Child Beauty Pageants

Another aspect that affects the reputation of pageants is the toll that such an obsession of body image and thinness has on viewers. As we look around, it is evident that not all connections of young men and women’s problems with their self-confidence and self-love in their own skin lead to pageants. Celebrities have proved to be thinner, which negatively affects all those who look up to said celebrities and want to be just like them. However, with recent campaigns and public attention, more and more celebrities are taking a stand against body shaming. Beauty queens alike have had a reputation of keeping a perfectly toned body that fits flawlessly in a bikini. Young women want that image so badly they are willing to harm themselves in various …show more content…
Ackard and Judith B. Henderson conducted a study across a span of ten years, ending in 2005, “…to examine the relationship between childhood pageant participation and adult mental health, specifically disordered eating behaviors and related pathology, body dissatisfaction, depression, and self-esteem,” (Wonderlich 292). Anna Wonderlich and her team found proper research on unfavorable outcomes of a pageant and observed that, “the significant impact of childhood beauty pageant participation on body dissatisfaction, interpersonal distrust, impulse dysregulation, and ineffectiveness can be linked to findings in past research related to media exposure. Beauty pageant participation and viewing mass media are similar because they both expose individuals to thin female ideals” (Wonderlich 294). Over a span of about 80 years, the Body Mass Index of Miss America winners declined in ideal weight (Wonderlich 292). The ultimate goal of many competitors is often to lose as much weight as possible for competition. Unfortunately, this example has left the rest of the female population to look and feel as if they are not enough because they do not succumb to these habits and expectations of thinness. According to study, those who competed in beauty pageants at a young age found a greater personal body dissatisfaction than those who did not compete (Wonderlich 296). Among other categories, the Wonderlich study proves that …show more content…
For instance, those competing find themselves disregarding past shyness as they meet new people, advance their social skills, and enjoy themselves in healthy competition. Studies show that young women struggle with body shaming and self-confidence more than the average woman who did not ever participate in a child beauty pageant. Because of this research and the popular expectation of society in our culture today, most people believe all beauty pageants are only primarily focused on the outward appearance. However, not all pageant organizations can conclude only beauty is considered in their sole purpose in forming the event. If executed and performed in a way to benefit the overall countenance, confidence, and personality of those maturing young females participating in beauty pageants to begin with, the overall reputation of said competitions would be altered from only a contest focused on the outward appearance to an edifying experience for all involved. As a result, more and more pageant agencies would follow suit, adhere to new alterations, and adjust the overall character of participants, judges, society, and the pageant industry as a whole. With these new changes in mind, our focus in the upbringing of a new generation would turn to poise, integrity, self-confidence, and personality instead of a focus on the amount of lipstick