Harmful Effects Of Chilren's Beauty Pageants

Harmful effects of Chilren’s Beauty Pageants Silence and the smell of hairspray overpowered the auditorium as hundreds of hopeful toddlers waited for the host to announce the winner of the beauty pageant. “And the winner is.. number twenty three!” he finally shouted, triggering the despair and outbursts of every other girl except the new winner. Hours of rehearsal and being tortured by fake eyelashes and spray tans suddenly amounted to nothing but a sad car ride home wondering why they weren’t good enough. Unfortunately for thousands of young girls all around the world, this is the reality of competing in beauty pageants. A beauty pageant is a competition in which the entrants, usually women, are judged as to physical beauty and sometimes

From a young age, children need to be taught to love themselves for who they are inside and out. Beauty pageants teach the complete opposite of this because the main idea is to judge each child only on their outer appearance. “Some less than a year old--compete against each other for the top prizes and adult judges determine which one looks the loveliest. Or the cutest. Or the most stunning” (Meredith). Another reason beauty pageants focus on self image is because the only way to win is by completing morphing each child into what society thinks is beautiful. When preparing for a beauty pageant, every natural aspect of a child is changed until they look twenty times their age. “..clabbered with freaky orange make-up, fake curls, fake eye-lashes, fake every thing” (Meredith). The last reason pageants teach children to focus on self image is because every move they make on stage is completely rehearsed and fake. If a pageant contestant does not act poised and proper for the judges (almost like a robot), there is little to no chance of winning. “..over-exaggerated facial expressions, sparkly eyes, pointing at judges, excessive head tilts..” (Meredith). All of these aspects beauty pageant contestants must follow teach them the total wrong idea of how to look at themselves and can lead to many problems in the

Every person should be taught how to value themselves inside and out from a young age. By entering a child into the realm of beauty pageants, they are taught to only focus on their outer appearance which can cause a plethora of issues down the road. Another reason children beauty pageants are bad for children is because they can cause harmful effects. In order to be “successfull” in a pageant, fake nails, tan, hair, etc. is a requirement. An example of what issues can arise could be skin cancer or premature wrinkles caused by tanning. The last reason children beauty pageants should not be allowed is because they rob children of their childhood. Instead of spending their childhood playing and enjoying their innocence, children who compete in beauty pageants experience the opposite. All of their time is spent in rehearsal to look perfect, and on stage competing against other girls over who is the most beautiful. Instead of sending thousands of young girls home in tears, hopefully the future will hold better for the wellbeing of the generations to come. Instead of the hosts announcing a winner, there will be no winner because each child will know how beautiful they are regardless of winning a crown or