JonBenet Ramsey’s brutal murder in 1996 brought awareness to the child beauty pageants industry. The media portrayed images of the six-year-old adorned in heavy makeup. The images outraged many people so the number of contestants fell approximately 48 percent. However, today, twenty years later, child beauty pageants are still in existence and earn approximately five billion dollars annually. In the United States, an estimated 250 children, ages 2 to eighteen, compete in over 5,000 child beauty pageants yearly. “It hurts sometimes. It makes me nervous. But I get used to it.". – Brittney Campbell. Kerry Campbell whose real name is Sheena Upton became known as “Botox Mom” after she admitted to injecting her then 8-year-old daughter Brittney Campbell with Botox. In Upton’s interview with ABC Good Morning America, she stated that her reason for the Botox injections was to get rid of Brittney’s “wrinkles” that appear when she smiles. Upton gives Brittney 5 injections on three different locations on her face. She also waxes Brittney’s legs to prevent hair from growing when she hits puberty. When Britney was asked about her waxing experience, during the same interview, she said it was very difficult and painful, but …show more content…
The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (hereinafter “CAPTA”) defines child abuse and neglect as “any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.” The parents desire to win overshadows the little girls’ best interest. Consequently, the preparation that the little girls’ must endure when competing in child beauty pageants is equivalent to child abuse because of the physical, emotional, neglect, and exploitation that