Child beauty pageants have existed for many years, and at first they were considered innocent dress up games. It was not until the T.V. show Toddlers and Tiaras aired that the industry received national attention. The multibillion dollar industry depicted two year olds with wigs, spray tans, waxed eyebrows, and inappropriate attires catering to the audience that craves young faces in the entertainment business. These type of competitions can have negative impacts on a child’s life. Child beauty pageants are harmful for young girls because they can be subject to exploitation and promote unhealthy ideals, damaging their self-esteem. Child beauty pageants are not a new phenomenon. Michelle Healy, a health and wellness reporter for USA Today, traced back the competition’s roots to find that they have “been around since 1880” (n.p.). Child beauty pageants are competitions that are primarily based on the physical attributes of the contestants. In the beginning, only older participants were eligible to participate. Now they extended the age requirements and toddlers, only a few months old, are able to participate. This has not only increased the competition, but also made parents more eager to start training their kids at an even earlier age. Recently, they have included more categories such as special talents, community service, costume and dance. First of all, child beauty pageants can be harmful to children because they can be subject to exploitation. Martina M. Cartwright, a
In conclusion, beauty pageants aren't good for kids at young ages. By competing in these pageants, young girls are sexualized by adults, the kids are too young to say no, and too much hairspray is bad for their health. Children should no longer be forced to compete in these types of events. It is not
Title The popular show, Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC, might be amusing to watch now, but once the viewers find out the ugly truth to pageants, it will make them never want to watch again. The stress, the jealousy, and getting compared to others causes many unhealthy, life-long disorders, that all pageant parents should be aware of. For example, as these girls get judged on who's the prettiest out of their age group, they are losing confidence in themselves and building up body image issues as they don't go home with 1st place. These girls parents are paying over a thousand dollars just to get told they're not pretty enough and as the winner gets praised, they are ashamed that they weren't good enough.
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.
“Toddlers and Tiaras” was a hit television show that premiered on the channel TLC on December 12, 2008. “Toddlers and Tiaras” ranked up a number of two million viewers per episode, which went on for seven seasons. This show was so successful that a sequel called “Another Toddlers and Tiaras” aired on August 24, 2016. “Toddlers and Tiaras”, not surprisingly, took a look into the lives of young pageant queens and what goes on behind the stage and all the makeup. Many, but not all, young girls love to dress up and wear their mother’s high heels, but this trend has been taken up a notch in the last few decades with prizes and money now at stake. Some people consider, what is being called child beauty pageants, cute, while some believe that it is disgusting and ruining children. In this article, the different viewpoints on child beauty pageants can show as to why it can affect a child’s development positively and negatively.
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.
A Child Beauty Pageant is a beauty competition among children under 15 years old. These competitions are divided into different sections, includes talents, casual and swim outfit, interview,Evening wear and theme outfits. Beauty pageants make children to believe that without heavy make-up, fake lashes, wigs, expensive outfits and also white teeth, they will be one of the ugliest and weirdest child in society, it teaches children that they have to be fake until everyone like them. Because of the many detrimental effects on young children, society needs to abolish child beauty pageants.
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
Beauty pageants have been around in America for decades; however, they have not gained notoriety until the show "Toddlers and Tiaras" aired on national television. The airing of "Toddlers and Tiaras" has brought child pageants to the attention of many Americans. Not many people were aware of what took place in beauty pageants, but ever since the show debuted in 2009 there has been an intense controversy about children as young as newborns being entered into pageants. Some people say that pageants raise self-esteem and teach responsibility, whereas others say that pageants are necessary and children should take advantage of their youth. Although pageants teach etiquette and communication skills, ultimately they carry a vastly high
Can you imagine little girls doing catwalk with heavy makeup on the stage? Can you imagine those girls wearing miniature ballgowns in high heels? However, these can be seen frequently in child beauty pageants, the beauty contests for participants who are 16 years old or younger. Although some people may believe that beauty pageants can help boost children’s self-esteem. However, I believe that the problems with child beauty pageants outweigh benefits for the following reasons: they put financial burden on families, mislead children’s values and do damage to their physical health.
¨Child beauty pageants are a form of child abuse, since they exploit children and place them in harm's way. The children who participate in beauty pageants are often hurt by the experience, suffering damage to their self-esteem and later developing eating disorders, like anorexia, due to skewed values about their bodies. Additionally, dressing children up with adult clothes and makeup appeals to sexual predators, placing them at risk of falling victim to a pedophile. Because of these potential dangers to children, no one under the age of eighteen should be allowed to participate in beauty pageants.¨ (Reed) Puffy dress, high heels, spray tans, hair extensions, inappropriate dancing for judges, energy drinks, abusive parents, a competition based
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.
“It doesn’t matter if you can breathe. All that matters is if you look good”. Just Googling the search term “beauty pageants coming up,” will result in 2,710,000 results appearing in 1.18 seconds. Children are the fastest-growing segment of the beauty pageant market, with annual children's competitions attracting an estimated 3 million children, mostly girls, ages six months to 16 years, who compete for crowns and cash. Infants, carried onto the stage by their mothers, are commonplace. April Brilliant, reigning Mrs. Maryland and the director of Maryland-based Mystic Pageants, says pageants give little girls a chance to "play Cinderella." However, playing ‘Cinderella’ can cause children to develop insecurities or self-hatred if they don't
The TLC Show, “Toddlers and Tiaras,” is not an accurate representation of all that goes into preparing children for pageants. The show dramatizes the mostly the negative side of childhood beauty pageants. It depicts competitors that want to win strictly based on appearance. Despite the bad reputation that beauty pageants have, they equip young men and women with skills and opportunities such as chances to win scholarships, improving self-confidence and promoting social skills.
Child beauty pageants have been a part of American society since the 1960’s. These pageants consist of modeling swimwear, evening attire, dance and talent. The young children entered in the pageants are judged on perfection, confidence, capability and looks. Judges would call this “the complete package.” Children are divided into different age groups to make the pageants fair. They are guided by there parents who spend well over 200 dollars for the pageants. Money is spent on fake nails, hair extensions, makeup, clothing, eyebrow waxing, and anything else their parents are willing to do to make their child the best looking. Keep in mind that these little girls range from ages 1-12. The issues with these pageants are that these extremely
Imagine seeing a little girl, no older than eight, walk on stage with her beautiful, blonde hair curled so perfectly behind her, her teeth as white and flawless as those seen on dental commercials, and an impeccable mound of makeup caked on her face making her appear to be in her early twenties. She is wearing the most stunning pink, shimmery dress that has been tailor made to fit every detail of her body. The reaction of most people is, wow she is a very beautiful young girl, but what most people do not realize is that behind that beautiful little girl is a young child who does not get to live a normal life like the average eight-year-old. There is no going to the park and swinging so high that she gets butterflies in her stomach or hanging out with friends and playing with dolls. Instead, it is long, countless hours of rehearsals and dress fittings, hair and makeup, and time spent in a tanning salon to create the perfect golden skin color. Children beauty pageants should be banned because of the sexualization of young girls, risk of mental and health problems, no time to just be a kid, and the sole factor that these kids are too young and unknowledgeable to say no.