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The contenders have been primped and manicured by their masters and are ready to be placed on display. The subjects with the wealthiest owners attend top-notch obedience schools where they are trained in the art of acting and appearing in a way uncharacteristic to their nature. They are rewarded with special treats when they work hard during training. The skills learned in these unique schools are not useful anywhere else, but in the competitions are judged and often given a champion prize. The contestants are paraded in, coached by their owners. Each standing tall with her head raised and nose up.
Most are showing their teeth as if to be smiling or happy. Truthfully, they are showing the judges the straightness and whiteness of their teeth. Both the long-haired and short-haired have had chemicals applied to them to make certain every hair lays perfectly. The outward appearances of the participators are close to flawless. If any flaws are detected in the preparation they are quickly covered up. Trainers and owners see imperfections as point deductions.
Those are deductions they can't afford when a title and thousands of dollars are on the line. A woman moves from one contestant to the next testing them. To the last in the line of female competitors the question is asked, "If you could change the world, what would you change?" Too confidently the girl replied, "I would end world hunger and poverty. " When all she really aspires to do is win this contest and the next. This is what pageantry is about.
Parents who subject their children to beauty pageants teach their children that winning these contests will bring them happiness. Is being deemed the best at being fake really anything to be happy about? Too many mommies and daddies believe so. Do the pageant parents have their own dreams about their daughters being Miss Americas? Do the participants really compete in beauty contests to better themselves or their futures?
Do they have a driving force from behind the stage? Will these parents go to any extent to mold their daughters into something that might win a few of these superficial contests? .".. Didn't the Ramsey's think that putting Jon Benet in all those beauty pageants, looking so seductive, was inappropriate. The child was 5. All the pictures we saw were of her looking 25 and slinking and winking. " (Schwartz) "Mrs.
Ramsey said that was just the public's problem and if they thought a 5 -year-old trying to look more sexy than Madonna was a bit twisted - well that just shows what twisted people we have in this country. " (Schwartz) "Then the mother looked straight into the camera and explained that this was her way of bonding with Jon Benet. She had been in beauty contests and she loved sharing this with her daughter. " (Schwartz) '"It's like a father who was once in baseball who plays baseball with his son and helps him in Little League games, " said the mother. " (Schwartz) I believe mothers who were once in beauty pageants and then, in turn, put their daughters into the pageantry circuit are simply fulfilling their own lost goals and dreams through their daughters. "'Too much emphasis on appearance and competition can take its toll, especially with young people, 's ays Stacey Nye, a Mequon psychologist who counsels women with body image problems. 'Girls -- or their parents -- can go overboard in their efforts to look like some beautiful image that is, in reality, unattainable. " (Steimle) 'If a contest judges on looks, what message are we sending to girls?' " (Steimle) .".. Mrs. Ramsey was also saying children in dance recitals dress up, children just like to play dress- up. " (Schwartz) "Of course we wore costumes for dance recitals. I was a dancing snowflake at age 5. I wore lipstick and bright spots of rouge.
I also was a dancing yellow lollipop. I looked 5 years old, and the lipstick came off immediately. My mother didn't bleach my hair or have me wear blue contact lenses. But then maybe my mother and I just didn't bond enough. " (Schwartz) Does a four-year-old child really want to be serious about anything? From what I know, being four at one time, the answer to that is no. Everything should be fun and games in the eyes of typical four-year-olds.
It seems contradictory to allow beauty pageants that foster inequality in a society that prides itself on equal opportunities for all people. Also, pageants don't follow the guidelines of looking beyond appearance to base our judgments on character. When parents put their children into pageants to fill a void in their own hopes and goals they are going against the societal belief that we are free to choose what we want to become in life and then work toward it. Family support is normally a supplement to walking our paths, not the main motive for our life decisions. Schwartz, Mary. "Why did Walters Wimp Out?" Today. (March 21, 2000) Steimle, Rebecca. "Are Pageants Good for Little Girls? The Road to Success or Oppression?" Metro Parent Magazine.
Wright, Jeff. "Should Kids Compete in Beauty Pageants? Pint-Size Pageantry" < web (January 17, 1997)
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Research essay sample on Beauty Pageants Four Year
