’”

Beauty Pageants over sexualizes little girls at a young age. As it seen in “Toddlers and Tiaras” a show by TLC show, little girls are being sexualized at a young age, by introducing them to hair extensions, make up, flippers (fake teeth), sexualized dresses. According to Paul Peterson, president and founder of A Minor Consideration, beauty pageants are “feeding the sex industry (Agadoni).” Girls are not physically ready to wear make up or hair extensions, and all of that just hides the natural beauty of a child making them more self conscious about themselves at such a young age. Little girls are going to think of themselves as not beautiful because they hide their real selves behind a ton of make up.

Imagine you are at home, watching tv. Flipping through the channels, you see a preview for next week’s episode of Toddlers & Tiara’s. They show the girls dressed in frilly, sparkly attire, fake teeth, fake hair, fake tans, and makeup that could transform their faces into someone in their 20’s. These children are usually misbehaving, disobedient, overdramatic and they are between the ages of four and six. Any person could see that this lifestyle is incredibly harmful to these children not just because of what it does to their appearance, but what happens when these little girls’ minds become tainted with the thoughts of needing to be beautiful and talented in order for people to like them. They also learn that being beautiful