Toddlers & Tiaras Gender and sex are considered to be interchangeable but gender and sex have two different meanings. Sex is determined by our biology and gender is the aspects of our character and mental and emotional capabilities related to whether we are physiologically men or women (Sapiro 1998). Physical attributes are what determine our gender in the eyes of society and it is what limits the opportunity of improvement for men and women. Little girls and little boys start to develop gender identity at a very early age, when they start engaging in self-categorization (Sapiro 1998). This is when girls and boys start to fit in and seek help from parents and society as to where they belong. Gender is how girls and boys categorize themselves
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The parent’s have a lot of input into the beauty pageant and they are the ones forcing their daughters to do things for them. A couple of clips of the show Toddlers & Tiaras showed that a little girl was terrified of waxing her eyebrows and was crying after they pulled the wax cloth off. Almost all of the little girls in this show said that they didn’t want to do the pageant because they do not like the pressure from their parents and the things they have to do, they only like winning. The beauty pageants can affect the little girls adult life by enforcing that the girls need to wear a lot of make up and be thin and wear sexualized clothing. “The sexualization of girls can lead to eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and an inability to develop a healthy sexual self-image”(Newman 2011). Competing in beauty pageants can also lead to positive outcomes. Girls can develop good communication skills and be confident. Toddlers & Tiaras is being exploitive because they have little girls believe that materialistic life is good. The main perpetuators of this gender schema are the parents and the media. The media enforces girls and boys to act the way girls and boys are supposed to act. Parents follow along with the media because they want their little girls and little boys to fit with
The parent’s have a lot of input into the beauty pageant and they are the ones forcing their daughters to do things for them. A couple of clips of the show Toddlers & Tiaras showed that a little girl was terrified of waxing her eyebrows and was crying after they pulled the wax cloth off. Almost all of the little girls in this show said that they didn’t want to do the pageant because they do not like the pressure from their parents and the things they have to do, they only like winning. The beauty pageants can affect the little girls adult life by enforcing that the girls need to wear a lot of make up and be thin and wear sexualized clothing. “The sexualization of girls can lead to eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and an inability to develop a healthy sexual self-image”(Newman 2011). Competing in beauty pageants can also lead to positive outcomes. Girls can develop good communication skills and be confident. Toddlers & Tiaras is being exploitive because they have little girls believe that materialistic life is good. The main perpetuators of this gender schema are the parents and the media. The media enforces girls and boys to act the way girls and boys are supposed to act. Parents follow along with the media because they want their little girls and little boys to fit with