Beauty Pageants Position Paper

Beauty Pageants are meant to show the world how poised and well-articulated a young girl is. However, it can also show the world what society thinks a girl should be, beautiful and well-behaved. Girls need to understand that the world is not simply what judges expect in a pageant show. As much as pageant shows want to highlight the talents of young girls, in reality, beauty pageants value beauty and aesthetic above all else. A successful beauty pageant contestant has to wear the right clothes, look a certain way, and act a certain way. There is limited to few ways to be different, to express one's self. That is why beauty pageants may be deemed harmful to a girl.

Pageants teach conformity. They teach appreciation of shallow things. Most importantly, it teaches girls that if one does not have the best dress or the best makeup, they will not make it to the top. It also feeds an unhealthy obsession with winning. Winning makes the beauty pageant and all the money spent worthwhile, and if one does not win, then the loss becomes devastating not just to the child, but more importantly, to the parent. Parents invest so much time and money into these beauty pageants they really feel the loss.

Pageants can cost thousands of dollars to train for each time. The top contestants often have coaches that the parents hire to teach them how to sing, dance, or speak. Along with the coaches are the expensive, one of a kind dresses the girls need to put on for the wow factor. These dresses can go upwards of $4,000. The entry fees are expensive too. They can run up to $400. "Juana Myers, from Montgomery, Louisiana, says that she will never recoup the cost of $400 competition entry fees and $50 professional coaching sessions ... she has spent up to $4,000 on a single 'glitz' dress, with each costume costing an average of $300-500." (Abraham) Parents must have a lot of disposable income as well as free time to dedicate to pageants. Most of the prizes are low amounts as well so people really must want to win in order to participate.

Since many pageant moms are stage moms, there is also a lot of pressure for children to do their best. Some children feel the stress of performing well and at times fall into depression. They may also experience problems with eating with cases reported of anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. "Psychologists and psychiatrists largely agree that pageants, such as "Toddlers and Tiaras," reinforce negative female body image issues that result in eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia." (Scwartz) This is because they feel they must always adhere to this impossible image of perfection. "For the girls who do develop image obsessions, it appears that the hypercritical environment of their youth produces a drive towards the unattainable goal of physical perfection. "The Princess Syndrome" as I like to call it, is a fairy tale." (Cartwright)

It is clear the pressure to be perfect is everywhere even in beauty pageants where the contestants are 2-3 years old. Parents put makeup on them and put them in these sparkly outfits because they do not believe the child's natural beauty is enough. This may make the child feel as it matures, that she or he is not enough. That the child must have the nicest outfit and the best makeup and hair in order to be enough. It sets unrealistic demands and expectations.

Honey Boo Boo is a child reality star that did pageants. When she removed all the makeup, fake teeth, and hair, she looked completely different from what she did when she had her full face on. If it were not for her hit reality show, she would have had an even harder time finding her voice from potentially upset losses since she began losing as she grew up and gained weight. The pageant world craves perfection. A perfect body, perfect face, perfect hair, and perfect clothes. Perfection leads to emotional inner turmoil for the children that feel the need to aim for such a goal.

Another thing to worry about when it comes to beauty pageants is potential exposure to pedophiles and promotion of sex appeal in children. Although beauty pageant owners would never say they promote a sexualized version of children, the full makeup and skimpy two pieces can be viewed as sexual. The murder of Jon Benet Ramsey for example, is a sad reminder of how grim it can get for children in the pageant world. "Then, in a crime that made headlines around the world, the body of JonBenet Ramsey was found in the basement of her family home. The little girl had been sexually assaulted, her skull fractured and then strangled with a makeshift garotte." (Witheridge)

Children should be allowed to be children, to look like children. Even backstage when the parents are prepping them, the camera would highlight the way the parents would prevent the children from talking, giving them sugar to give them energy. There are so many wrong and upsetting about how parents present their kids in pageants. There was a reality show shadowing beauty pageant contestants from the age of 9-12 and the audience would see the girls shake their bottoms and blow kisses in the air, winking flirtatiously. Children that age do not even know what sex is, so why are they being made to act sexually?

Children's minds and bodies act in a different way from an adult's; thusly, they deserve to act accordingly. One of the concerns regarding beauty pageants is that, these pageants generate an environment not appropriate for children. Now that beauty pageants have become a multi-billion dollar industry, the old days of simple dresses, l simple dance routines, and simple make-up are gone. All that matters if topping the last person. Looking as perfect as possible. Presenting the right image to the audience. What that image is, is not right for the development of a healthy child.