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Essay / The Negative Effects of Child Beauty Pageants
One of the most popular TV shows right now is “Toddlers in Tiaras.” According to Kristen Shamus in her 2010 article "Ugly Truth: TLC Show is an Abomination," this popular reality show entertains its 1.2 million viewers by exploiting child beauty pageant contestants and their families. This show entertains their audience with dramatic tantrums, heated arguments, and outrageous attitudes. But behind all this fun and games lie real dangers that can distort the lives of competition participants. These children learned that perfection and beauty are the only goals in life. According to PBS in its article "American Experience: Miss America" published in 2002, beauty pageants have existed since the 1920s. Since then, pageants have given women the idea of more flexible morals. However, as Cheryl Critchley's 2011 article "Everybody's a Winner, a Baby" points out, child beauty pageants began in the 1960s. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The rules of children's beauty pageants are quite simple. A child comes on stage in an outfit adapted to the theme assigned to each round. Each competitor must prepare sets of choreography and music for each round. Several judges critique each participant. These judges consult with each other and tally the scores, announcing the winners of each division at the awards ceremony held after the competition. Growing up, most of us learned good morals and ideas that have benefited our lives today. Now it’s our turn to teach today’s youth. However, teaching them to accept and follow a society that cares more about appearance than constructive ideas could cause moral confusion for our future generations. Child beauty pageants, in particular, brainwash the fresh minds of our young and innocent people into thinking that appearance is the key to success. These competitions must be stopped to prevent our future from accepting these ideas. In this speech, I will inform you about the problems caused by the competitions, the reason for participating in them, and the ways in which we can solve these problems. First of all, child beauty pageants cause many problems that affect both the child and their family. When a child participates in a beauty pageant, it can cause serious psychological problems that can affect their perception of their body, their personality and their self-esteem. In Jessica Bennett's article "Disney Princess and the Battle for your Daughter's Soul" published in 2011, young girls are already starting to worry about being overweight. When a child competes in beauty pageants, it adds even more pressure to look and act a certain way. According to Reist Tankard's article "Pageants that Smack of Blatant Exploitation" published in 2012, pageants can cause a feeling of denial in a girl's relationship with others, her body and her feelings. Low self-esteem can cause anxiety, depression and eating disorders. Participating in beauty pageants can also change a child's natural psychological development. A child misses out on a normal childhood when he participates in beauty pageants. According to the article by Rebecca Eder and her associates “Is winning a competition worth a lost childhood? published in 1997, participants in children's beauty pageants can grow up being :, 12(3), 237-248.