Children’s beauty pageants
It’s crazy to think that this child is only between the ages of 3–6. The attire. The makeup. The hairstyle. The jewelry. It all seems to belong to a teenager or maybe even a full grown adult. If anyone sees this picture as cute or even amusing should really pay attention to what these pageants do to our youth.
Beauty pageants have been around for many years, and girls and young woman across the globe have been competing for the recognition of beauty and talents. These competitions are fairly popular around the world and attract a certain audience that seems to be highly faithful to these pageants. The “Miss America” pageants are indeed fascinating to watch with all the varieties of race and beauty. Where the problem lies is when we seek that same attention in our young children around the world.
Children between the ages of 3 and 12 are still exploring the world around them and don’t really have an idea on what the outside world has to offer. Being in this position we can say that these children are clueless. Where do these young girls get the idea that they want to participate in these pageants? The parents.
Parents spend tons of money on makeup, wigs, costume, travels, etc. all to make sure that their daughter stands out the most. Amounts up to billions of dollars are spent in this industry by parents. According to an article on uanews.arizona.edu a journalist and professor by the name of Martina Cartwright breaks down and talks about why the parents are to blame and how they make it more about themselves instead of for the children. “Achievement by proxy distortion,” however, occurs when parents struggle to differentiate between their own need and their child’s needs, and in order to achieve what they perceive as success, they may engage in risky behaviors, objectification or even abuse and exploitation of a child” (2011). The obsession of having their child be the best causes them to take risk. “Cartwright said she talked with pageant parents who made risky financial investments to support their child’s participation, spending above and beyond the amount of the contest’s top prize. She also witnessed parents putting high pressure on their young daughters to look “flawless” and win at all costs, pushing them to adopt an unnatural and adult-like physical appearance and chastising them for poor performance, lack of enthusiasm or a flawed appearance” (2011).
Our young females of the world are slowly and surely corrupted by the participation in these beauty pageants. Such pageants are banned by other countries, maybe it is time that we do the same!
