It’s no secret that our society and the media portrays a very warped concept of “beauty,” and that this distortion is a heavy cause of low self-esteem in many individuals both male and female, from middle-school age even up to mature adulthood. Low self-esteem is a incredibly important issue, because self-esteem defines every decision a person makes, every word that comes out of their mouth, every action, reaction, how they treat others and their overall mindset. Ultimately, it all stems from one’s self-esteem. As one can infer, those with a high self-esteem are more likely to make responsible decisions, speak positively and have a good attitude, and struggle less with their appearance. Those with low self-esteem generally have a less-than-chipper demeanor and tend to have difficulties with self-acceptance and their physical appearance. These feelings of self-doubt, according to sociological studies, usually develop around puberty, but it’s not uncommon for children as young as four years old to have a low self-esteem.

    Most parents, especially those who have daughters, want their child to stay little for as long as possible and not rush into the realizations, pressures and expectations of adulthood. However, there is quite a large number of parents who don’t mind at all if their child doesn’t have much of an actual childhood, and is eager to see their children look, talk, and walk like an adult. TLC’s reality TV show, “Toddlers & Tiaras,” highlights the lives of pageant parents and their kids, 99% of the time girls, as they prepare and primp for an upcoming beauty pageant. Winners of these pageants take home a big trophy and/or crown, which the kids love, and also get a handsome sum of cash. The possible monetary outcome is the main motivation for most pageant parents, but when we consider the fact that the girls are not guaranteed to win any kind of prize, we must ask if these parents are gambling with their children’s time and livelihoods. Furthermore, are these children experiencing a world of harsh judgement that could potentially cause long-term emotional damage?

    Preparing for a pageant show takes a lot of work and preparation. Some of the pageants are natural, preferring the kids not to wear makeup and more based on talent and presence than appearance. But then, there are the ever-popular, ever-revolting, “Glitz” pageants. Kids are trained by their parents on how they should walk and what poses they should do on the run way. Many parents hire a choreographer for this purpose as well. Next is all of the physical preparation. Parents take their kids to get spray tanned so that they have the appealing golden glow that modern media has made so desirable. Parents spend hundreds of dollars on hair extensions and salon visits, and expensive professional makeup. Fake skin, fake hair, fake eyelashes and even fake teeth if they find it necessary. A completely unrealistic, unnatural, fake appearance. The most important part of their pageant appearance is their dress. Parents that purchase dresses usually end up spending $1,000-$5,000 dollars, but dresses can sometimes be rented from $200-$1,200, depending on how popular the style is. How about putting that money toward a college fund?

What’s sad is that some parents do indeed gamble when it comes to pageants, they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on pageant items while their vehicles are decrepit, if they even have one, or they’re swimming in debt and bills. One very popular example of this would be the family of Alana Thompson, who is more commonly referred to as “Honey Boo Boo.” Honey Boo Boo, a nickname given to her by her family, is a pageant child from rural Georgia. Her appearance on “Toddlers & Tiaras” was so popular that TLC gave her a spin-off show, entitled “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” The show depicts the life of Alana, her three sisters, and her parents. Alana and two of her sisters are medically recognized as overweight, as is their mother, “Mama June,” who is considered to be obese. They live in a very small, very dirty trailer in their hometown of McIntyre, GA. Though their living condition is in shambles, their mother seems to have enough money for cigarettes, booze, junk food and nail salon visits. According to an article from The Daily Mail U.K., all of Honey Boo Boo’s siblings have different fathers, one of whom Mama June cannot even name. The three she can name, however, have all spent time in prison for either theft, arson, or sexual offense. June herself has even been arrested for theft and contempt of court. Mama June has been in headlines lately, due to the sudden cancellation of “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” The reason for the cancellation is because June has recently started dating one of her former exes; a man who was just released from ten years in prison for sexual abuse of a child. As if that’s not messed up enough, the child he abused was June’s oldest daughter, Anna. Anna had her first child during the first season of the show at the young age of 17.

This is only one out of an estimated 250,000 children who participate in pageants each year. While not every family is like that of Honey Boo Boo’s, the pageant mentality can still be very dangerous. The outfits the girls wear are usually very inappropriate and look similar to outfits that would usually be worn by an exotic dancer or even a prostitute, to be completely honest. Some parents have been known to give their daughters “butt pads” to give extra shape to their bottoms. These kids are being judged very harshly based solely on their appearance. Additionally, the choreography tends to involve movements like shaking their butt or their hips. This literal, direct judgement can destroy the girls’ sense of self-worth and beauty, causing long-term effects such as distorted self-image which can lead to depression, eating disorders, and thoughts of suicide.

 During the talent/routine portion of a pageant, the contestants strut across the stage, blowing kisses and winking, posing and twirling for the judges. The poses that the girls are taught are most often sexual, accentuating their hips and bottom. On one of the episodes of “Toddlers & Tiaras,” a 3 year old was dressed up as the prostitute played by Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman,” complete with patent leather knee-high boots, a mid-drift baring shirt, and short skirt.  By dressing up little girls in sexy outfits and parading them across the stage, we are not only damaging their childhood and concept of beauty, but we are also creating bad habits.
Beauty pageants for young girls foster inappropriate, unnecessary and unhealthy behaviors. In striving for physical perfection, physical harm is done to these little girls. The makeup and hairspray are detrimental to their skin and growth. According to Travis Stork of CBS’s The Doctors, hair spray contains chemicals that can act as hormone disruptors, and have been linked to stunted growth and even lung cancer. Emotional and mental harm also takes effect from these pageants. The desire to be thin causes intense body image problems. Brooke Breedwell, a former child pageant star, told ABC’s Good Morning America that the pageants left her with stress, anxiety and the feeling that she needed to be perfect all the time. Breedwell was also forced to go to a tanning bed three times a week for 20 minutes during her pageant career. Brooke now aims to warn parents against placing their children into pageant life.

Overall, child beauty pageants can cause serious issues for kids in the long run, and are ultimately too harmful to be considered a fun hobby. Beauty pageants like Miss USA and Miss Universe are competitions among mature, self-assured women who are capable of making their own decisions, and the competitions ultimately result in scholarship and volunteer work for the women involved. Child beauty pageants, however, has the power to ruin these girls’ childhoods and force them to grow up believing in their looks, rather than in themselves.  The sexualization of little girls is a dangerous path to put them on, and beauty pageants are only doing more harm to the future generations of women.  It’s up to us to teach our sons and daughters that society’s warped concept of beauty is not important or worth striving for. Rather, a kind heart, a value for education, and good health is what we need to instill into our children so that they can become successful, mature, capable contributors of society.