Child

B

eauty P

ag

eants A

re N

ot B

eautifu

l

By

Tessa R

ife

Imagine that in the future, each of you have a daughter. Would you want her to look like this?

Video clip #1 Introduction to the “pageant world”

History of Pageants

Adult beauty pageants began during the 1920s in order to give hotels more business.

Later, in the 1960s, child beauty pageants came about.

About forty years Participants compete in modeling

sports wear and evening wear, performing a talent, and speaking publically.

How are the Girls Judged?

Judged based on appearance, poise, perfection, and confidence.

“An ugly American subculture has been formed as a result of this emphasis on perfection” (Giroux).

Example of this subculture

Video clip #2 Notice the satirical nature of this clip

Ch

ild b

eau

ty

pag

ean

ts n

eg

ativ

ely

eff

ect th

e liv

es o

f you

ng

girls

involv

ed

.

1. ) Lo

ss of se

lf este

em

2

.) Waste

of m

on

ey

3.) Te

ach

es ske

wed

valu

es

4.) C

reate

s un

realistic

ideas fo

r their fu

ture

s

Fake nails!!

1.) L

oss o

f Self

Este

em

Pageant in

dustry

abolish

es re

spect fo

r natu

ral b

eauty

, and re

pla

ces it w

ith fa

ke

tans a

nd fa

lse la

shes.

Bein

g su

rrounded b

y a

cultu

re o

bse

ssed

with

perfe

ction m

ake

s girls in

secu

re.

Not ta

king h

om

e a

tiara

make

s the g

irls feel

that th

ey a

re n

ot p

retty

enough, ta

lente

d

enough to

satisfy

the so

ciety

that “b

red”

them

.

2.)

Wast

e o

f M

on

ey

Pageants a

re e

xtre

mely

expensiv

eEntry

fees

at le

ast $

50

0Tra

vel co

sts u

pw

ard

s of $

20

0O

utfi

ts $

70

0To

tal =

$1

,40

0

Money th

at co

uld

be sp

ent to

“esta

blish

a

[savin

gs p

lan] to

help

…alle

via

te th

e co

st of a

co

llege e

duca

tion” (G

iroux).

3.) Pag

eants Teach

Skew

ed

Valu

es

Com

petitiveness / Cattiness

Teac

he

s the

be

lief th

at be

ating

e

very

oth

er p

erson

= s

ucc

es

sG

reed

Striv

e to atta

in th

e la

rge

amo

un

t o

f prize

mo

ne

yS

exuality

Th

e ind

us

try se

xu

alize

s y

ou

ng

g

irls a

t mu

ch to

o e

arly a

n a

ge

E

mp

ha

sizes s

exu

ality

wh

ile

on

stag

e to

imp

res

s the

jud

ge

s

4.) Pag

eants C

reate False

Ho

pes fo

r Girls’ F

utu

res

Within the w

orld of pageantry girls can be successful due to

their appearance

Girls believe that this is

transferrable later in life

So

me

asp

ire to b

e m

od

els o

r a

ctress

es

Get b

y on

loo

ks M

ore often than not, this does not happen.

Le

ss th

an 1%

of

Am

erica

ns a

re

run

wa

y m

od

els

Ch

an

ces

are

slim

If Abby did child pageants…

…she would grow to be insecure.

If Maggie did child pageants…

…she would have less money later in life.

If Alexx did child pageants…

…she would become overly competitive in the future.

If Rachel did child pageants…

…she may end up jobless.

Therefore, participation in

child beauty pageants truly does corrupt the lives of

young girls by lowering their

self confidence, wasting

their money, teaching them

skew

ed values, and creating unrealistic goals for

their futures.