Giroux, H. A. (1998). Nymphet fantasies: Child beauty pageants and the politics of innocence.

Social Text, (57), 16 (4) 31-53.

Giroux, H. A. (1998). Stealing innocence: The politics of child beauty pageants. The Children’s

Culture Reader, 265-82.

Wolfe, L. (2012). Darling divas or damaged daughters?. The dark side of child beauty

pageants and an administrative law solution. Tul. L. Rev., 87, 427-427.

Grosaru, L. (2011). Toddlers and children beauty pageants-risk factors for severe psychological

turmoils. Psychology Corner, 8.

Wonderlich, A. L., Ackard , D. M., & Henderson, J. B. (2005). Childhood beauty pageant

contestants: Associations with adult disordered eating and mental health. Eating

Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, 13(3), 291-301.

doi:10.1080/10640260590932896

This study evaluated the association between childhood beauty pageants and adult

disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, depression, and self-esteem. Eleven

women who participated in childhood beauty pageants were matched on age and

body mass with 11 non-participating women. Childhood pageant participants

scored higher on body dissatisfaction, interpersonal distrust, and impulse

dysregulation than non-participants, and showed a trend toward greater

ineffectiveness. The findings suggest childhood beauty pageant participation may

influence adult body dissatisfaction, interpersonal distrust, and impulse

dysregulation.

teaching them to dance on stage in tiny, sequined outfits, pumping them full of

sugar and energy drinks, and adorning them with spray tans, fake hairpieces, and

plenty of makeup
 It started with the "Most Beautiful Child" contests that were held in major cities across

the United States of America. Then in 1921 the Children’s Beauty pageants started when the

owner of an Atlantic City hotel came up with the idea to help boost tourism. Then in the 1960s,

The Little Miss America pageant started. Originally, it was for teenagers’ ages thirteen to

seventeen years old, but by 1964 there were over 35,000 participants, which prompted an age

division. Since, then the industry has grown to include nearly 3000 pageants per year in the US.

The murder of the six years old child beauty pageant queen Jon Benet Ramsey in late 1996 drew

more attention to child beauty pageants.

such public display of sexualisation of children who wear make-up, provocative clothes for
grown-ups and inappropriate hairstyles, is somewhat perverse and a magnet for paedophiles.

The children’s beauty pageants can also be seen as an exhibition organised for paedophiles in
search of victims.

Children’s beauty pageants can prove to attract unwanted attention from pedophiles

targeting young girls. Young innocent girls are adorned with heavy makeup and are paraded

around in provocative dresses in front of the public “in a manner that suggests a sexuality well

beyond their years” (Giroux 40).

 From casual wear to swimwear to evening gowns and everything in between, child

beauty pageants today cover almost all possible frontiers of fashion attires. The pageants are

speckled with glitter and a sea of hopeful little girls attired in the flashiest gowns and teased hair.

The child pageant scene is not a new phenomenon, the first ever child beauty pageant was the

Little Miss America pageant held in New Jersey in 1960. Initially child pageants were forms of

wholesome family entertainment, as little girls with ribbons in their hair displayed their talents of

singing or baton-twirling. Since then this industry has grown into a lucrative business bringing in

about a billion dollars a year (Witt). In the USA there are around 3000 pageants attended by

more than 100,000 children a year (Rich). The nature of the contests has evolved too and now

they are treated more as platforms for the marketing of the participating young girls. As beauty

pageants become more commercialized they risk turning the young participants into packaged

Barbie Dolls embodying the ideal notion of femininity. In that process the contesting girls may

mature beyond their age in matters pertaining to body image and self-worth. The prevailing

pageantry customs encourage the unknowing girls to step into the world of spray-on tans, halter

tops, all-protein diets etc. The interesting part is the reaction of the girls to the early exposure to

matters usually regarded to fall under the realm of “adulthood.” Whether they can separate

themselves from pageant life or not? Although, the parents of the contestants claim that their

daughters willfully take part in the pageants and that the pageants are vital developmental

experiences, however, child beauty pageants are damaging to the young girls as they contribute

to the girls falling victims to issues of adult body dissatisfaction, eating disorders and may

become targets of pedophiles.

The first issue faced by many of the contestants of child beauty pageants when they grow

up is that of body dissatisfaction. Beauty contests primarily judge the contestants on their
physical appearance and how well the girls present themselves on the stage. The fierce spotlight

highlighting the importance of beauty instills in the minds of the young girls the image that

physical beauty and superficial charm are the keys to success. For guidance and preparation

these girls turn to media such as magazines which are submerged in thin promotion campaigns.

The girls embark on the relentless pursuit of attaining this mythical perfect body image. But the

ones who are unable to achieve the ideal body may “exhibit negative affect and feelings of body

dissatisfaction” (Stice). So as they “retire” from the pageantry scene it is common to see issues

of body image and self worth creep up in their teen years. And struggles with perfection can take

their toll in adulthood. In fact a recent study was conducted in 2005 to evaluate the association of

childhood beauty pageants and adult body dissatisfaction. The study was authored by Anna

L.Wonderlich, Diann M.Ackard and Judith B.Henderson who recruited twenty two women for

the study. Eleven of them were former child beauty pageant contestants and were compared to

the other eleven who had not participated in such contests. The two groups of women were

matched on their age and current Body Mass Index (BMI).The findings of the study revealed that

the eleven women who had participated in pageants as children scored significantly higher on

body dissatisfaction (19.4) and ineffectiveness (6.1) than those who had not participated (12 and

2.1 respectively). The study also showed that women who were former contestants scored higher

on the scale measuring depression symptoms and low on self-esteem. And despite having similar

BMI, the women who had participated in beauty pageants saw their “current figure as larger” and

had a stronger desire to be thinner (7.6) than the females who had not taken part in beauty

pageants (4.8) (Wonderlich, Ackard, Henderson). The correlation between participation in

childhood beauty pageants and having adult body dissatisfaction was explained by that the fact

that the women who scored higher had been exposed to media icons that represent the “thin
female ideals” (Wonderlich, Ackard, Henderson 297) and notions of beauty which are “one

dimensional and demeaning” (Giroux 42). The degrading notions are subtly engraved into the

minds of the girls who then grew up with distorted images of what beauty is and began to feel

dissatisfied with their current bodies as they felt that they had lost what they perceived to be, “the

most important aspect” of who they were (Giroux 44).

Secondly, participation in beauty driven pageants at such a tender age has in cases

resulted in the girls developing eating disorders in their teen or adult years. The beauty pageants

pit little girls against one another in a variety of “talent” show casing divisions which basically

involve the girls model different custom fitted themed outfits in front of the judges. To win

requires the girls to out shine all the others in looks and beauty which means that all of them face

intense competition. The competitiveness of the girls manifests itself into a habit of constantly

comparing themselves to the other contestants in order to improve and avoid making mistakes of

the other girls. Social comparisons such as those based on physical appearances can foster

feelings of insecurity (Wonderlich, Ackard, Henderson 297) especially if one girl gets more

attention than the others. Feelings of insecurity result not only because a girl thinks another is

better than her but also because she herself does not “represent the thin ideal” (Wonderlich,

Ackard, Henderson 297) and she feels that she has failed. This increases the pressure to be the

thin ideal and makes the girls follow absurd dietary regimes as they become very conscious of

what they eat. And when they grow up many of them still continue on with such efforts. But as

the years go by the means employed get worse. If the girls feel guilt for having eaten too much

they cleanse their bodies by making themselves vomit or use laxatives (Article Doctor). In 2003

S.H Thompson conducted a survey, over 43 states of America in which former child beauty

pageant contestants (mean age 26 years at time of survey) were interviewed, to find that “48.5%
of them wanted to be thinner and 57% were trying to lose weight” and that 26% had eating

disorders which had begun at an average age of 16.25 (Thompson, Hammond). Since the

pageants’ judging criteria is centered on the physical appearance and adorned attires of the young

contestants, the girls are programmed to think that parental/adult approval is somehow tied with

how perfect they look hence they grow up struggling with the ambition to achieve and maintain

that image and can subject themselves to self-destructing means to attain the goal.

However, the parents of the contesting girls say that their daughters enter the pageants

voluntarily because they want to. The parents who participate in these pageants respond to critics

by arguing that their daughters ask to be in such contests and that they enjoy winning. On being

asked what about winning do they enjoy a seven year old contestant answered, “Because I get

the trophy!” (Levey 324). The parents do not see anything wrong with how the pageants are

molding the priorities of their children as long as the girls want to actively be part of the

pageants, the parents stay pacified. They argue that pageantry is what makes their daughters

happy and so they perceive the pageants as nothing more than a fun after school activity and it is

completely up to the girls if they want to be part of the pageant or not. Joy Richardson, a proud

mother of a beauty pageant contestant Allie, said that her daughter developed enthusiasm for

pageantry after watching Miss America pageant and that, “If she says she’s done, then we’ll be

done” (qtd. in Inbar). But this presumed autonomy of the girls fails to hold true when girls as

young as eight months old are entered into pageants by their eager parents. Also the parents who

claim that pageantry is just an extracurricular activity are usually the ones who exert the most

pressure on their daughters to win (Levey 2002) and as it turns out they happen to be more

involved in the process than they claim to be or more than what may even be required. For the

most parts it seems that the parents try to fulfill their own childhood dreams or some road not
taken and they live it through their daughters, hence they become extensively involved in the

preparations of making their daughters ready for the stage. The parents get more caught up in all

the glitz and glamour and the competitive world of pageantry and may resort to “mentally

punitive and physically cruel” (Giroux 42) measures to punish their daughters for making

mistakes. A talent manager, Lois Miller, reported to have seen parents “who have pinched their

children for messing up their dress or not looking appropriate… or not throwing kisses” (qtd. in

Giroux 42-43). Such attitudes and reactions from parents may be a result of the parents’ fear that

if their children do not “end up as one of the few winners they will join the ranks of the many

losers” (Harris). Their own desire to succeed is the driving force that keeps the girls in the

contests. The parents drive them across states to compete in local and national pageants. They

invest in a lot of money for the dresses, trainers, make-up and props. The fervent parents are

willing to let their daughters skip school and stay away from other childhood activities, all for

the sake of winning. They think that they are doing all of that for their daughter but their actions

and methods lead to detrimental effects for their daughters.

The second reason for why parents defend pageants is that it helps to shape and develop

the personality of their child. They view the pageants as an opportunity for their daughters to

have a positive social experience. They specifically think that since the child is put under the

spotlight to show case her talents it helps in boosting her confidence and self-esteem. The

interaction with other children of her age will also make her more social. Phyllis Jones of

Garland, Texas, said in an interview on TODAY that pageants helped her daughter Meaghan

cope with public interactions, she said, “When she [Meaghan] was young, she was really shy… I

wanted her to develop her own type of personality,” (qtd. in Inbar). They find that the

competitive nature of the pageants teach important life lessons of discipline to their girls. The
parents say that their girls are groomed in the pageantry process as they gain talent and poise.

They also laud the pageants for being a forum which helped boost their child’s self-esteem. But

what the parents tend to overlook is how narrowly they are defining the concepts of “confidence”

and “self-esteem.” In this context self-esteem would imply “embracing rather than critically

challenging a gender code that rewards little girls for their looks, submissiveness, and sex

appeal,” (Giroux 41). This in effect means that the girls would regard self worth in relation to

physical objectification of themselves and others. The parents are oblivious to the actual lessons

which pageantry teaches the girls. The most common message which the girls take home from

these pageants is that there is a standardized image of beauty that only “one of forty thousand

young women will actually meet” (Giroux 41). So instead of accepting themselves for who they

are, they try to embody other people’s perception of beauty. The dominating and decisive role of

the parents and pageants in the girls’ lives enable the engraving of that standardized beauty into

their minds. Hence, the girls relentlessly struggle to achieve perfection in order to be satisfied

with what they have.

Lastly, child beauty pageants can prove to attract unwanted attention from pedophiles

targeting young girls. In these pageants, young innocent girls are adorned with heavy makeup

like Christmas trees and are paraded around in provocative dresses in front of the public “in a

manner that suggests a sexuality well beyond their years” (Giroux 40). Dr Nancy Irwin, a

renowned hypnotherapist, says that the way that the talent or dance routines are carried out on

stage, can be misconstrued by viewers as, “appearance of sexual-readiness,” (Youtube) within

the girls. Sexualized images of young girls can have dangerous implications in a world where

there are sexual predators lurking everywhere. A recent example of child pageantry crossing

paths with pedophilia is the tragic case of JonBenet Ramsey. She was a six-year old American
beauty pageant contestant who was sexually assaulted and murdered in her parent’s basement in

December 1996 (Hickey). JonBenet, with her bleached blond curly hair and big blue eyes,

epitomized the “ideal” pageant girl mentioned of earlier. After her murder, news channels were

flooded with videos of her walking in her “off-the-shoulder-dresses…seductively across…a

runway” (Giroux 37). The media’s constant airing of her runway tapes was criticized by Dan

Rather, an American journalist, as “borders on kiddie porn,” (qtd. in Rich). JonBenet’s story

serves as a testament to the fact that child beauty pageants are like a dream come true for

pedophiles. The pageants serve the girls up in a platter for the viewing pleasure of child

molesters. The body hugging outfits and provocative dance movements can be sending the

wrong message out to the public. And which is further incorrectly interpreted as an invitation by

perverted predators, placing the girls’ lives and health at risk. Even after JonBenet’s death the

beauty pageant industry did not slow down or take any initiative to mitigate the sexual overtones

of the girls’ performances. Instead they have furthered their own profit oriented goals by

marketing the “young girls in the image of adult drives and desires,” (Giroux 40). And it is

precisely the sexual manner of those performances that provide the sexual baits for the creation

of “images and representations that tread close to the border of pornography,” (Giroux 47). Dr

Irwin also suggests that what parents and pageant organizers don’t realize is that they are also

giving rise to, “situational offenders…that means some people would not ordinarily take the bait

but they will if it’s constantly thrust in their face,” (Youtube). “These young girls are constructed

as sexual subjects,” (Robinson, Davies) which incite the perverted minds to pursue their deviant

sexual desires and attack these helpless girls. JonBenet’s case should have served as a wakeup

call for both pageant heads and the parents but they simply brushed it off and responded by

blaming the media to have aggrandized the situation out of hand. Little girls need protection
from the evils of this world especially the kinds which cleverly disguise themselves from

detection. But placing them in front of cameras for the world to see as they dance and sing is not

a smart move on the parents’ behalf. Admittedly, not every contestant will have a tragic end like

that of JonBenet, but these beauty pageants do put girls in situations which make them more

vulnerable to potential attacks by child molesters.

The innocence that was once associated with child beauty pageants has been lost under

mountain high layers of make-up and hair extensions used to decorate the girls while they

showcase their ability to move suggestively, in their elaborately sexualized dance routines,

across the stage. Exposing a tender and impressionable mind to overtly superficial ideas of

perfection and beauty is sure to adversely affect the young child which is why as discussed

above, majority of child beauty pageant contestants struggle with problems of body and beauty

as they grow up. The perception of a harmless child talent contest has been greatly destructed

over the years whose victims are the defenseless girls who are not mature enough to even fully

comprehend the risks they sign up for, by participating. Richard Goldstein said, “Only in a

culture that represses the evidence of the senses could child pageantry grow into a $5 billion

dollar industry without anyone noticing. Only in a nation of promiscuous puritans could it be a

good career move to equip a six-year-old with bedroom eyes,” (qtd in Giroux 1). This is a

weighty statement criticizing the absurdity behind the very thought of a six year old or younger

girl being taught coquettish mannerisms, but that is precisely what beauty pageants succeed in

doing. Child beauty pageants are not healthy forms of competition for young girls because all

they do is assert absurd ideals of how beauty achieves success: in order to win a trophy or a title

all a girl has to do is flutter fake eyelashes and pout her lips for photographs, but in that process

they risk the girls’ physical safety and mental well being.
GIROUX, H. (1998) 'Nymphet Fantasies: Child Beauty Pageants and the Politics of
Innocence',
Social
Text
, No.57 (Winter), pp.31
-
53. Available online:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/466880
[Accessed
9.7.10]

Works Cited

"Article Doctor - Health and Fitness Articles." Eating Disorders And Beauty Pageants.Web.

Apr. 2012.
 <http://www.articledoctor.com/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-and-beauty- pageants---

short-stories-on-eating-disorders-and-beauty-pageants-2150>.

Giroux, Henry A. "Nymphet Fantasies: Child Beauty Pageants and the Politics of Innocence."
Social Text 57 (1998): 31-53. Duke University Press. Web. Apr. 2012.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/466880>

Harris, Marlys. "TROPHY KIDS A NEW ALL-OR-NOTHING PHILOSOPHY IS FORCING

YOUR CHILDREN TO COMPETE AGAINST TODAY'S." CNNMoney. Cable News
Network, 01 Mar. 1997. Web. Apr. 2012.
<http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/1997/03/01/222975/in
dex.htm>.

Hickey, Eric W. Encyclopedia of Murder & Violent Crime. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2007.
Print.

Inbar, Michael. "Parents Defend Putting Their Kids in Beauty Pageants." TODAY.com. 27 Jan.
2009. Web. Apr. 2012.
<http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28873086/ns/today-parenting_and_family/t/parents-
defend-putting-their-kids-beauty-pageants/>.

Levey, Hilar. (2002). Crowning achievements: Why mothers and daughters participate
in child beauty pageants. Unpublished undergraduate thesis, Harvard
University, Cambridge, MA.

Levey, Hilary. "Trophies, Triumphs and Tears: Children's Experinces with Competitve
Activities." Sociological Studies of Children and Youth. Vol. 13. Bingley [UK: Emrald
Group Limited, 2010. 319-49. Print.

Rich, Frank. "Let Me Entertain You." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Jan. 1997.
Web. Apr.-May 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/18/opinion/let-me-entertain-you.html?src=pm>.

Robinson, Kerry H., and Cristyn Davies. "SHE'S KICKIN’ ASS, THAT'S WHAT SHE'S
DOING!" Australian Feminist Studies 23.57 (2008): 343-58. Print.

Stice, Eric. "Modeling of Eating Pathology and Social Reinforcement of the Thin-ideal." Beauty
and Reserach Therapy 36 (1998): 931-44. Print.

Thompson, S. H., and H. Hammond. "Beauty Is as Beauty Does." Beauty Is as Beauty Does:
Body Image and Self-esteem of Pageant Contestants. 8 Sept. 2003. Web. Apr. 2012.
<http://ts-si.org/othermnuresources/13314-beauty-is-as-beauty-does-body-image-and-
self-esteem-of-pageant-contestants>.
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perfect.html>.

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Contestants: Associations with Adult Disordered Eating and Health." Eating Disorders:
The Journal of Treatment and Prevention 13.3 (2005): 291-301. Print.

YouTube. Dir. DrNancyIrwin. Perf. Anderson Cooper. YouTube. YouTube, 27 Nov. 2011. Web.
30 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4hE8VxkLTs>.

1. The girls are too young to say no

"There are examples of young girls screaming in terror as their mothers approach them with

spray cans," Australian lawmaker Anna Burke tells the Sydney Daily Telegraph. Clearly,
pageants risk "the exploitation or potential exploitation of very young children who really do not

have the capacity to express their own views."

2. Pageants sexualize young girls

French lawmakers want an all-out ban on child pageants, says Henry Samuel in

Britain's Telegraph, accusing the media and reality TV of "promoting stereotypes that transform

young girls into 'sexual morsels.'" Just look at the growing number of "schoolgirls as young as 8

[who] wear padded bras, high heels, or makeup, and strike suggestive poses." Really, what is this

telling our children about how they present themselves to society?

3. They cause cognitive and emotional problems

A 2007 report by the American Psychological Association found that the hypersexualization of

young girls is strongly associated with eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression, says

Melissa Henson at CNN. It can also even lead to fewer girls pursuing careers in science,

technology, engineering, and mathematics.

4. Too much hair spray can stunt growth

One of the most widely used products in child pageants is hair spray, which contains phthalates,

or plasticizers, that can act as hormone disruptors, says Travis Stork of CBS's The Doctors. For

an adult beauty contestant, this is no biggie. But for a growing girl, the effects could prove

detrimental. Excessive exposure to phthalates has been linked to stunted growth and even lung

cancer.

5. High heels aren't made for small feet

If you're Suri Cruise, wearing high heels as a toddler is just a part of life. But when little pageant
contestants wear heels, Stork says, it unnecessarily pushes their weight forward, causing lower

back pain and hindering proper development of the feet. In some cases, these girls are forced to

continue wearing heels outside of pageants because their feet have grown in a way that makes

wearing other kinds of shoes very uncomfortable.

Sexualization

Sexualization is the tendency to view oneself as a sex object, and children who participate in

beauty pageants are sexualized very early. Children may dress in highly suggestive costumes and

learn that they gain attention and status when sexualized. This may lead to premature sexual

activity and can teach the unfortunate lesson that women’s worth is determined at least in part by

their status as sex objects.

"Confidence?" Little girls in pageants are buried under fake tans, hair extensions,
false eyelashes, make-up, and fake teeth. The invisible message: You are not good enough as you
are. The body is experienced as wrong. Possible effects: body shame and perfectionism.

"Self esteem?" These children often appear to be trying to please their parents above all else. The
invisible message: put other people's needs and desires before your own. Possible effects:
Depression, loss of identity and anxiety.

Read more: http://www.momlogic.com/2009/04/child_beauty_pageants.php#ixzz2LUU2ZabX

Published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the new

study explains the theories of Professor Martina M. Cartwright, who says that participating in

those "princess by proxy" pageants provide pushy parents with social and/or financial gains.

Thesis Statement:

Young girls' beauty pageants are detrimental to participants' psychological health, harm family
relations and disrupt the natural course of childhood, and encourage a demeaning view of
women.

Introduction

Attention Strategy: I wrote a poem that I plan to have at the beginning of my paper, as well as
reading it at the beginning of my speech.

Orienting Material: Little history about pageants, statistics, mention popularity of Toddlers and
Tiaras to relate it to the class

Preview: (Thesis gives a preview)

Body

I. Pageants often contribute to psychological problems that may manifest as disorders later in
life, and participants grow up in an atmosphere in which they learn superficial, damaging values.

A. Psychological problems

1. Paranoia, anxiety, feelings of inferiority, low self esteem

-effects of competition on such young girls

 -caught in between two awful extremes (losing or winning), feeling like an
ugly loser or becoming a vain prima donna

2. Anorexia, bulimia, depression

B. Superficial values

1. Looks are most important, trying to fit the ideal, conformity

-drastic measures to look "perfect"

2.It's okay to be two-faced, to gossip, to judge others on their appearance

3. Teaches girls to be dependent on others' opinions and decisions for them

i. Mothers often live vicariously through

their daughters

II. Competing in pageants often detracts from family life, and leaves little time for young girls to
simply act their age.

B. Family divides: financial costs, frequent absences from home/family, favoring over
siblings

B. Time invested in pageants/practice means little time to rest, be with friends, just be a
kid

III. The objectification and sexualisation of such young girls is highly inappropriate, works to
degrade the female gender, and even places them in danger

A. Sexual outfits/routines
B. Degrades both these girls and women
C. Danger of pedophiles/being in public eye
a. JonBenet Ramsey

IV. Present counterarguments, explain why they may not be valid

-fun, can win scholarships and $

-often spend just as much or more on the pageants

-builds confidence, public speaking skills

-can also cause insecurity

 -pageant parents claim it's like a sport... requires training, money, lots of pressure

-someone wins at the cost of another, differs from sports competition b/c the
judgments are so personal (looks, personality)

-learn discipline, form friendships

-often not real friendships, but two-faced competitive relationships

-extreme discipline is detrimental

V. Propose solutions/alternatives

-raising minimum age limit

-dress codes

-changing judging criteria

-offering some sort of prize for every competitor

Conclusion (Restate thesis)

Summary Statement: Reiterate why we should be concerned

Concluding Remark: Something along the lines of, "The irony of children's pageants is that
something meant to showcase beauty and goodness instead draws out such human ugliness,
rewarding physical and behavioral falseness, stirring bitter competition over superficial titles,
and reducing individuals to appearances."

Reference Pages: (These are the references I have so far)

"About Us." Pull the Pin on Beauty Pageants for Children. 2012. 6 April 2012.
http://www.pullthepin.com.au/about-us.html

Adler, Jerry. "The strange world of JonBenet: she spent her short life in the spangled universe of
children's pageants, a glitzy culture that's bigger than you might think." Newsweek 20 Jan. 1997:
42+. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 6 Apr. 2012.
Britton, Nikki. "My Niece was on Toddlers and Tiaras: A Rant Against the Pageant Lifestyle."
The Houston Chronicle 9 February 2010: 6. Web. 6 April 2012.

Chang, Juju. "JonBenet Ramsey's Father Regrets Letting Her in Pageants, Says 'Toddlers and
Tiaras' is 'Bizarre'." ABC News. 13 March 2012. 6 April 2012.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/jonbenet-ramseys-father-regrets-letting-
her-in-pageants-says-toddlers-and-tiaras-is-bizarre/

"Child Beauty Pageants Impact on Sexualisation of Young Girls Says South Australia's Status of
Women Minister Gail Gago." Daily Telegraph. 20 November 2011. 6 April 2012.

<http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/child-beauty-pageants-impact-on-
sexualisation-of-young-girls-says-south-australias-status-of-women-minister-gail-gago/story-
e6frf00i-1226200493478>

Grosaru, Lucia. "Toddlers and Children Beauty Pageants- Risk Factors for Severe Psychological
Turmoils." Psychology Corner. 8 June 2011. 6 April 2012.

http://psychologycorner.com/toddlers-and-children-beauty-pageants-%E2%80%93-risk-factors-
for-severe-psychological-turmoils/

"JonBenet Patricia Ramsey." Image. Find a Grave. 2012. 6 April 2012.

< http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2745>

O'Neill, Justin. "Should 4-Year-Olds be Beauty Queens?" Scholastic Scope Dec 12 2011: 20-1.
ProQuest Education Journals. Web. 6 Apr. 2012 .

"Pageant Positives?" A Deeper Beauty. 2012. 6 April 2012.

< http://www.adeeperbeauty.com/impactfamily.htm>

Pretty Woman Toddler|Toddlers and Tiaras. Youtube. 8 Sept. 2011. Web. 6 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAxEt5YL8w4&feature=relmfu>.
Reed, Billy. "Child Beauty Pageants Should Be Eliminated." Beauty Pageants. Ed. Noël Merino.
Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. At Issue. Rpt. from "Time to End Child Beauty Pageants."
Billy Reed Says. 2006. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 6 Apr. 2012.

References:

Frazier, S. (2009) Children’s Beauty Pageants – Exploitative or Beneficial? retrieved on

December 7, 2009 from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2050265

REFERENCE

Anna L. Wonderlicha, Diann M. Ackardb & Judith B. Hendersonb

pages 291-301

Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention

Volume 13, Issue 3, 2005

This study evaluated the association between childhood beauty pageants and adult

disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, depression, and self-esteem. Eleven women who

participated in childhood beauty pageants were matched on age and BMI with 11 non-

participating women. Childhood pageant participants scored higher on body dissatisfaction,

interpersonal distrust, and impulse dysregulation than non-participants, and showed a trend

toward greater ineffectiveness. There were no significant differences between groups on

measures of bulimia, body perception, depression, and self-esteem. These findings suggest

childhood beauty pageant participation may influence adult body dissatisfaction, interpersonal

distrust, and impulse dysregulation

Recommendation

Beauty Pageants like the ones on television are taken too far

for this age group and rules should be applied to prevent such

issues. Easy adjustments like limiting the usage of beauty

products and makeup on contestants and the amount of coaching

allowed per contestant would contribute to making child pageants

enjoyable for the young girls. These adjustments in the rules

would also make the pageants more age appropriate and would

encourage children to act like children.

contextualizes the function of child beauty pageants in American culture, thereby illustrating

how childhood innocence is transformed into a commodity. In both cases, the writers were

performing an analysis of the culture, though it wasn't necessarily an analysis of children's

culture. As a means of discussing children and children's culture, both could have borrowed the

case-study strategy used by Shelby Anne Wolf and Shirley Brice Heath ("Living in a World of

Words") and Carolyn Steedman ("The Tidy House"), whose essays are included in the section
"Child's Play." In both cases children's voices contribute to, even balance, the adult perspectives.

Such studies are not easy given the issues involved with accessibility to children and the degree

of articulateness the children have attained; however, to discuss children's culture without

children's voices is to perpetuate conceptions of childhood that are only different from rather

than better than the conceptions the book is challenging

“Child Beauty Pageants: Fun or Fiendish?” abc

news. 21 Aug. 2006. 2 June 2009
<http://abcnews.go.com/gma/story?id=2338102>.
This source discusses the topic of child molesters
and how their roles in society. Child molestation
is a result of the sexualization of young children,
particularly young girls. Young girls have
become victims of child molestation as a result of
media’s exploitation of their sexuality. Because
the media makes kids to be sexy, adults begin to
see them as sexual beings, which is the exact
opposite of how they should be portrayed.

products used to make contestants look more “beautiful” are mostly very harmful, especially for

children. When young children wear high heels, it pushes their weight forward, causing lower

back pain and bad posture, preventing proper development of the feet. Hairsprays, used to keep

the contestant’s hair look dazzling, contains a lot of plasticizers that can act as hormone

disrupters. This is no big deal for an adult, but for a growing child, the effects are serious.

Overuse of plasticizers stops growth and even risks the cause of lung cancer.