What Are The Effects Of Beauty Pageants

There has been a dramatic increase in interest over beauty pageants in recent years. With shows like Toddlers and Tiaras shining a bright light on the longstanding institution, the public is now able to truly see what goes on behind the scenes of the pageant industry. While obviously an exaggeration made for television entertainment, it still caused people to take notice. Beauty pageants do much more harm than good in the young girl’s development. It is detrimental to their education, self-esteem, and health. Education is a cornerstone of growing up. It is set up to prepare our youth for adulthood, teaching children the skills that will allow them to be successful. During pageant season, however, the time that should be dedicated to schoolwork is oftentimes given to training, traveling, and preparation. For the dedicated pageant families, training can start as soon as they arrive home from school. The assigned homework or studying that is required for those times is put off to the side and the grades suffer. That still leaves out the days intended for traveling to and from pageants, where the girls are taken out of school completely in order to compete. Not only does this effect grades, but it creates a …show more content…
Far beyond the physical strain that the long hours can pose, the products and habits of pageant contestants lead to serious problems. The high heels that they are put into, both during the pageant itself and the long hours of practice, are known to cause abnormalities in feet as well as problems in the lower back. The hair spray that is lacquered on to hold together their styling has now been shown to be a hormone disruptor. This can not only stunt growth but can cause tumors and birth defects. Likewise, the pressure put on their appearance and inability to maturely handle the criticism against it, makes them more apt to develop eating disorders in the quest to