Child Beauty Pageants

Image Credits: Pinterest

 

This is a modified version of my original topic for the ISA debate on, “Are Beauty Pageants Harmful?” I do believe that beauty pageants do more harm than good. 

December, 1996, JonBenét Ramsey- American child beauty queen, murdered at age six. Her murder set off debates on whether child beauty pageants should be held or not.

There are pros and cons to any issue. 

Those for it, will eulogize about the pros - building character, overcoming stage fright, making friends, healthy competition, exposure to diverse culture, and so on.

I ask- will all this not come with age? Is it necessary to rob kids of their childhood?  Are they not missing out on the most important stage of their development by being subjected to rigorous hours of voice, dance and other grooming/ training sessions? 

Some parents start these sessions from as young as nine months! These gruelling hours deprive the child of play, sleep and not forgetting the tiring toll it takes on their young bodies.

Their tiny bodies are subjected to- waxing, hair-dyeing, dieting, tanning, and even Botox injections! 

Around the globe, from Miami to the Philippines, the number of child pageants have increased. Girls as young as two and three with makeup plastered on their faces, dressed in tight-fitting gowns, high-heels or simply clad in two-piece swimsuits are walking the ramp, sashaying like adults. 

Even at such a tender age, they are subjected to sexualization and are brain-washed into believing that only external beauty matters. We put these little ones on display making them an easy prey for predators. 

Mothers are so deeply immersed in their ambitions for their daughters that it overshadows the child's wellbeing. Many of these children later go on to suffer from mental health conditions. 

It would be very difficult to ban or impose restrictions on these pageants as they ride piggyback on a consumerist fashion market. As young adults, on the threshold of parenthood, we can make a change in our thought process regarding beauty. 

“Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Who is the most beautiful of them all?”

Unlike in the story, "Snow White", when our children ask the mirror this question, we should reassure them that they are beautiful inside-out!