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Hassan Ali
Professor Hughes
ENGL1301 – 56314
26 April 2015
Children Participating In Beauty Pageants
For quite some time now, beauty pageants have been the latest craze for children under
the age of 16. In a typical children’s beauty pageant, girls, and even boys occasionally, are
usually entered in by their parents to compete in different pageant categories such as swimwear,
evening gown, talent, dancing, etc. in order to win a title or prize. There has been an increase in
demand, especially during the last few years, for bustling reality programs that show children
competing head to head in beauty pageants such as Little Miss America, the Cinderella
Competition and Little Miss Perfect. Two extremely popular reality shows that are at the height
of this topic are Toddlers in Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Watching these programs
will show you the charming and alluring side of the child beauty pageant world, but make no
mistake, there is a grim and dark side to this that is not spoken of on these shows. There is
nothing wrong with children displaying their talents by dancing and singing on reality shows and
other pageants that are not showcased on TV, however, in today’s society, children are beginning
to dress, dance, wear large amounts of makeup, and compete in non-age-appropriate ways that
makes it a cause for concern. Due to the high extent of problems that can and have arisen with
these child beauty pageant shows, there should be stringent rules and guidelines enforced on
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what the participants are and are not allowed to do. If we are not able to do that, then these
events should be banned nationwide.
Child beauty pageants began in the 1960’s with a popular one being Little Miss America.
At the time, children who entered these contests would wear age-appropriate dresses, similar to
what you would see a young girl wearing at church; makeup, false eyelashes, fake teeth, etc.
were not allowed to be worn by these girls, in comparison to now where young girls wear just as
much makeup, if not more, than adult pageant contestants, and provocative clothing that is
completely inappropriate for children at this age. In pageants nowadays, little girls are wearing
string bikinis, booty shorts, skin tight dresses, crop tops, go to tanning salons, and some are even
forced by their parents to put stuffing in certain areas of their clothing to make their bodies look
more “appealing.” This is highly inappropriate and is causing hyper-sexualization of these
