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... gate with a curling iron for being to squeamish while having her hair done. These pageant moms behaviors, have brought up questions concerning whether or not these pageants are ultimately for the benefit of the child or the parent (Gleick 48). Dateline NBC ran a poll where 62 % of those questioned said parents benefit more from child beauty pageants, where only 3 % said that children do benefit (Pugh 1).
Supporters for pageants do have their reasons for pushing their kids into the spotlight. They can teach a child how to show good sportsmanship, raise self-esteem, provide communication skills for the future, and raise the chances of becoming famous. The most frequently used rationale for defending pageants is that they build self-esteem It builds self-esteem and character, it gives them poise and confidence and teaches them how to get in front of a crowd, it teaches you to respect yourself, (Solomon) Sometimes, its not the parents who push their kids into doing the pageants, kids love them. They get to meet other children there and become more social. Kids who were once shy now have self-confidence and often times become honor students. In the spirit of friendly competition these pageants can provide life-long lessons; its just when these competitions become intense and turn foul.
What happens when a child loses, the child loses simply because she didnt wear the right outfit or have that certain look? How can losing a contest, a beauty contest no less, build self-respect, character, confidence and most importantly self-esteem? Like any concerned and caring parent, they encourage their children to do and be anything. This is normal, however, convincing a child into thinking they are perfect, the best at everything, and basically flawless only sets the child up for great disappointment when they do fail.
When a parent tells their child that they are going to win, and they do not, this really hurts the childs feelings (Bernstein). Parents have yelled and punished their kids for making a mistake in their routines, often causing the child to feel worthless and becoming aware of the disappointment they have caused their parents. Children shouldnt be pressured into becoming beautiful, perfect entertainers; at that stage in their life they shouldnt be experiencing that much stress and pressure, too much emotional pain. Many young children lack the maturity to handle the pressures of these tough competitions (Bernstein).
No matter if a child is three-months old or twenty-three years old, pageants put enormous amounts of pressure on an individual. Pressures to walk with that certain pep in their step, look a certain made-up way, respond to questions in a specific way, and even weigh a certain amount. The pressures of winning, combined with the stress of actually getting up and performing in front of an audience and judges can cause any individual to have some psychological problems at some point in their life. Yet, parents seem to think that pageants are a good way to teach their kids to lose gracefully, to deal with rejection, and to face the fact that there is always going to be someone who is better than them. To teach kids that beauty is a way of life is only going to set them up for rejection, the moment a girl walks into the room with shinier hair, or bluer eyes or ten pounds skinnier; rejection is bound to happen. At the age of four, how can beauty hold any significance to a child?
Maybe in the retrospect that they want to be just like their beautiful mothers, but thats normal for a young child to be just like her mother. Boys around that same age think girls are the devil, are yucky, have cooties and should stay as far away from them as humanly possible. Parading around on a stage looking and acting like an 18 -year old, with hair bleached or highlighted, make-up caked on, and revealing outfits along with suggestive dances, is not normal. Any parent, who would allow their child to do that, and to be viewed by others as a little sex toy, is also not normal. Its sickening. When it comes to a childs childhood, let them live it.
Let them have the chance to grow up, make mistakes, and become socially accepted on their own like every other kid. Parents need to stop trying to live their live dreams through their children and open more doors to the future for them. Encouraging them on their schoolwork or athletic events is a very positive and uplifting manor for a child. Parents who promote this type of behavior are allowing their children to live a normal carefree life and grow more spiritually. Now who killed Jon Benet Ramsey and why, the world may never know. Some say it was her own mother out of jealousy, some say it was her father, other says say it was a jealous parent of another child beauty queen and some say it was a sex-crazed pedophile.
The unfortunate death of this child beauty queen could have been in result of her numerous competitions and the jealousy and envy of others. But, did the beauty pageants really have anything to do with her murder? The sad part about her untimely death was that she was only six-years old; she had not even begun to start living her life. I hope that was not her whole life. People see it and they see another pageant kid big hair and all the makeup good on. Hopefully there was more to her life than being a beauty queen, said Barbara Kelley, a pageant judge and former 1958 Miss Virginia (Little Women).
Weighing out the good and the bad sides of these competitions are difficult. In the long run, more problems are going to arise in girls dealing with weight problems or self esteem issues. If these troubles are worth the trophies and crowns and sashes, then so be it, its only an innocent childs life that is at stake here. Bibliography: Works Cited Bernstein, Ellen. Child Beauty Pageants Pushed Into Limelight. Corpus Christi Caller Times (TX) 19 Jan. 1997.
Branson, Louise. From Tragedy to Celebrities- Big Bucks in Selling Child Beauty Pageants. The Straits Times (Singapore) 27 Mar. 2000, world sec. : 18. Briggs, Bill. Talk Swirls About Merits of Child Beauty Pageants. The Denver Post (CO) 12 Jan. 1997, chase ed. : A- 4 Come, William J.
The Whys and Woes of Beauty Pageants. The Harvard University Gazette. 8 Jun. 2000 Giroux, Henry A. Innocence Lost: Child Beauty Pageants and the Politics of Abuse. New Art Examiner v. 25 no 9 (June 1998): 26 - 31. Gleick, Elizabeth. Playing at Pageants.
Time. 20 Jan. 1997: 48 - 49. Little Women. Transcript of Anne Taylor Fleming. PBS, Online Newshour. 24 Jan. 1997. Pugh, Clifford. Eye of the Beholder- Pageant Moms, Child Psychologists Differ on Lessons Contestants Learn In Competitions.
Houston Chronicle (TX) 22 Jan. 1997, 2 Star ed. : Houston sec. : 1 Solomon, Wendy E. Exploitation, Fun, or Something else? York Daily Record (PA) 20 Jul. 1997, Dispatch Sunday News ed. Zaret, Elliot. The World of Child Beauty Pageants Breeds Controversy.
Daily Camera (CO) 11 Jan. 1997.
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