...With events like “The Miss America Pageant” being nationally televised, movies like “Little Miss Sunshine” being produced, and shows like “Toddlers and Tiara’s” and “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” being watched by millions, children’s beauty pageants are becoming more popular than ever. Today more than 16,000 child pageants are held annually, with an estimated 290,000 contestants (Bowling). Behind the popularity, however, follows the controversy. There are essentially two types of children’s beauty pageants, the “natural” pageants and the “glitz” pageants. In natural pageants, children under a certain age are not allowed to wear make up or fake teeth (flappers), spray tans and big hair are discouraged, and there are specific age appropriate dress guidelines that the contestants must follow. In contrast, at a glitz pageant you will see fake smiles, fake tans, heavy stage make up, and wigs on almost every girl. Advocates of both types of pageants argue that they are a good source of friendly competition and healthy for a child’s self esteem. Critics of child beauty pageants, however, argue that the glitz pageants, more so than the natural pageants, could potentially have damaging effects on the child contestant. One of the most significant reasons parents cite for entering their children into beauty pageants is to boost their child’s self esteem, and to teach poise and confidence. A group of parents interviewed by TODAY contributor Michael Inbar claimed that putting their children...
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...was most important to you? A trip to the store to pick up the latest baby dolls, teddy bears, Barbie’s, and doll houses? Imagine your childhood dedicated to applying hairspray, lipstick and working on your strut for the runway. Child beauty pageants are becoming more popular and hinders a healthy childhood by exposing a child to pedophiles, encourages that beauty is a judge of one’s character, and could affect one future outcome on life. Beauty pageants were started many years ago but became more prominent in the society in 1921, when a hotel owner started a contest to keep tourists in town past Labor Day. The winner of this contest would be called Miss America. Miss America pageants have been a yearly event ever since then, except during the Great Depression. Then, in 1960, pageants were getting so popular that a Little Miss America was started for parents who wanted their children in beauty pageants (Nussbaum). Our past has played a remarkable role in today’s society of children beauty pageants. Pageant mothers may say that its healthy competition and it encourages socialism at a young age. There are pageant age divisions that start as young as 0-11 months of age. How much competition and socialism does a child this young need to encounter? As we see today these young girls spend hours and hours preparing for their competition. These preparations can include rehearsal, shopping for revealing talent costume, endless make-up and hair preparations. These young girls go through...
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...Hlavaty Argumentative Research Essay Exploitation in Beauty Pageants In 1920, the World War I ended and the women’s movement began to take off, marking the first year of the American beauty pageant formally known as The Miss America Pageant (“Child Beauty Pageants,” 2011). Women from all over the United States were given the opportunity to show their talent, superficial beauty and inner intelligence. Little did our country know that 40 years later, children as young as ten months old would be competing in these beauty pageants; since the tragic death of JonBenet Ramsey in 1996, child beauty pageants have become a topic of debate (“JonBenet Ramsby,” 2011). Ramsey’s death opened a new door to the skepticism of beauty pageants. The media began to see beauty pageants as a threat to children and their safety. Children were exposed to the world at a young age with a made-up face of inappropriate maturity. Destruction of a child’s self-esteem and attentiveness to appearance are major ploys that continue to grow, ploys of outstanding expenses, loss of educational concern and loss of innocence also remain. Strengthening the fact that beauty pageants are harmful to children who compete in them therefore, children under the age of ten should not be allowed to participate in beauty pageants. Children who are aspiring beauty queens tend to be pressured by their parents. According to the article titled, “The child beauty-pageant queens who grew up” (2008), mothers hire make-up artists...
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...Child Beauty Pageants Beauty pageants are one of the most controversial and debatable subjects where many critics have tried to explain and understand what the concept of the word beauty means. The definition of the word beauty to the critics was the pleasing or attractive features of something or by other words it is something that generates pleasant sensations. All of these years the whole world has been captivated and charmed by the beauty pageants shows on the television, but the real and ugly truth is that it is a mixture of a disgusting and not admired show that have kept on grabbing the attention of many viewers just for money and fame. “As child reality TV star Honey Boo Boo continues to capture the attention of audiences with her boisterous personality and her own show about life on the child beauty pageant circuit”. (Cartwright, University of Arizona; Princess by proxy: When child beauty pageants aren't about the kids, 2012). Beauty pageants are appearing more in magazines and on television all the time such as the models that appear on a fashion show where they look skinny and frail. The beauty pageants contests is harmful for the young children’s prosperity because it makes the children reach to a conclusion that the physical beauty is the most important condition and primary judge of their character to win the contest, and they put into their minds that they are not beautiful from the inside and also think that they look ugly without putting a huge amount of cosmetics...
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...PAGEANTS: LITTLE GIRLS IN BEAUTY PAGEANTS Pageants: Little Girls in Beauty Pageants Terry Williams-Reed Western Governors University “FINAL PAPER” Pageants: Little Girls in Beauty Pageants In today’s society, being beautiful is very important to women and many little girls. Beauty pageants are a major source of entertainment for little girls. Beauty pageants have been around a long time, setting a trend in thee American’s society. Children as young as two months old are being entered into the world of beauty pageants. While the beauty pageant industry continues to grow, the controversy surrounding the effects and harms these pageants can have on the contestants has also grown. Children are entered in to these competitions for a variety of reasons. Maybe some of the potential prizes awarded to the winners tempt many parents to get their children involved in these events. There are many risk factors that may take effect in some children, like developing eating disorders and having mental health problems. This not only takes their innocence away, but also makes them likely to develop several mental and emotional imbalances later in life. The glitter and glitz of the glamorous life with its elegant dresses, elaborate hair-dos, sparkling tiaras, heavy make-up, and the deafening applause is short-lived. These fairy tales fades away into a nightmares that can leave these children with a notion of a world that is not as...
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...English 102 Dr. D. Pineda 10 December 2013 Child Beauty Pageants: What’s The Harm? Although there are many adults who suffer various consequences of child pageant participations, they still look back at their childhood and have some good memories of fun. Some even enter their own children into these pageants. Unfortunately, however, the damage is still the same and the cycle continues. Child beauty pageants are detrimental to the psyche of young children because these pageants promote sexualization far beyond their years and lack regulations to govern the actions within these contests. Because these children are being pushed into time-consuming, grueling preparation for these pageants, and because their performances are considered to be far beyond their years leading to self-objectification or sexualization, and the lack of regulations within these pageants there should be some boundaries set to minimize the psychological effects of participation within these contests. As we approach the Christmas holiday this year there are many who remember the horrific murder mystery of JonBenet Ramsey, a former child pageant star, and wonder if her participation in the beauty pageant world is what ended her short life. It’s been 17 years since her body was found in the basement of her parents’ home and her face was plastered all over the news. When the name JonBenet Ramsey is heard doll-like images flash through our heads from her pageant photos. Would she still be alive today had she...
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...Significance of the Study Beauty pageants take place everywhere around the world, and as the researcher observed, they never fail to draw various sectors of audiences. As Cohen (1996a) described it, beauty pageants, as diverse as they are in their cultural and historical contexts, they do something similar wherein they establish an ideal of beauty that best represents the locality. Indeed, Filipinos have been always fond of beauty pageants that it has become a significant part of their lives. No town fiesta or festival can be called as they are if there was no beauty pageant held. And beauty queens and even beauty contestants are always admired and considered as one of the beautiful icons in the country. But as the Philippine culture easily being influenced by the American society, this research hopes to emphasize the distinction of Philippine beauty pageants from American beauty pageants for it is in beauty pageants that the epitome of a Filipino is being showcased around the world. With that in the mind, this research also hopes to discover and unravel the purposes behind the staging of beauty pageants in both American and Philippine society. Background of the Study The researcher, who is not a stranger in the world of beauty contests in her school, has been asked by a judge on what she thinks is the purpose of beauty pageants in the society and whether its purpose is still prevalent. Intrigued, the researcher decided to do a research on beauty pageants. The TLC TV series Toddlers...
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...Paper (Spring 2013) All Dolled Up: The Effect of Child Beauty Pageants on Contestants Reality TV shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and Little Miss Perfect expose the growing popularity of child beauty pageants. These shows have turned pageants into an industry that is valued at $5 billion (Cartwright 1105). This newly created pageant industry has changed the child beauty pageant system—contestants are competing at younger ages, they are wearing more makeup, and the focus is shifting away from natural beauty towards glitz and glam. The emergence of a pageant industry has changed the pageant system, but what affect does this industry have on contestants? More importantly, do pageants’ effects on young contestants warrant regulation? As more young girls compete in pageants, answering these questions and determining the effects of child beauty pageants becomes more important. These questions need to be answered so that the well being of pageant participants is ensured. The issue of regulation is of particular importance since parents, pageant companies, and the media all contribute to the growing pageant industry. Some regulation is needed to protect the young participants. Generally this regulation would be the parent’s responsibility, but in this paper I will argue that the industry merits specific regulation. In order to prove that regulation is warranted, I will analyze the negative impacts of the pageant industry using research from psychologists and sociologists...
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...The ugly face of child beauty pageants Leslie Cannold May 21, 2011 OPINION * A child beauty pageant participant. DO AN internet search on "child beauty pageant" but be prepared. Not just to be depressed by images of overblown, cap-toothed, heavily made-up under-fives but the obvious yet rarely commented upon fact that all these kids are girls. This issue is red hot in Australia right now, as the June date for the first American-style child pageant to be held in this country approaches. But as psychologists predict future insecurity, eating disorders and depression for participants, and religious pseudo-feminists rhapsodise about lost childhood innocence, it's critical we separate the hyperbolic wheat from the chaff. What is the real problem with child beauty pageants and what, if anything, should be done about them? Hard data is thin on the ground and so far doesn't support the future mental illness thesis. But what one US study found when interviewing 41 pageant mums – and it is nearly always mothers who push girls as young as one into competition – is that often social class and female life experiences are behind the choice. Some pageant mums are living out their own dreams of "go[ing] somewhere in life", as one mother put it, rather than being "stuck at home" due to early childbearing. While self-focused female ambition continues to be stigmatised in Western societies – with the ambitious working woman always contrasted unfavourably with the mum who sacrifices...
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...Child Beauty Pageant There are lots of extracurricular activities for girls and boys, like baseball, basketball or soccer and the parents drive to and from their games. Some time they have more than one child to take them to their games. Lots of parents get son involved and start cheering and sometimes get to an arguments if the referee or judge makes a bad call. Then the mother or father starts a fight, because they get so into it. It no difference when parents want their child to complete in a pageant show, because there is competition and sportsmanship their also. Beauty pageants stated in the U.S. in 1921, with the introduction of Miss America pageant. Child beauty pageants did not start until the 1961 in New Jersey. The first was started at amusement park in Bergen County. It was intended for 13-17 year olds, but got more participants and they started to split the contestants by age. The little Miss American pageant was...
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...Chrissi Ridge Comm. 101 Neil Singleton Toddlers and Tiaras The little girls in this television show are given crowns, ribbons, and trophies without any of them actually doing anything to deserve them. It's obvious to an outsider that the pageants are set up as some sort of money making mumbo jumbo by giving every single participant some sort of prize. It's like giving a crack addict a taste, they will keep coming back for more. Don’t get me wrong there are other shows that are a bit crazy too, like Dance Moms for instance. But at least at the end of the day those little girls are amazing dancers. Toddlers and Tiaras represents the false sense of accomplishment that is running rampant in this country. All the moms say they want their daughters to be Miss America, but haven't they noticed that there's a talent portion of the Miss America Pageant? The Toddler and Tiara girls just jump around the stage in crazy costumes with a fake uncomfortable grin across their faces. Anyone could do that. These pageants teach the participants that beauty is the only important thing. The moms love to say that beauty is important in this world and that their daughters will have a better life if they're beautiful. They're right that being beautiful is an asset, but it can only take you so far. If you're a complete brat, like most of the little girls in this show are, no one will care how beautiful you are. A giant wig, spray on tan, fake nails, caked on makeup, and slutty dresses does not make...
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...bizarre family in New Mexico. This movie shows signs of deviance in assorted ways from drug abuse, suicide, and sexuality with signs of social interaction. Social interaction is how we act toward and react to other people around us. Deviance is traits or behaviors that violate society’s expected rules or norms. Olive, the little girl in the Hoover family, has been nominated to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant in California. If she wants to participate in the pageant, the whole family must travel together to California. The experiences and life lessons that they have are out of the ordinary and shocking. The viewer sees the grandfather locking himself in the bathroom doing drugs. Drugs are deviant because they are illegal. The viewer might look at the grandfather badly because in real life people doing drugs are shunned. This is a way of social construction. On the way to California, they stop at a hotel for the night where the grandfather dies in his sleep after taking the drugs. The family retrieved his dead body from the hospital morgue to take with them to get to the pageant in time. Common sense says this is a criminal act because it’s illegal to steal a body. The family thought it was right at the time because they knew he would have wanted to see his granddaughter compete in the pageant. Even though they had an optimistic idea at the time, but the act was still illegal and incomprehensible. Suicide is widespread in society and the media. Suicide is associated with...
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...The Media’s role in a Woman’s Beauty For such a long time, for as long as anybody could remember women have consistently been perceived as the inferior and weaker sex. Many may argue and say that this isn’t the case anymore but unfortunately it is considering the fact that although women now have equal rights as men and aren’t necessarily controlled by them anymore, men still are considered the dominant, stronger and more powerful sex. Due to this, women's physical appearance plays a very important role in society. Because of women being perceived in such a way, the only thing that gives women absolute power over men is their physical appearance, a man goes weak for a beautiful female. The sad thing is that we have let society define the beauty of a women and a major part of this society is the media. Women have always been perceived and portrayed as sex symbols, as if that is what they are only good for. Men and others in society don’t care about a woman’s intelligence if they look good. Our society has let a woman’s looks overshadow everything else that she is. Our society, has constructed itself into a society so image obsessed when it comes to women, in which color, body figure, and every aspect of a woman’s face is the source to why people approve or disapprove of that woman. Media affects the way young girls and adult women all around the world view themselves. This is why our generation of women is so self-conscious about their physical appearance, and this...
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...What could you do with the crown? Many of our state & national titleholders have gone on to do very exciting things...what could you do? Halle Berry - Miss Ohio USA 1986, Oscar Winning Actress Eva Longoria - Miss Corpus Christi USA 1998 - Actress “Desperate Housewives” Shandi Finnessey - Miss USA 2004, “Dancing with the Stars” Season 3, TV Hostess “Quiznation” Brandi Burkhardt - Miss Maryland Teen USA 1997, Lead Role in Broadway’s “Mamma Mia” Vanessa Minillo - Miss Teen USA 1998, MTV Co-host / Entertainment Tonight Contributor Claudia Jordan - Miss Rhode Island USA 1999, “Celebrity Apprentice” Season 2, Suitcase Model “Deal or No Deal” Kristina Sisco - Miss Maryland Teen USA 1999, resigned to accept role on “As The World Turns”, 2 Emmy nominations Jill Gulseth - Miss Illinois USA 2005, Professional Model, many catalog and magazine layouts Kelly Hu - Miss Teen USA 1985, Successful TV & Film Actress, numerous credits Michelle Attai - Miss Maryland Teen USA 2002, Featured Actress HBO’s “The Wire” Nicole Bosso - Miss Delaware USA 2007 - Model for Home Shopping Network Erin Abrahamson - Miss New Jersey USA 2007, Top-80 “American Idol 3”, Successful Singer & TV Actress Krisily Kennedy - Miss Rhode Island USA 2003, “The Bachelor” Season 7: 1st Runner-up Nicole Manske - Miss Illinois Teen USA 1998, Co-host “The Speed Report”, The Speed Channel Marina Harrison - Miss Maryland USA 2005, Public Information Officer for Maryland’s Secretary of State Shanna...
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...Kenetta Cannon General Psychology Mr. T. Rykala 10/23/13 Embracing Natural Beauty Eating disorders has been a part of society for a great deal of time. Eating is a part of society because we eat when we are hungry, we eat when we see others eat, and we eat and share food to show we care. There are many contributors that lead to eating disorders. The media is one but, whether there are televisions, radios, or magazines some people will still find ways to consider themselves being not beautiful enough. People cannot handle the pressure of certain circumstances in life especially those from childhood, so they find other addictive ways to deal with the pressure. Even in adulthood factors such as abusive marriages and careers can cause eating disorders. People who suffer from eating disorders are no different from people who suffer from drug, alcohol or sex addictions. Not all people who are anorexic or bulimic have had traumatic experiences in their youth, but at some point in life situations became too stressful, whether it is a career, an event such as divorce or bullying from love ones or associates. People find unhappiness within themselves when they are repeatedly told they have physical flaws. Everyday both boys and girls suffering from eating disorders are slowly killing themselves because they are constantly told you are ugly, you are weird, or fat, too thin too tall; the list could on. This type of slow suicide is the last resort of escaping...
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