Child Beauty Pageants Research Paper

In the article: “Toddlers in Tiaras” the writer, Skip Hollandsworth, brings about different topics debating wether pageants for little girls has a negative or a positive effect in their lives. The exigency he uses, is the story of JonBenet Ramsey who was brutally murdered after she had been kidnapped at a pageant in 1996. His purpose is to teach people that pageants for children are not as harmless as everybody makes it seem. These pageants not only strip young girls of their innocence, but it also lures in predators and pedophiles. He goes on to show the audience the ways that the provocative behavior of the girls can reap negative attention from all types of people.

How many of you have heard or seen the reality TV show: “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo”, or the more renowned, “Toddlers and Tiaras?”. It is a show where little girls below the age of ten, appear on stage wearing loads of makeup, tons of spray tan, with their nails done, fake hair and fake teeth to be judged on their beauty, personality and costumes. Parental ambitions make their children socially challenged, Leading them to feel unconnected to other children and even resulting in permanent mental and physical damage. The parents have gone to extreme measures to ensure that their child is the best. At this rate the show should be called: “Barbie’s and Tiaras”.

Peer pressure negatively affects a lot of teens today because of how social media supports us causing depression and bad decisions. In the movie Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters, shows an example of how peer pressure affects teens in high school. The movie Mean Girls is about the stereotypical high school with cliques. The “plastics” (“perfect girls”), pressure everyone to be like them and to scare them into doing unreasonable things.

Jeannette narrowly escapes rape, but because her father exploits her in a way that makes it seem like she would consent to underage sex, she is abused. The sexual abuse Jeannette suffers results in her having more trust in her own intuition as she

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).

According to Elian Tyler May, a woman’s reputation is deeply tied to her sexual behavior. Constance became overwhelmed with fear that Allison would get into trouble or somehow damage their reputation. An example from Peyton Place, Allison and her friends play a kissing game at Allison’s birthday party. Constance was terrified that Allison would make the same mistake that she did and that Allison would begin to have interest in sexual activities. This fear that Constance made affected Allison greatly.

Racial prejudice and false stereotypes can be especially harmful to adolescents, because they affect their self-esteem. Croteau and Hoynes (2013) state that “race and ethnicity are parts of our identity, influencing our lives and the way people interact with us” (p.253). I think that a six-year-old girl, whose mother uses harmful creams to bleach her skin; in the future will certainly suffer from low self-esteem. It is simply terrible that a woman makes her daughter to feel bad because of her skin color. The reason is that many people “would never marry a dark-skinned man because they don’t want that in their gene pool” (2005).

Marge Piercy’s “ Barbie Doll” establishes the character to be a young girl who hits the stage of puberty and is then subjected to people's hurtful words that destroy her body image. Before these words she seemed to be a normal little girl playing with all the right toys. The words spoken were with intent to help the girl change her physical appearance so she could be a better version of herself, but in the end the girl felt there was no other option. She could never make everyone happy.

Young women all over the internet have asked why they fear that they are pregnant when it is logically impossible. Psychologists have found that it is often caused by the negative stigma placed on pregnancy by parents and teachers. Young women believe pregnancy to be a punishment or believe that they will be punished if they are pregnant. Phil Resch’s fear of being an android is similarly rooted; his whole career is based on killing escaped androids because they are evil. If he were to be an android, his whole life would spiral out of control.

The opposition between males and females is exemplified in the character of Oryx: “Oryx, the central woman character, is known to be a child porn star. She is sold during her childhood by her mother, along with her brother because of poverty” (588). This is because “she suffers class, gender, and sexual as well as colonial exploitation. She becomes a sexual commodity passing from one man to another, with each one exploiting her sexually. She is acquainted with the job of women in society during her childhood itself”

Social justice activist Beth Leyba wrote in her article for The Huffington Post that “the idea that a shame-based campaign that shrouds sex in mystery would result in teens having less sex is both misinformed and mind boggling” (Leyba). In one of her health classes, she recalls a story their teacher told him where a prince abandons his princess in a tower because she gave her opinion too much. When this material was shown to her class, she was eleven. Seeing how abstinence-only programs portray women in such a degrading and shameful light from such a young age, it’s no wonder why women experience depression at roughly twice the rate of men and Girls 14-18 years of age have consistently higher rates of depression than boys in this age group (“Depression in Women). Sexism and misogyny are both deeply rooted in Abstinence only programs, it’s time to make a change and break away from this patriarchal

The pressure to be beautiful is an overwhelming wave that is rushing over the youth of today, particularly with girls. Girls are taught from a young age that in order for them to be worthy they must fit into a narrow, and often unhealthy, mold. Leaving many young girls vulnerable, and searching for a way alter their appearance in order to fit said mold. Covergirl, an American cosmetic brand, capitalizes off of that insecurity. In 2010 Covergirl launched a commercial featuring Taylor swift that utilizes Ethos, Pathos, and Logos; with the goal of persuade makeup wearers to purchase their makeup over other brands.