Child Beauty Pageants

A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. ~ Rachel Carson The year was 1920. The First World War ended and the women’s movement began to take off. 1920 also marked the first year of the American beauty pageant. This was a groundbreaking year, as women from all over the United States were given the opportunity to show their talent, outer beauty and inner intelligence. Little did our country know, that 40 years later, children as young as 10 months old would be competing in beauty pageants. 1960 marked the first child beauty pageant in America and started a major American trend. Since the tragic death of JonBenet Ramsey in 1996, child beauty pageants have been a hot topic of debate. Ramsey’s death opened a new door to the skepticism of beauty pageants by allowing the media into the world of child beauty pageants through more curious eyes. These eyes began to see beauty pageants as a threat to children and their safety; being exposed to the world at such a young age with a made-up face of inappropriate maturity (Buzzle, par. 1). Destruction of the child’s self esteem and constant attentiveness to appearance are major cons that continue to grow. Cons of unremarkable expenses, loss of educational interest and loss of innocence also remain, strengthening the fact that beauty pageants are harmful to children who compete in them. A child’s self-esteem is a fragile element. Advocates for child pageants believe beauty pageants boost children’s self-esteem by the attention they receive for being dolled up, dancing and singing and winning awards for placing higher than the other children. But as fast as self-esteem can be built up by a sentence of praise or a trophy, it can be just as easily shut down by not being good enough for someone else and losing. The amount of pressure put on children to excel in a pageant is astounding. When the child has outside pressure of excelling and winning a pageant, the effects of a loss are damaging. Children become easily frustrated at such a young age and often cannot understand why the massive amount of pressure was put upon them for no reason. The main focus of winning that the parents stress on their child is unnecessary and unhealthy to the child’s mind. A healthier alternative to building a child’s self-esteem would be to enroll he or she in a community team sport. Youth sports give children the chance to participate and earn a sense accomplishment without being let down under pressure. Although child beauty pageants contest to specific age ranges, the judging is no different than the Miss America Pageant. Child beauty pageants consist of modeling sportswear, evening attire, dance and talent. The children are judged based on individuality in looks, capability, poise, perfection and confidence. As the judges call it, â€Å"the complete package† (Minorcon, par. 3). Children are constantly exposed to the newest hair extensions, longest-lasting make-up and latest clothing lines all in effort to beat out their fellow three-year old. These pageants are preparing young children for their teen and adult years at too early of an age. Child beauty pageants play a uniquely powerful role in defining what is attractive in our society by ranking and awarding the physical attractiveness of children. This constant reminder of putting hair and make-up above all else is disturbing and forces children to be concerned with superficial issues that have no long-term value. With cosmetic innovations being created and perfected, radical pageant parents have gone to great lengths to perfect their child. â€Å"When some of the children lost baby teeth that had not been replaced by pageant time, their parents fit them with false teeth. When a girl’s hair was too short to curl like Barbie’s, fake additions were fitted† (Harvard, par. 8-9). These â€Å"fixes† cost thousands of dollars that could be put toward a more beneficial and long-term career. Not only are the cosmetic alterations breaking the banks of these parents, but the additional pageant costs are making a dent in their wallets too. â€Å"There is a minimum cost of $545 to enter the pageant, which covers basic entry fees. Another $395 is needed for the maximum options of this pageant,† (Minorcon, par. 3). These â€Å"maximum options† might include staple clothing, such as tights or tank tops. All additional clothing, including sportswear, eveningwear, talent clothing, not to mention the â€Å"must have† accessories, is up to the parents to pick from the money tree in the back yard. This money should not be spent on pre-maturely advancing a child’s appearance, but should be saved for activities such as youth sports, or better yet a college fund! Several studies have been done on child beauty pageant contestants to seek out their experiences and thoughts rather than their parents’. Researchers are curious especially concerning contestants’ thoughts on further education. The real concern should be on future education needs; all of the girls aged eight to ten interviewed by A Network were not concerned with further education† (Par. 4). Many pageant girls have false aspirations of becoming a model, and while aspirations are crucial for any child, the dreams of becoming a model are slim to none after coming out of the child pageant life. Althou gh education is not necessarily effected at that present moment, the participating children do not plan ahead based on their mind and intelligence they will gain by attending school, but rather on their appearances. Lastly, the loss of innocence from these beauty pageants is devastating. Fake plastic smiles, false eyelashes and polished appearance spoil a child’s innocence. Children grow up to think that the only way to earn money is through exploitation of their bodies, which is not true. These children are the future of our world. A child’s growing years are important as they form the foundation for the development of body and mind. Childhood is the time for them to play, not learn poise. It’s the time for them to be mischievous and not polished. It’s the time for them to do well in academics and not exhibit their bodies. Children are more beautiful covered in mud than when covered in make-up. Works Cited The Whys and Woes of Beauty Pageants. 08 June 2000. Harvard. edu. 08 February 2010. Child Beauty Pageants. 12 January 2010. Buzzle. com. 08 February 2010. Beauty Pageants do More Harm Than Good. 16 December 2007. Debate. org. 07 February 2010. Beauty Pageants: Good, Bad, or Plain Ugly. 06 March 2004. Buzzle. com. 07 February 2010. Child Beauty Pageants Beauty Pageants: From the Title of Mini Supreme to America’s Next Top Model English 106 Cassie Robinson 3 Otober 2012 Abstract Beauty pageants have changed drastically in the past fifty years. Beauty pageants used to be all adult females who dressed in their Sunday best and walked on the catwalk at the county fair. Now, little children are decked out in glitzy outfits, have wigs that make their hair twice as long, and have teeth to make it seem like their baby teeth haven’t fallen out yet.In this literature review, I reviewed different articles, some against child beauty pageants and some that showed a firsthand look into the beauty pageants. Based on the reviews, I have made a decision as to whether child beauty pageants are good for those involved or not. Hundreds wait in silence as the announcer walks to the stage. â€Å"And the first place award goes to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The pause is added for dramatic effect, as if these parents and children need any more drama in the ir lives. Hair is pulled, tears are shed, and crowns are won.This is just another typical weekend for those in the pageant world. The views of beauty pageants have drastically changed within the past decade. Some think pageants are used to exploit little children and are a way for mothers to live vicariously through their daughters who are winning crowns and money. Others believe they are just a more drastic way for their children to play dress up and win money while doing it. The six articles chosen for this literature review will discuss one side of the argument.Something eye-catching in the article, â€Å"Toddlers in Tiaras,† written by Skip Hollandsworth in 2011 was the line, â€Å"And you know what I hate? All these years later, I’ve still got this anxiety about feeling like I have to be perfect† (Hollandsworth, 2011). This is how Brooke Breedwell feels about pageants now, after being a pageant queen from age three months to eight years old. After telling h er mother she wanted to quit pageants and emphasizing it by throwing a curling iron at her, Breedwell finally gave up the lavish pageant life due to stress.Even as an eight year old, the stress was too much to handle. â€Å"The promise of a tiara has always been a fast, easy sell to young girls who pine to be princesses,† (Hollandsworth, 2011) which is something all girls and their mothers want. In order to win that crown, there are many time consuming tasks that must be done before the pageant. There are layers of makeup to be put on, eyebrows to be waxed, natural hair and fake wigs to be curled, fingernails to be manicured, bronzer to be applied to arms and legs, dresses to be sewn, and dances and routines to be learned.It is enough to stress any eight year old out. After all of this work and stress, it would be downright heartbreaking to find that someone else has beaten you for the title of Grand Supreme. This article is different from the others I chose to include in my literature review in the sense that it discusses not only the stresses that pageant girls go through, but also some of the legal situations that have been brought about thanks to the pageant world. JonBenet Ramsey is a name that is famous all around the world.The six-year-old pageant beauty who would have gone on to be the next Marilyn Monroe who was found murdered in her home on Christmas morning. For a couple months afterwards, pageants seemed taboo, but then, even in the wake of JonBenet’s murder, pageants became even more famous. Little girls are being trained to dance provocatively and blow kisses at their judges from a young age and these videos end up online and even on TV. These videos are made to be public so others can see the awards and crowns the little girls win and anyone, including pedophiles, can access them. On TV, the shows not only give the names of these children, but they also tell you what towns these little girls live in,† (Hollandsworth, 2011) wh ich would give these pedophiles easy access to track down the little girls. This would not be hard to do with the way our society is turning to technology. One article, â€Å"Is the Media to Blame for Child Sex Victims,† written by Mark Davidson in 1997, discusses the media’s association with beauty pageants even further. Americans support multi-million dollar activities that exploit children and promote the provocativeness of them, such as beauty pageants.Beauty pageants, â€Å"commercially flaunt kids’ bodies, often converting preteen and preschool girls into sex puppets adorned with lipstick, mascara, false eyelashes, bleached hair, high heels, and satin-and-rhinestone gowns and professionally coached in showgirl postures and movements,† (Davidson, 1997) which leads to controversial topics like the 1996 sexual molestation and murder of JonBenet Ramsey. There are many movies, such as â€Å"Lolita† and â€Å"Pretty Baby,† that portray young girls as being involved in sexual situations with older men.This leads to young girls growing up to believe this is acceptable. What makes this article different is that it does not revolve around beauty pageants, but around the media and its involvement in child pornography and exploitation of girls at a young age. Hollywood and the likes, â€Å"engage in massive pimping for child temptresses,† (Davidson, 1997) which intrigues young minds and makes them believe that since it is accepted in media, it is accepted in everyday society.Only after JonBenet had been murdered did the media look for moral guidance to see if what it was displaying was appropriate. A little girl who had not even started kindergarten had to be murdered before the media questioned their morals. The press argues that, â€Å"the tiny contestants really want to participate, as if they are capable of giving informed consent to their own victimization,† (Davidson, 1997), when in all actuality, the chi ldren have no concept of what is really happening. My next article, â€Å"Toddlers and Tiaras TOO MUCH TOO SOON? written by Charlotte Triggs in 2011, is a continuation of the stresses of being in the pageant world. It is not only stressful on the children, who are the main event of the pageants, but also on the parents. These parents put their children through the pageants and shell out the money for entrance fees, homemade dresses and flippers, which are fake teeth for the girls who are losing their baby teeth. â€Å"You’re never going to win that money back, even if they win every weekend,† (Triggs, West, Aradillas, 2011) said one mother about the pageant life.So, if there are no perks of being in pageants other than seeing their daughters win crowns, why do the mothers go through the stress and lose money to pageants? The same mother then went on to say, â€Å"But you’ve got to do it because your kid loves and excels at it and it’s something you enjo y as a family,† (Triggs, West, Aradillas, 2011). So if families are happy watching their children in pageants, then they are more than willing to put up with the stress. In addition to the stresses of ageantry and reasons for participating, things such as the confusing life moments and the decisions pageant girls go through are discussed in the article. While most girls their age are out playing with Barbies with their friends, these girls are dressed as Barbie and have a twisted view of how they should look. â€Å"Little girls should play with dolls, not be dolls,† (Triggs, West, Aradillas, 2011) said a New York-based clinical social worker. The girls are being dressed in outfits that are more suited for a stripper than a preschooler, and it can have a negative effect on them in the long run.The girls grow up being obsessed with their appearance and may look into different ways to keep up the appearances they once had, such as plastic surgery or eating disorders. These factors will affect the young girls before they are even in high school. The next article, â€Å"Pretty Babies,† written by Rosemary Ellis in 2011, discusses the way the author viewed beauty pageants when she was younger compared to how she views them now, as an adult. When Ellis was younger, beauty pageants were only seen at the county fair, which came only once a year, in the month of August.The fair itself was a magical time for Ellis, not to mention getting to see girls ranging from elementary to college age walk across a stage in their Sunday best and giving the judges their best smile. Today, the adult pageants are overlooked and, â€Å"the Miss America pageant has become so irrelevant that it lets ABC air the show for free,† (Ellis, 2011) because of the recent explosion of pageants for little girls. There are more than five thousand of these pageants across the country. This article differentiates from the rest in the sense that the author compared the pageants known in her childhood to the pageants that are shown now.In the pageants now, the girls are spray-tanned and covered in makeup, and the studio pictures they take before pageants are edited so much that one would not be able to recognize the little girl if she walked up to them on a sidewalk. Ellis goes on to examine the outfits the little girls are wearing now, seeing clothing that, â€Å"gathers to suggest a bust and has slogans across the chest or rear that are more suited to a stripper than a first grader,† (Ellis, 2009). These clothes send out provocative messages not only to girls in the pageant world, but also to all little girls who see the clothing and get used to it at a young age.Most people only see the mother/ daughter side of pageantry, never the father/ daughter side of it, which my next article, â€Å"Father Knows Glitz,† written by Joey Bartolomeo in 2010, discusses. Dads who are involved in pageants are not only single dads or gay dads; they are also just everyday, hard-working dads who love to see their daughters happy when they win an award. Not only are there soccer and football dads, but there are now pageant dads. Not all of them are dragged into it, either.Some, like Lon Enos, a tattooed, burly man, like being the pageant dad just because â€Å"It’s fun and it’s cool,† (Bartolomeo, 2010), an opinion that would differ from the quintessential man in America who watches football or baseball on the weekends instead of competing in pageants with his daughters. Compared to the other articles, this one stands out because it gives a firsthand view from a pageant dad, rather than the typical pageant mom. Compared to pageant moms who tend to try to live vicariously through their daughters, the dads are usually more relaxed and laid back although some can be intense.Even things such as making a dress, â€Å"I’m not spending $6,000 for a dress when it takes me three hours to make one,† (Bartolomeo, 2010) or building a new shelf for crowns and sashes become jobs for a pageant dad to do. The braver of the pageant dads will even get up on stage with their daughters and help them with their routines. â€Å"There will be enough time for them to be women. For now, let’s just allow them to be little girls,† is a quote from Staceyann Chin in her article, â€Å"Beauty and the Boob Tube,† written in 2009.Chin came across the show â€Å"Toddlers in Tiaras† while procrastinating on a project she was working on. Much to her dismay, she was drawn in to the show, which reminded her, â€Å"of dog shows—tiny, powerless competitors trained to do as they are told, with trainers who exploit their charges to gain fame and fortune and live out some archaic dream they once had for themselves,† (Chin, 2009). Seeing the little girls being rewarded for their beauty made Chin feel uncomfortable because of an incident that happened when she was younger.Her grandm other’s friend would have the young Chin sit on his lap and he told her if she smiled for him, he would give her a coin. Her grandmother would always take away the coins when he left, saying, â€Å"Any money you make on your back will hurt your head,† (Chin, 2009). Many of the top ranked girls in pageants receive prizes such as checks and cash prizes, signifying being paid for looking pretty. This was after they got all dressed up, went out on stage, had their eyes, hair, and legs judged by adults, and then moved their hips in a suggestive manner.The pageant world is training the girls for a future that is not too great. Meaning, the pageant world is training them to look to others for judgment instead of trusting and believing in themselves, or that they need to look really good all the time or people will not like them. â€Å"I wanted to rush in—save these girls from an experience that would make them self-conscious about their little bellies, bottoms, and cu te button noses,† (Chin, 2009) is the way most people feel while watching the show, and yet, they are hooked and cannot wait for the next episode.It is the way the media portray the drama of the show that keeps viewers like Chin attached to the show. That is what makes this article different from the rest. It discusses the media involvement in the pageant world. Along with videos of these girls being put on the Internet, shows such as â€Å"Toddlers in Tiaras† and â€Å"Honey Boo Boo† which exploit the girls at a young age are also televised, causing the girls to live with their young pageantry for the rest of their lives, even though they may not have made the decision to participate themselves.After walking out on stage and, â€Å"dramatically ripping off a black, sheer robe to reveal a sparkly bathing suit,† (Chin, 2009) one little girl’s mother â€Å"kept trying to make her say she loved pageants and that she was a pageant girl. The toddler wou ld not repeat either phrase,† (Chin, 2009). Has the world of pageants changed so much that the toddlers who are the bane of all existence for the pageants do not even want to say they love pageants?Most people believe children who participate in beauty pageants are at a higher risk of having psychological and body image issues when they get older. While most think the pageants are bad for children, there are those who believe the pageants are a job for the children and give them careers for later in life. Based on the articles I have read and reviewed, I conclude that child beauty pageants are not good for those involved. References Bartolomeo, J. (2010). FATHER KNOWS GLITZ. People, 74(16), 64-71. Retrievedfrom EBSCOhost. Chin, S. (2009).Beauty & the Boob Tube. Advocate, (1026), 76. Retrieved fromEBSCOhost. Davidson, M. (1997, September). Is media to blame for child sex victims?. USA TodayMagazine. p. 60. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Ellis, R. (2011). Pretty Babies. Good Housekee ping, 252(8), 21. RetrievedfromEBSCOhost. HOLLANDSWORTH, S. (2011). Toddlers in Tiaras. Good Housekeeping, 252(8), 150-194. Retrievedfrom EBSCOhost. Triggs, C. , West, K. , & Aradillas, E. (2011). Toddlers & Tiaras TOO MUCH TOOSOON? (Cover story). People, 76(12), 160-168. Retrievedfrom EBSCOhost. Child Beauty Pageants Child Beauty Pageants While beauty pageants started in the 1920’s, children’s beauty pageants began in the 1960’s. This is when the predicament all began. Equally important is the definition of child abuse. It is defined as the exploitation of a child. Children in beauty pageants are exploited at a very over powering rate. Since there is so much exploitation, it should be considered child abuse. Due to parental involvement, children participate in pageants that damage them physically, mentally, and emotionally, prohibiting them from appropriately socializing in society.Before and during beauty pageants, there are many preparations that happen. Before the beauty pageants, the children’s parents get them tans and flippers which are a type of falsified teeth. After that, the parents either wax or even clear up any imperfections they may have like wrinkles, bushy eyebrows, and/or messed up hair. At the pageants, the girls get covered with make-up in the hopes of hiding any imperfections the child may have. The child is then dressed in whatever attire they are required to wear.For example: dresses, swimsuits, formal attire, and/or casual. After that, the girls will model their attire to the judges. Pageants will continue on into the talent portion in which the children will show their talents to judges. The talents vary from dance routines to karaoke, or even simply doing a catwalk. Child beauty pageants only judge based on looks and pure perfection. There are many damages that those requirements put on children. These requirements at times go as far to making five to six year olds look like sixteen to twenty year olds (Grosaru).The children are made to look more mature than what they are. Writer Frank Rich says â€Å"Today the merchandising of children as sexual commodities is ubiquitous and big business. † Referring to this statement, this shows that it also makes it easier for them to be made susceptible to pedophiles, eventuall y at times ending with the child being harmed physically by one of those men or women. Other than being subjected to that type of danger, the children are also subjected to cosmetic damages as well. Botox is one of the common cosmetic tools used.This is used to make the children appear â€Å"perfect† with no marks or any types of imperfections. One mother Kerry Campbell gave her eight year old daughter Botox and her excuses for giving her daughter this drug was one to give her a head start in pageants and second because all the other moms were doing it (Thompson). Many mothers like Kerry Campbell may be doing this type of abuse to their children because simply they want their child to be ahead in the pageants. Injecting a child with a dangerous chemical just to get a ahead in a child beauty pageant is a clear example of child abuse.The mental afflictions that the pageants cause to the children are numerous. Pageant mothers begin to create anxiety by the continuous moving from hotel to hotel. This keeps the child from having a normal home. In addition to this, there is no time for the children to socialize with friends in their own hometowns. They are not able to socialize with society at large. Now some of pageant parents argue that their children are able to make friends when they’re participating in the pageants.This is false and quickly disproven when the children are given the infamous speech of â€Å"no other girl is your friend here. † This speech begins to create paranoia about ever making friends or socializing with peers of their age (Grosaru). Other than creating anxiety and paranoia, there is also self destruction of self-image because they are made to think their body must be a certain way and their hair. This is called being â€Å"A little Barbie† (Nusseara). Mothers also can cause confusion within the child because of the beauty pageants.Mothers who had only boys try to make their boys into girls by making them partici pate in pageants. This causes the child to have confusion about their sexuality and this should not be done to a child. Such gender confusion and lack of self esteem in the name of a pageant are s clear signs of child abuse on the part of the parent. The parent should help the child to build their self esteem and not tear it down. There is a type of Darwinism that is incorporated in these pageants which is the fear the parents have of their children being losers (Giroux).Psychologist David Elkind says, â€Å"Parents use to be worried about if their children were good at school, but now they are only worried if their child are so called losers at school. † Parents create this emotional destruction within the children. The children begin to fear of becoming losers or disappointments to their parents so they are continuously rehearsing how to be perfect every day. In these pageants, the moms try to relive their own fantasy of what they once used to do or what they never got to e xperience themselves (Grosaru).This is abuse as the parents are only entering the child in the pageant for their selfish need to relive a glory day. The mothers go as far as lying about their child’s age to give them an advantage in the competition. This begins to make the child feel guilty about lying afflicting the emotional impairment to the child. In the 1960’s, children’s beauty pageants were created on the intention of showing off the innocence of children; when in reality it was use to exploit the children and make a profit off of them by making them dress inappropriately and not advocating their well being.This exploitation of the children is pure child abuse and nothing else. The children of these parents should be taken away for their safety. Laws or regulations should be made to insure the well-being of the children. Children who participate in beauty pageants all suffer physical, mental, and emotional damage; which keeps them from appropriately socia lizing in society and developing normally.