Child Beauty Pageants Essay

Child Beauty Pageants: Effects on Children
Cartrica Foster
South University
Composition II Eng 1200 S07
Dr. John Kay
10/13/2014

Beauty pageants have been going on for decades, but the big question is what age should a child be able to participate? Child beauty pageants are harmful to a child’s health and well-being whether it’s a boy or girl. Pageants can make them think that the beauty outside is always going to be judged first. It also makes them feel as if they need expensive clothes and heavy cosmetics to make them beautiful. Some reasons that this is being debated is that child beauty pageants risk exploitation of children who aren’t even old enough to decide for themselves if they want to be in a pageant. Also in child pageants children are overly dressed and they have entirely too much makeup. In the hypersexualization of children, they tend to be depressed, suffer with eating disorders and have low self-esteem. The last reason of this argument is that parents put these children in these pageants and put too much pressure on the child by making the child feel as if it’s all about winning.
When watching the show on television Toddlers and Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo a viewer can see how parents teach to their children. It is also seen how the children throw tantrums. The pressure is so hard on the children and it stresses and harms their self-esteem. These children should not be exploited like that. Parents tend to want to live through their children without even realizing it. Child pageants can become a risk for exploitation, just look at the show that is on television Toddlers and Tiaras. Parents put their child in a pageant before the child has even developed a personality. These parents teach their children that winning is everything. So in reality even if the parent doesn’t know it they are exploiting that child before the child can say what he or she wants. In exploiting a child it makes the child competing think that you have to be pretty to win and if you don’t win then you are ugly. This makes the child hates the way they look and brings on low self-esteem. In the article Pageants Reeking of Blatant Exploitation it says that this is not about child beauty, this is about child exploitation and the parents should answer for it. It should not be allowed for a child who can’t make decision for his or herself to be exploited not even for a pageant (. Sunday Hearld-Sun 2012).
Children are over dressed and have on way too much makeup. These children are made up to look like a doll or a miniature adult. Being in pageants as a young child makes them think that appearance is everything and it’s the only thing that matters. Kataline, the author of FATLASH says “people need to be educated as to why exposing and displaying a child in sexual ways beyond their years is wrong. France voted to ban child pageants because of the overdressed made up look. This is forcing a child to grow up way to fast. The television shoe Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is a prime example of and overdressed heavy made up child who is dressed beyond her age. What young children see on television has a big impact on what they think a person their age should look and be like. Next hypersexualization of young children is bad for their health and well-being. Young children tend to suffer from eating disorders and low self-esteem not to mention depression who participate in beauty contest. This is because they see what you have to look like and dress like to win. If the child doesn’t win then they seem to look down on themselves. They want to change the way they look or dresses. They will tend to suffer from eating disorders to be a certain weight. The stress brought on by the pressure of winning will soon cause the depression. The low self-esteem will come when they feel they aren’t as good or look as good as a child who wins. These young children feel as if the beauty is more valuable than anything. A child should feel as

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