Banning Child Beauty Pageants

While being a Pageant Princess may sound glorious, many believe that her beauty killed her. Her exposure to the public made her a target for many pedophiles who watched the pageant world. The media coverage on both newspapers and magazines about her pageant life put her center stage

The article, Toddlers and Tiaras written by Skip Hollandsworth first came about in the August 2011 issue of Good Housekeeping. The article tells us about the world of child pageantry and attempts to convince the readers that the girls participating are being exploited and hypersexualized on stage. He also suggests that some parents are to blame referring to the American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls quoting “...parents who put their daughters in pageants can contribute “in very direct and concrete ways” to “the precocious sexualization” of their daughters (Hollandsworth 493). The author uses imagery, professional references, and shadowing the pageant world to put this article together and give the readers

In “Toddlers in Tiaras” there is a wide variety of concepts discussed and Hollandsworth's opinion on any of them is relatively cut and dry as he provides commentary on the events of the article in a way that is easy to decipher if the context is understood. Hollandsworth’s thesis idea can be stated as such - The pageant industry pulls in mothers and daughters alike with the allure of fame and fortune using various avenues such as toy production and media coverage. These little girls are plunged into an expensive world of neuroticism and are coaxed into semi-sexual performances for judges who determine their self-worth - whether they enjoy what they do or not, it is an extremely damaging environment for these girls to be in. The mothers of these pageant girls are subconsciously pushing them to live a life they wanted for themselves and this vicarious relationship leads to an array of lifelong trauma and experience that has been shown to impact past pageant stars as well. This thesis idea can be split up into a few different themes that correlate to the essential message - sexualization, popularization, and socialization.

Treays, the director of the 1996 documentary ‘Painted Babies’ has presented the idea that the beauty pageant industry is promoting the over-sexualisation and exploitation of young children. Forcing children into the beauty pageant industry is forcing them to grow up faster and lose their childhood, something that is irreplaceable. Furthermore, it incorrectly teaches young girls that they need makeup and clothes to be beautiful, which has a detrimental effect on their self-esteem in the long run. Treays has effectively used an array of techniques to suggest these ideas, including dialogue and camera angles. Treays has used documentary techniques, including ideational montage sequences, dialogue and actuality combined with dramatization, to present

In other words, it is easy to aim at those young girls who participate in pageants and label them as being sexualized because of the time they are dolled up with makeup, fancy dresses, and big hairs. For that reason, we do not often think of all the other young girls. In fact, they are sexualizing themselves as well. Needless to say, today, the media is one of the largest contribution to a kid’s life as they grow up. For that reason, what they see in the media will essentially have an impact on their

Unfortunately, this generations idles and figures have been misconstrued. Reality TV stars have become role models for many young girls. Young girls have come with the idea that in order to be beautiful they can just throw their body around, get surgery, or do something little to become famous. To many times I have seen little girls dressing much older than they are so that they can look like the girls on the reality shows. These are big problems within our generation and I would love to be able to address these.

Logos creates a sense of urgency in the reader’s head that they need to monitor their child’s behavior. One of the credible sources Hanes uses is from a University of Central Florida poll, which found that, “50 percent of 3-6 year old girls worry they’re fat” (*). Hanes argues this statistic could be stemmed from the Disney Princesses image. The princesses have a particular shape and size that has created a standard for body image. The author uses these facts to show her audience that if parents continue to allow their children to view these images, their child will desire to be just like the Disney Princesses.

Skip Hollandsworth’s “Toddlers in Tiaras” argues the negative effects of participating in beauty pageants for young girls. Hollandsworth supported his argument through the use of the following techniques: narratives, testimonies, logical reasoning, appeals to emotion, facts, and an objective tone that attempts to give him credibility. These techniques are used to help persuade his audience of the exploitation of young girls in beauty pageants and the negative effects that pageants will have on their lives. Hollandsworth begins his article with how a typical beauty pageant runs and describes the multiple steps Eden Wood, a pageant contestant, goes through in order to get ready for a competition (490).

The 1950’s was a very controversial time specially for woman, during that era they symbolized the traditional gender roles; housewife’s, submissive and conservative. Surprisingly, Marilyn Monroe, Barbie and beauty pageants became very popular even though they challenged the image of an ideal woman at the time by portraying more beauty and sexuality. These icons symbolized various messages while still upholding some of the traits that dominated that era. The beauty pageants portrayed various messages regarding woman’s beauty and sexuality a very dominant one was the qualifications to be considered a candidate for Miss America.

In this article, the author stated, “Opponents sag pageants put too much emphasis on looks. ‘Many of these kids grow up with a never-ending drive for physical perfection,’ Martina Cartwright tells JS. Her research on child pageants was recently published in a medical journal. ‘This can lead to eating disorders and poor self-esteem’” (Cartwright).

Growing up as a little girl, surrounded by Barbie Dolls, dresses, and piggy-tails, sparked my interest in becoming a princess. I grew up an only child, without any older sisters to teach me how to apply make-up correctly or braid my hair for me. I learned everything by myself, using the auspicious approach of trial and error. After entering middle school, I quickly realized my archetypical goal was not exactly realistic. Although dismayed, I was not discouraged, nor were my interests in cosmetics altered.

This activity is considered as one of the growing businesses in America which earned over 5 billion dollars every year (Lindsey, 2013). These beauty pageants will sometimes cause parents to abuse their children without knowing it. The Children may be forced to join the contest and they will be taught some kind of bad life lessons. So, the four main reasons why child beauty pageants are harmful are: Firstly, child beauty pageants may lead to overconfident. Children which participate in child beauty pageants normally told by their parents or people around them that they are beautiful, charming, talented, more special than others to let them be more confident during the contest.

My humble home, tucked within our modest suburb, is brimming with East African culture. The scents of freshly fried chapos permeate through my bedroom walls, plastered with cloth paintings from Kenya and South Sudan. The sound of Kiswahili, the fresh chai burning my tongue, these sensations are my comfort. I am an East African, by blood and by heritage. Dark, ebony skin and lean legs that extend for miles mark me as a typical South Sudanese girl.

Beauty Pageants Banned: How Harmful are Beauty Pageants? Imagine seeing someone make their crying eight year old go up on stage in front of everyone, with mascara starting to drip down her face and she's tripping over her enormous dress. What would other parents think? Child Beauty pageants should be banned because they most often become dangerous for a young child to be in.

Many now wonder if competing in beauty pageants adversely affect a child’s development. Beauty pageants deprive children of their confidence and childhoods because they lower girls self esteem, they force children to look and