Pageants are a place where it is socially acceptable for society to judge women and girl’s of all ages on their external beauty. On the other hand today’s society tells young girl’s that they should not care what’s on the outside but what’s on the inside. How can people expect this to be true when society contradicts this by telling young girls they exact opposite by allowing young beauty pageants. Youth beauty pageants had first debuted in 1961 and since then it has become increasing popular, with all the much wanted media attention. According to the article By the Numbers: Beauty Pageants the “annual beauty pageants for children ages 18 and under are around 3000” (Beauty Pageants 1). Even though pageants are visually stunning, watching
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Children of sweetness and innocence should not be seen as sex objects to other people. Thus, even in some cases, children could be looked at as child pornography, which stated by Recent Supreme Court Rulings on Child Pornography, is illegal in the U.S, is in violation of the federal child pornography law and goes against our first amendment the freedom of speech (Rulings on Child Pornography 1). Also in the article Controversy over Children’s Pageants critics against child beauty pageants argue, “That the parents often impose age-inappropriate costumes on their children…” (Controversy 1). For example, in the TLC television series Toddlers and Tiaras, stated in the article Toddler and Tiaras TOO MUCH TOO SOON? (cover story) there was a case when a pageant mom “Wendy Dickey dressed up her 3-year-old daughter Paisley in Julia Roberts streetwalker costume from Pretty Women, complete with a cut-out dress and over-the-knee boots. (she won.)”(Triggs,West, Aradillas 1). Also with many young girls in pageants looking like Barbie dolls promote the message that you have to look a certain way to be considered beautiful. We already have the pressuring issue of many young girls body shamming themselves so why make them feel even less beautiful by presenting unrealistic expectations as beautiful. In the article Controversy of Children’s Pageants state that critics claim that the ideals of beauty perpetrated by the pageant wreck havoc on a child’s self-steam (Controversy’s 1). For example, for certain pageants, such as glitz, girls are expected to be at the standards Barbie dolls create, such as the nicest outfits, big beautiful hair, heavy, make-up and much
Children of sweetness and innocence should not be seen as sex objects to other people. Thus, even in some cases, children could be looked at as child pornography, which stated by Recent Supreme Court Rulings on Child Pornography, is illegal in the U.S, is in violation of the federal child pornography law and goes against our first amendment the freedom of speech (Rulings on Child Pornography 1). Also in the article Controversy over Children’s Pageants critics against child beauty pageants argue, “That the parents often impose age-inappropriate costumes on their children…” (Controversy 1). For example, in the TLC television series Toddlers and Tiaras, stated in the article Toddler and Tiaras TOO MUCH TOO SOON? (cover story) there was a case when a pageant mom “Wendy Dickey dressed up her 3-year-old daughter Paisley in Julia Roberts streetwalker costume from Pretty Women, complete with a cut-out dress and over-the-knee boots. (she won.)”(Triggs,West, Aradillas 1). Also with many young girls in pageants looking like Barbie dolls promote the message that you have to look a certain way to be considered beautiful. We already have the pressuring issue of many young girls body shamming themselves so why make them feel even less beautiful by presenting unrealistic expectations as beautiful. In the article Controversy of Children’s Pageants state that critics claim that the ideals of beauty perpetrated by the pageant wreck havoc on a child’s self-steam (Controversy’s 1). For example, for certain pageants, such as glitz, girls are expected to be at the standards Barbie dolls create, such as the nicest outfits, big beautiful hair, heavy, make-up and much