How To Write A Persuasive Essay On Child Beauty Pageants

Improved Essays
When it comes to childhood development, a child 's first years of life are the most important time to have them learn about happiness, love, and responsibility. Dressing a child up and letting them put make-up on is not the greatest way to raise a child. Child beauty pageants are becoming a growing trend in America. These beauty pageants set false rules on beauty, as they make children believe that they have to wear make- up, fake eyelashes, jewelry, hair extensions, fake nails, and other accessories, to feel beautiful. Children are way too young to be put through this type of competition. It is acceptable for teenagers and adults, but not for very young children or toddlers. Every child has their own natural beauty and they should not have the need to have anyone 's opinion on the way they look. Since girls only have a limited time to feel confident with themselves before society begins to criticize them, I believe that this time of development is …show more content…
They are being taught that make up is a "cover up," or used to make themselves look and feel flawless. This gives a message to girls that they have to be pretty for other people, rather than to express themselves with the personality they have. Competing overlooks are sending the wrong message to children, which tells them that they need to have the looks in order to succeed. As they compete in beauty pageants, they are judged by their appearance. Some of the judgments the children receive could be negative, and this is where the behavioral issues and emotional issues come along. Whoever does not win, the young girls would compare themselves to the girl who did win, which would lead to poor self- image and low self- esteem. This affects a child 's development because they would believe that looks are all that matters in a person of beauty and perfection, instead of their

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Women have always been confined to femininity but where do we draw the line? How can we reach common ground, break double standards between men and woman and teach young girls that they are free to express themselves in any way they choose without any concern from society. Young girls have been competing in pageants for many years now. In the article Toddlers in Tiaras Nicole Eggart winner of the Little Miss Universe competition explained the dawn of pageants “None of the kids had their hair done, no one had makeup on; no one had custom-made gowns --…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When little girls are introduced to pageants at an early age, they lose their innocence as they are expected to behave like adults. They have to wear costumes that expose their bodies, learn dance routines that sexualize their image, and put on make-up and hairspray in order to look pretty, which could all eventually compromise their mental health. As they grow older, their concerns with physical appearances lower their self-esteem, making them think that they cannot be sufficiently pretty without any accessories. In general, young girls should not be allowed to participate in beauty pageants that take away their innocence, because they lose the characteristics of a regular child. The media emphasizes how women and girls should look like: magazines, television shows, and advertisements constantly tell females what is considered pretty, what body figures they should have, and how they should act.…

    • 1557 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Beauty pageants can decrease the amount of family time, school time, and not enjoying their childhood. Beauty pageants are not free to enter it requires a lot of financial stability. According to Lucia Grosaru, “Moms are the ones who fill out the application, pay the participation fee.” Application fee, hair and make-up, outfits will cost between $2,000 to $3,000. Each time you enter you need to pay the fee again and have new outfits which cost money.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Six out of ten thought being thinner would make them happier.” These beauty standards have always been implemented on young women but the age for beauty standards seems to be lowering. Children in pageants are given guidelines and rules on how to dress and judged on what they look like. This is exactly what society does to grown women, only child beauty pageants are seen as entertainment. The sexualization of young children can teach young girls that their worth is determined by their status as sex objects.…

    • 1301 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At a first glance, it all seems like a little girl’s dream. Long, flowing dresses, like the Disney princesses that they grew up envying, bleach blonde hair and pink lipstick like the seemingly ‘perfect’ Barbie dolls that they get every year for their birthday. If they do their best, they can even win their own tiara! But all is not as it seems. Child beauty pageants are wrong.…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Glitz beauty pageants should be banned for girls ages under 16 because it can lower a girl’ self-esteem, the pageants have too many unrealistic expectations, and it can cost a lot of money for families. Most people would feel sad if they lost a competition because…

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This essay talks about issues on the controversy around the sexualization or adultification of children in beauty pageant on the reality hit television program Toddlers & Tiaras, on The Learning Channel television network, TLC. Viewers express anger and disappointment to not only on the show itself, but to the parents who ‘forcefully’ allow their kids to partake on the pageant by dressing up as a prostitute, wearing fake breasts and padded buttocks as well as smoking just to name a few. Parents of this participants explain that the sexy outfits are merely costumes but experts and psychologist note that the costumes can confuse kids about their body image, leading to eating disorders and the desire for cosmetic surgery. In this essay,…

    • 149 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Remember, honey, step, then turn, then give those judges a big wink, one mother says encouragingly… Your job is to make them love you.” (Hollandsworth 491). Those “encouraging” words will probably always be stuck in that little girl’s head and she’ll think of it every time she meets someone. That’s a lot of pressure for a 6-year old girl, and explains the link between pageants and the hypersexualization of young girls.…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This essay discusses the controversy around the sexualization of children on the beauty pageant circuit as presented on the reality television program "Toddlers & Tiaras" on the TLC television network. Parents of pageant participants explain that the sexy outfits are merely costumes, but child development experts note that the costumes can confuse children about their body image, leading to eating disorders and the desire for cosmetic surgery. Topics discussed include the high costs of participating in pageants, their prevalence in the Southern U.S. and concerns that the TV program is…

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    According to “Princess by Proxy: What Child Beauty Pageants Teach Girls About Self-Worth and What We Can Do About It”, more than 250,000 contestants compete throughout the United States in more than 16,000 natural and glitz pageants. (Cartwright). The effects that competing in pageantry can have on women in today’s society have recently became a major looked into problem. Pageantry is a very common hobby for females of ages six weeks all the way up to elderly adult women stage. Back in 1921, beauty contests had just been introduced for adult women with small cash prices and only one category of competition.…

    • 215 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beastly Beauty Pageants

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A child’s self confidence can be just as affected as the parent’s wallet. In beauty pageants there is only one ultimate winner, the Ultimate Grand Supreme. When children get dubbed a lower titles than others it’s the judges’ way of saying that one child is prettier than the other. This hurts a child’s self esteem; no one wants to be known as ugly.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Child Pageants

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In fact, today’s society’s conventional beauty ideals, such as being thin, transfers over into the young pageant world. According to former pageant star, Marly Ramstad, pageants were a way to assure her that she had attained the perfect figure (Goode 3). Marly had already been suffering from an eating disorder, Anorexia, and this was her way of validating her weight, therefore perpetuating the baneful, unhealthy concept that only thin is beautiful. Sadly, this happens a lot more than one may think in the children’s pageant world. “A report by the American Psychology Association found that the hypersexualzation of young girls is strongly associated with eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression” (5 Reasons Child Pageants are Bad for Kids).…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The self-esteem of a young person can be decreased when looking at an image of “real beauty”. When society doesn’t perceive you as “beautiful” it could lead to a deadly cycle of bullying, depression, then possibly suicide. 4,400 young people die of suicide yearly and most are young people ages 10-14 who are being bullied for how they look (NoBullying, 2014). The impact the beauty industry makes on society is different within different countries; different countries tend to advertise beauty in different ways. We are in a society where beauty is consumed by image and not aspects of who you are.…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Beauty Pageants are a way girls can learn important life skills while also having fun. It’s a way to learn the difference between winning and losing and also gaining friendships, not even just in beauty pageants, all other different types of pageants such as rodeo queen pageants and “natural pageants” girls are able to learn more about themselves. Beauty pageants give girls additional skills that they can use in their life growing up. From competing it gives them more confidence, develops social skills, poise and personality. In beauty pageants there are many different values that women can learn from and use to better herself in her careers in the future.…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How Beauty Pageants Effect Children and Women Why do girls find beauty pageants so important to their social status and popularity? For the longest time, girls have competed from ages new born all the way up to their twenties in beauty contests. Most of the time, it’s the parents who get them first started in the industry, but the amount of money and time they spend on pageants is ridiculous! Why is it so important for girls to win contests for beauty, and not for their true selves?…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays