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Beauty Pageants Affect Children

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Beauty Pageants are an important part of the American culture in the 21st century. Many women, including small children, strut down the runway, dressing up in fancy clothes and makeup and charm, with the only and clear intention of catching the judges eye. Many claim that beauty pageants are a harmless activity that contestants can get a boost of confidence from. However, the sad reality of beauty pageants sends the message that women, even girls as young as 1 year olds, should be valued for judges for their appearance, and gives unrealistic beauty standards. With shows like Toddlers and Tiaras, young girls are facing harsh realities of adults choosing which child is the prettiest, the most charming. 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 act like adults, and they teach young girls about unrealistic beauty standards, and other negative messages.
Beauty Pageants deprive children of their confidence and …show more content…

Everyone knows that children love to dress up, but do fake tans, pounds of makeup, fake eyelashes, skimpy outfits and fake teeth take dress up too far? While poofy ball gowns and princess-like makeup comes to mind, the harsh reality of beauty pageants is making young children look and act like adults. In fact, Collective shouts wants to highlight dangers of beauty pageants sexualizing young children (Freymark). Little girls should be building puzzles or playing outside or having tea parties, not strutting down catwalks with orange makeup and revealing clothing, parading like show ponies (Meridith). Susanna Freymark adds “teaching little girls to preen and strut, to look sexy for judges, to emphasize sexual behaviors is totally inappropriate for

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