The Ugly Side of Children Beauty Pageants

The popularity of child beauty pageants seems to be rising every year causing more and more controversy. There are many different views and concerns that people seem to have on these types of pageants. Many of them do not agree with children being forced to fulfill their parents dream by taking place in a beauty pageant. A child psychologist, Dr. Robert Reiner (2006) states "very pushy parents who for a variety of reasons, didn't get what they wanted when they were children." Also, is it right to pile on make up and glittery dresses on these little kids and force them to compete? Should a child really be wearing false teeth and spray-on tans? Many people actually believe this is even child abuse.

Child beauty pageants began in 1960's consisting of modeling sportswear, evening attire, dance and talent (Nussbaum). The average ages for participants in the pageants were 6 to 12 years old. Since this time, a lot in the pageant industry has changed. Pageants are anything but conservative anymore. They also are not about the natural look like they once were when they first began. Now they are based on who can pile on the most make up and who has the best tan.

The age of the children participating now in these pageants range from 0 - 18 years old. That goes to show that obviously the very young ones are not in it for themselves much less even know what is going on. Children should only participate in beauty pageants if it is something they are interested in doing. Being forced into a competition is hard on a child's self confidence and could lead to future emotional problems. Weiner (2007) states that the children in beauty pageants have been linked to three of the most common mental health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression.

Since there is only one winner, that leaves the other contestants in the losing category. At the end of child pageants, many of the little girls leave the stage with nothing but tears streaming down their faces. "Is filling their young eyes with tears of rejection really the "right thing" to do for these children?" (Eubanks, 2000). If that isn't bad enough, some of them even get yelled by their parents for not doing a good enough job. If the parents like these pageants so much, then maybe they should be the ones participating in them.

Beauty pageants are not just a one time, one hour thing. These pageants take up pretty much all of these kids time. They are constantly traveling and practicing which leaves you to wonder, where is the time for the children's education? The parents are more concerned with their child getting a trophy or a crown then knowledge. This is an important time in a child's life to get an education. They will not gain the appropriate education through glitz and glam. These children should be sitting in a classroom with a teacher like the rest of the kids do.

It is inappropriate to have these children dressed up like little adults in there tiny dress with their hair and make up done. Why are these kids even wearing make up? This is only going to teach them that life is all about appearance when they should be learning there is a lot more to life then looks. A child should not even be judged on their looks anyways especially at such a young age. As far as the rounds in the competition, a swimsuit round for four year olds is completely uncalled for. Not only that but it makes up 33 percent of the contestants score. How could a judge even feel comfortable rating a child in a swimsuit? These children have many years to act like an adult ahead of them, for now they need to have a normal childhood.

In 2006, Fox Searchlight Pictures released a movie, Little Miss Sunshine. This movie is about a little girl, Olive, who's dysfunctional family is willing to do anything to make it to the pageant she is competing in. Once they arrive at the pageant, the family realizes that the teased hair, eroticized movements, and capped teeth are anything but Olive but that did not stop her from competing. In the talent portion, Olive got on stage and started her striptease style dance she learned from her grandpa. The media is taking this industry and turning it into nothing but a joke when in fact there is no humor involving this issue.

Pageants are anything but cheap for the parents. A dress itself can cost a few thousand dollars alone. This is not even including traveling costs, hotel rooms, and taking different lessons for their talent is many more thousands of dollars. All of these things add up to an outstanding total. Who can imagine a parent throwing away money to something that is not going to benefit their child and also that the child does not even enjoy? Instead of spending their money on these pageants, they should put it away for their child's college education or use it to help their child when they are old enough to move out on their own. Many parents have spent so much on pageants they lost their trailer (Cromie 2000).

JonBenet Patricia Ramsey was a six year old girl who was found murdered in her parent's basement on December 26, 1996 in Boulder Colorado (Hickey 2007). Her mother, Patsy Ramsey, was a former beauty queen who introduced her daughter, JonBenet, to the world of pageantry. JonBenet won many titles including Little Miss Colorado, National Tiny Miss Beauty, and Little Miss Christmas to name a few. After her death, critics started to wonder if pageants may be attracting unsavory elements. Years later, the search for the suspect finally came to an end and investigators took John Mark Karr into custody. He admitted to drugging Ramsey and sexually assaulted her before killing her. Could this be tied to the fact that pageants are sexualizing these little girls? Hopefully one day there we will find out the conclusion to this case. Ever since the JohnBenet Ramsey case, you would think these parents would have a different outlook on child beauty pageants. After the murder of JohnBenet, that was a reminder to the world that there are perverted people out there. Kids should not be exposed to these kinds of people by being on a stage getting videotaped looking like little Barbie dolls.

Everyone is familiar with the popular Miss USA pageants that are held annually. Tara Connor was crowned Miss USA in 2006. Shortly after the crowning, Tara was accused for drug use, underage drinking, and sexual misconduct. After testing positive for the use of cocaine, Donald Trump (owner of Miss USA) decided as long as she entered a drug rehabilitation program, he would allow her to keep her title as Miss USA. Before this incident, it was clear to everyone that if you do something illegal, the first runner up will be entitled to your crown and you will no longer be able to even compete in pageants. After Connor was allowed to keep her title, it was a message to the world that it is okay to act in this explicit way. Miss USA is who little girls look up to and look at as a role model. Now Connor is anything but a good role model for the children.

Children beauty pageants are a dream come true for pedophiles. They offer many children on stage in provocative clothing dancing around in a sexual manner. That is why pageants are a main target for the pedophiles out there. You would think that parents would fear for the safety of their children instead of a crown or sash. Wouldn't you wonder who could be sitting in the audience or at the television screen watching your child perform or prance around the stage? Children should not be exposed to the public for their beauty. This is a very scary thing and you never know what kind of people you are dealing with.

Some say they put their child in pageants to help them overcome their shyness. That is no excuse for a child to be pushed into competing in these pageants. That takes all the fun out of it for child when they are pressured to compete. There are many other things a child can take place in to help them with that. What about a sport where there is an entire audience watching; isn't that enough to help a child overcome their shyness? Even a dance class, they have quite a few practices and at the end of the entire class, there is a big recital for parents and family. The difference though is, many kids actually enjoy dancing.

Beauty pageants are a becoming a very populated industry. It is also one of the fastest growing businesses in America grossing over 5 billion dollars (Coleman, Phyllis). Bowling (2006) states that in 2003, the last year for which figures are available, 287,250 contestants entered child pageants. Nearly 10,000 of the approximately 16,000 pageants reported a 33 percent increase in contestants over the previous year. You would think that at some point, parents would begin to realize how harmful pageants really are. It is amazing that every year thousands more children are participating in pageants.

Many parents think that putting their child in a pageant is their road to stardom. This could be because the majority of beauty pageant advertisements include phrases such as "Win Cash! Become Famous! Win Scholarships!" Every year there are thousands of beauty pageants taking place in the world and most parents do not understand the promoters are out to get one thing, money. With over 300,000 contestants each year, the chances of a child getting their 15 minutes of fame that their parents are after are extremely slim. Big companies, such as the Gap, do not search for the little girl that looks like Barbie; they look for the cute little natural looking girl. It does not take caked on make up and sleazy clothes for true talent to be recognized. It takes a child acting like themselves to catch an agencies attention.

Children participating in pageants can even do a great deal of pain to their parent's marriage. A lot of the time it is the mothers who are forcing these kids into pageants. Majority of fathers do not agree with it which causes rocky marriages and even divorce. Men do not want to see their little girl exposing herself sexually to hundreds or thousands of people. The mother's are willing to risk their family just to see their child on stage.

Children should not be forced into revolving their life around make up and glittery dresses, kids are kids and that is what they should be able to act like. This is the time in their life where they need to be taught right from wrong and by making them participate in beauty pageants is teaching them anything but right. Parents need to let their children make up their own mind. Of course most children dream of one day becoming a princess but they are unaware of the pain and suffering they will go through trying to reach that goal.

Cromie, W. J. (2000). The whys and woes of beauty pageants. Retrieved June 3, 2007, from www.news.harvard.edu/

Eubanks, A. (2000). Youth beauty pageants: beautiful children, ugly parents. Retrieved June 3, 2007, from www.utulsa.edu/

Bowling, S. (2006). Child beauty pageant industry. Retrieved June 3, 2007, from www.courierpress.com

Nussbaum, K. Children and beauty pageants. Retrieved June 14, 2007, from http://www.minorcon.org/pageants

Hickey, E. (2007). JonBenet Ramsey. Retrieved June 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JonBenet_Ramsey

Weiner, S. (2007). Goodbye to girlhood. Retrieved June 15, 2007, from www.washingtonpost.com

Eubanks, A. (2000). Youth beauty pageants: beautiful children, ugly parents. Retrieved June 16, 2007, from http://www.utulsa.edu/collegian/article.asp?article=38