Throughout the years, the perception of beauty has somehow corrupted itself in society as nowadays, we as a society are obsessed and infatuated with being beautiful and being called “hot” or “pretty” by other people. Children especially can get easily influenced by magazine headings that say “Tips on how to be pretty” or “Lose weight in quick and easy steps” because apparently society likes to tell us that we’re ugly. Losing weight is fine, but there are no quick or easy steps to do this and that’s the truth. Dieting has a minuscule job of the process of losing weight and it won’t help you in the long run.
I mean, we have created an outlet for boys, girls, men, and women to stand before a panel of judges, where they begin to critique our every move. The way we dress, the way our hair is done, the way we talk and walk and all these other mundane things that we put so much time into making look ourselves perfect and good so other people can call us this.
This can be also known as the beauty pageant industry.
The beauty pageant industry isn’t always deemed glitzy and alluring as it is usually shown to be extremely toxic and can be a dangerous path to follow, especially when you are just a child between the ages of 3-14 and sometimes older. Parents can also have some fault in this by thinking if their child is in a beauty pageant, they will automatically be popular or gain self-confidence. However, pageants can create many implications for young girls that they carry in adulthood.
The implications include insecurity and the pressure of being perfect. At the same time, the child is being judged in front of a large crowd and panels of judges. Girls can be pressured or influenced to think that being skinny is the ideal body and the perfect body and young girls can drift into a dark path of eating disorders and bulimia to either achieve or maintain that “perfect” body. Sadly, many parents also encourage their children to do this which could lead to anorexia, mental and psychological disorders and other body issues.
8/10 girls from the ages of 10 in the United States have been on diets, 42% of contestants consisting of third-grade girls have desired to be thin and 37% of those girls have already started dieting, and 6% of girls have experienced depression. Shown in numerous reality TV programmes such as Toddlers and Tiaras, girls have been shown not wanting to participate in pageants but their mothers force and manipulate them to go on stage and prance around in front of them.
However, it is not only the parents’ fault as some girls want to participate in pageants but do not realise the harm they could cause to themselves while being in them. Another implication in beauty pageants is the over-sexualisation of young children where they are shown to be wearing provocative, skin tight outfits and dresses along with heavy makeup consisting copious amounts of fake tanner and bronzer that transforms an innocent 7-year-old to an 18-year-old.
Beauty pageants can also lead to bullying as other contestants tease and hurt girls by targeting and pointing out their insecurities. It also doesn’t value anything else other than beauty and looks such as intelligence or talent; I know in professional beauty pageants, such as Miss America, they have this, but in the beauty pageants I’ve seen and researched, it mainly showed the aspects of looking your best.
Pageants deprive children of their childhood and they should cherish those moments of pretending to be a princess and riding their bike in the park, not strutting in front of a bunch of adults. Pressuring children and teenagers will make them feel worse about themselves later on in life. Remember, you don’t have to be skinny or have amazing hair to be perfect because in the end, you will still be beautiful and you don’t need judges to say that you are for you to know that.
“The beauty industry has killed the teenage girl.” – Katy Bellotte
Lastly, don’t think I’m offending you if you’re into entering beauty pageants or you like the aspect, I just think it’s wrong for younger children to be involved in that sort of industry.
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