Emily Gasta Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric 13300-01 November, 2012

Childhood Beauty Pageants: Depriving Children of their Childhood and Tainting their Adulthood.

Today in America, it is not uncommon to find children that are highly involved in sports or other activities that require hard work and dedication. Kids spend hours of their days training or practicing for a sport or activity in order to develop a specific skill set or to reach certain goals. As a child, I spent a great deal of time sitting at the piano in my familys living room, playing scale after scale, mistake after mistake, until I finally learned a song. Finding children dedicated to a certain activity is not unusual, and is actually looked favorably upon by many people. Individuals argue that these activities teach kids that accomplishments do not come easy in life and that it takes hard work to achieve certain things. High involvement in activities can help a child grow and learn, and many children love participating in their activities too. However, one activity stands apart from the rest; child beauty pageants. Ever since TLCs Toddlers and Tiaras aired, childhood beauty pageants have been a hot topic of discussion. With 1.4 million viewers each week, there are plenty of opinions to be heard, and many people are very vocal about their dislike for the popular activity (Hollandsworth). But why are child beauty pageants so frowned upon? Many mothers of child pageant contestants argue that beauty

pageants are just like every other childhood activity. They claim contests are just like sports games or dance recitals, where children compete against other children (Triggs). One parent argued, The goal, presumably, is the same: development and growth (Glover). However, there is one reasonable difference between child beauty pageants and other activities, and that is what the children are working towards and competing over. Child beauty pageants are different from other activities in that they examine a childs physical appearance rather than skill. One cannot dispute the fact that beauty pageants put a large emphasis on physical appeal (Glover 3). There are accounts of young girls spending hours before pageants applying makeup, fake hair and even fake teeth to change their appearance. It is not uncommon for toddlers to get a spray tan and fake nails for a pageant. Before an interview, child beauty pageant contestant Eden Wood spent an hour and a half getting ready by putting on makeup and hair extensions (Hollandsworth). Madisyn Verst, a five year-old contestant, spends about three hours on makeup and hair before going on stage to compete in a beauty pageant (Hackett). Rather than spending time to learn a skill, such as how to play an instrument or do a backflip, children in beauty pageants spend a large portion of time working on their appearance. In addition to makeup and hair, contestants also change the way they look using outfits or costumes. Not only do many beauty pageant contestants wear sparkly dresses that cost thousands of dollars, but they will also wear garments that portray certain characters (Hollandsworth). While some costumes are quite tame, such as magicians or fairies, others spark quite the uproar. For one pageant,

pageant mother Lindsay Jackson dressed her daughter up as Dolly Parton, complete with fake breasts to replicate Partons figure (Triggs). Another mother, Wendy Dickey, dressed her daughter up as Julia Roberts prostitute character from the movie Pretty Women (Hackett). Many critics point out the fact that mothers are making their children portray very sexualized characters. Supporters of beauty pageants claim that these costumes are not much different from Halloween costumes. One mother argues that there are children who wear Halloween costumes that depict serial killers, but not many people complain about these costumes (Triggs). However, there is a difference between Halloween and Beauty Pageants, and that is the attitude involved. When a child wears a costume during Halloween, the costume is just clothing on top of the real person, however when a child wears a costume in a beauty pageant, not only do they look like the character, but they are also pushed to act like the character. When children compete in pageants, they are told to put on a certain personality on stage. Many blow kisses and shake their hips; two very sexual acts (Hollandsworth). Not only do these children wear costumes, but they transform their personality too. More specifically, the two young girls mentioned above looked and acted like Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts prostitute character. It is when these girls win trophies and praise from performing this way that they start to learn what will get them attention in life. They are told that their physical appearance and insincere charm make them stand out (Hollandsworth). Needless to say, children in beauty pageants are being sent the wrong messages. Their success in their activity depends on their physical appearance and

presentation of themselves. The childs self-worth depends on their looks, rather than their intelligence, creativity or athletic ability (Hollandworth). With so much time dedicated to practicing for pageants, children involved with pageants have no time to participate in other activities or learn in other ways (Hollandsworth). Brooke Breedwell, a former child beauty pageant participant, reflected on her childhood. She accounted having to quit other activities, such as soccer, to allot enough time to pageantry. Breedwell blames this on her mother; the person who kept her in beauty pageants (Hollandsworth). It seems like in every beauty pageant story the problem always leads back to the mother. With all these negative aspects of pageants, why do parents push their kids to be in pageants? Underneath it all, the parents are just trying to do what it best for their children. The parents of children in beauty pageants very much think the pageants are beneficial to their children. In the article Pomp & Circumstance by Terry Glover, mother Tandria Collins discusses her reasoning for putting her daughter Chandlyr Collins, age six, in beauty pageants. Tandria explains she first found out about pageants through a brochure gotten in the mail and was interested because she too once competed in a pageant (Glover 2). The mother goes on to explain that she signed her daughter up for the pageant partly out of a possible still unmet desire. It is evident from this mothers account that she herself would want to compete in a pageant and is merely giving the opportunity to her daughter. Many psychologists have also studied this idea. Melissa Harris-Perry , Ph.D., states, These pageants are a time for [the children] and their moms to have the Kate Middleton moment. These moms want to live the princess story, and more, to feel like theyve captured it for

their daughters this instant of extreme specialness (Hollandsworth). Many parents feel they would want to participate if they had the chance, so they are giving this opportunity to their children. Not only do these parents want this for their children, but they also feel it is a good influence on the children. Many parents believe pageants have a positive impact on their children. Some people argue performing on stage in front of a large group of people as well as judges helps to make their children more confident and outgoing (Triggs). Others argue the competitions teach the children how to cope with not winning (Glover 3). Many parents claim that pageantry teaches their children how to be hard working and dedicated (Hackett). And some contestants agree. Child beauty pageant contestant Maya Danials is said to be encouraged by judges comments and always leaves pageants with a high self-esteem and fulfillment (Glover 3). And although many parents push their kids to do pageants, some children truly enjoy them themselves. Eden Woods has said herself that she enjoys pageants and wants to continue participating in them (Glover 3). However, this is not the case for everyone. As mentioned before, former contestant Brooke Breedwell hated being in pageants (Hollandsworth). She stated that her relationship with her mother suffered and she still has negative feelings of her after being pushed to participate in an activity she did not enjoy. And Brooke is not alone. There are many people who see the pressure of the parents negatively. There is a large amount of evidence that parents could actually be hurting their children by having them participate in pageants. When mothers cover their daughters in makeup and give them fake hair, they are indirectly telling their

daughter that they are not pretty enough (Hollandsworth). In 2007, the American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls published a report. The report claimed that parents who enter their children in pageants can add in very direct and concrete ways to the precocious sexualization of their daughters (Hollandsworth). This early sexualization of the girls teaches them that they must act in this fashion in order to make anything of themselves in life. Mark Sichel, a clinical social worker, goes even further in calling this child abuse. Sichel stated that if the child is unwilling to participate in the pageant, and it is hard work to compete, then this demand by the parents is actually a form of abuse (Triggs). Not just the pageants themselves, but the actions of the parents are harmful to the child competitors. The parents of the children may argue that these competitions boost their childs confidence and public speaking skills, but under layers of makeup, fake tan and hair extensions, what can these children really be confident about? One example of this is the case of Madisyn Verst whos parents argue their daughter is much more confident now (Hackett). However, as mentioned earlier, she undergoes hours of transformation to look like a girl different from herself. Although she may win and feel more confident, she does so with a mask. The pageant teaches her that she can succeed is she looks and acts differently from her true personality. She does not gain confidence in her natural appearance. One may point out that in addition to glitz pageants that demand heavy makeup and expensive dresses, there are also natural pageants that focus on girls natural beauty. These pageants do not allow contestants to wear makeup and

require age-appropriate clothing (Glover 3). However, these natural pageants are still sending girls the wrong messages. When children compete and do not win, they are being told that they are naturally not good looking enough. One may argue that in some pageants, no contestant actually loses because they still receive trophies and titles such as one of our finalists or future winner (Hollandsworth). Yet regardless of their actual title, these children are still receiving the message that looks are important and that everyone is judged and should be judged on their looks. These natural beauty pageants have just as big a negative impact as glitz pageants. And overall, it is a fact that glitz pageants remain the most popular (Hollandsworth). Children who participate in beauty pageants are being sent messages about the importance of their appearance and that their self-worth depends on it. It is estimated that around 250,000 girls participate in pageants every year (Hollandsworth). There are local, regional, state and national level competitions that add up to about 5,000 total competitions each year (Glover 3). In addition, the TLC show Toddlers and Tiaras made this horrible activity famous and entertaining to watch. As mentioned before, the show pulls 1.4 million viewers in every week (Hollandsworth). These negative messages are directly impacting thousands of girls and are being supported by millions of curious viewers. What are the true effects of these negative messages? What consequences do these instilled ideas have on the children? Well, come to find out, the real consequences occur later in life. These children grow up learning that body image is most important and constantly striving to look better or perfect their look. These

unrealistic ideas stay with them later in life and especially creep up during adolescence and teenage years. Brooke Breedwell, mentioned before, can relate to having these stresses later in life. She expressed that after her traumatic childhood, she has a lot of anxiety to be perfect (Hollandsworth). Body experts have explored the world of beauty pageants and claim that these contests make girls obsessed with their appearance and this obsession leads to dissatisfaction with their looks when they are older (Triggs). This dissatisfaction can lead a lot of girls to taking drastic measures to change their looks. Dr. Martina Cartwright, a psychologist and nutritionist, commented on the effects of child beauty pageants. She stated that the pressure involved with these contests can lead to emotional distress and eating disorders later in life. She also mentioned that plastic surgery is very popular among former beauty pageant contestants (Trigss). The copious amounts of makeup used in beauty pageants and the drastic measures taken to change the appearances of the children lead the children to take drastic measure to change their appearance later in life. In addition to problems with their appearance, children can sometime have an identity problem after competing in a large number of beauty pageants. A former child beauty pageant contestant, Thumper Gosney, stated that after she stopped participating in beauty pageants she felt like her identity was gone. She stated that is was difficult to be a normal girl (Hollandsworth). Her entire confidence had been built around the person she turned into on stage. Without competing she did not have any other skills to be proud of. Child beauty pageants take up so much of the childs time that they do not have time to grow in other ways. When they rely so

much on pageants to establish who they are, they have nothing to turn to when they stop competing. This is evidence of the emotional toll the pageants can take on children later in their lives. In 2005, a study was published in the academic journal Eating Disorders that focused on the metal effects of child beauty pageants on contestants later in their lives (Wonderlich). For the study, eleven former pageant contestants were compared with eleven people who were not in contestants. Sure enough, former contestants had a much higher rate of body dissatisfaction. They were found to have a higher drive for thinness as well as a higher impulse to regulate things that may affect their appearance, such as what they eat or wear. They were found to have higher social insecurity, interceptive awareness and feeling of ineffectiveness; evidence that these confidence boosting pageants actually hurts the contestants confidence levels. Finally, they have higher fears of growing older and more intrapersonal distrust, possibly a result from competing so much as a child (Wonderlich). Although the values were about the same for both the contestants and non-contestants when it came to levels of Bulimia and strive for perfection, it is evident from this study the great impact childhood beauty pageants can have on people later in life. When children are entered in beauty pageants, they are often forced to do so by their parents. They are told that their appearance determines their self-worth and that they can gain attention from dressing and acting in a sexual manner. These children are told they are not good enough the way they are and are groomed and changed in ways to make them look completely different from their natural self.

They miss out on participating in other childhood activities that can help them learn and grow such as a sport or musical instrument. And finally, they are punished and haunted later in life after being conditioned to think this way. 250,000 million children are being affected by this each year, while 1.4 million people sit back and watch it all happen on television (Hollandsworth). Childhood beauty pageants are a toxin to the children who participate, and the effects continue to harm them throughout their lives.

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