14 Feb. 2009. 2 June 2009 This source discusses the topic of children beauty pageants. Young girls are exploited in beauty pageants and are placed under harsh conditions. They must receive a total body makeover and spend hours preparing when they should be out enjoying their childhood. This source was one of my favorites because it proves so much information that backs up my idea on child pageant; I am going to refer to this source later on.
Toddlers and Tiaras is a fascinating reality television show that lets all of us average people in on the world of childhood modeling. Toddlers and Tiaras doesn’t show us just the modeling but also the blood, sweat, and tears that go along with all types of show business. In addition to these things, Toddlers and Tiaras also gives an air of confidence to all of it’s contestants. It teaches them that anyone and everyone can be beautiful, with several pounds of makeup, over-the-top fake tans and about ten thousand dollar dresses, that is. The preparation that is put into these child beauty pageants is vital.
Orenstein then sets out to explore the possible answers to her daughter’s question. The princess “trend,” Orenstein tells us, has taken over the media, jumping from $300 million in revenue in 2001, to $3 billion in revenue in 2007, with Disney producing over 25,000 princess-related items, which she finds overwhelming. The princess craze, however is not limited to Disney as Orenstein learns; it also expands to Barbies, Dora, and Club Libby Lu. Orenstein worries how this craze will affect gender stereotyping because she thinks maybe this preoccupation will “undermine girls’ well being” and be “perilous to their [the parents] daughters’ mental and physical health” (327). But then again, she realizes maybe this obsession is a “sign of progress” (328).
The Toddlers and Tiara girls go through hours of make-up, to different hairstyles, and wearing big fake wigs. They get spray tans, and even fake teeth known as flippers. The girls look so ridiculous for their age and at what a cost. These parents are spending thousands of dollars just to teach their kids that beauty is on the outside. This sort of behavior is only setting children up for body image and mental health issues later down the road.
But not all the pageants have this requirement. Beauty pageants are one of the fastest growing businesses in America grossing over 5 million dollars. The parents invest so much money into a pageant that they have to hire a make-up artist, hair stylist, sing or dance lessons, lodging to pageant locations, entry fees, the different outfits, etc. Its mind boggling that the prize money is less than the preparation for these pageants. On a September issue of People magazine shows a transformation of a normal little girl into one the contestants for a pageant, the total cost was $3,703 for wiglet, dress, and to boots that took 3 hours to complete.
Vernon was strict but encouraging, and made her education a priority. Winfrey became an honors student, was voted Most Popular Girl, and joined her high school speech team at East Nashville High School, placing second in the nation in dramatic interpretation. She won an oratory contest, which secured her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a historically black institution, where she studied communication. Her first job as a teenager was working at a local grocery store. At age 17, Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.
There are a number of women who have eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia trying to look like Miss USA when really it just might not be their body type. Women who starve themselves and call themselves fat on a regular basis. Well they would have nothing to compare themselves to if we as a society weren’t constantly flashing slim women on TV or in magazines. I wonder if there was a Mr. America pageant if men would start to doubt their body types and conform to what is socially accepted for a mans body. All in all I was shocked when I read this and think it is very sad that on national television there is a body type this is accepted.
The media works hard and goes to any extent when they attempt to gain capital in our capitalistic country. Take TLC’s (Television Learning Channel) popular program Toddlers and Tiaras as an example; this program promotes the use of makeup for “toddlers” in order to win a beauty pageant. This show is highly controversial because of the mothers that permit their children to use makeup at such a young age. Sherri Shepherd commented on the mothers who are
A brief biographical statement about Oprah; At 18, she won the Miss Black Tennessee pageant and a year later became the first black woman to anchor the evening news in Nashville. Winfrey further honed her broadcast skills in Baltimore before moving to Chicago to host a daily talk show in 1984. She was so popular that the series (A.M. Chicago) was renamed in her honor and became a national hit in syndication in 1986. Oprah quickly became a household name, a wildly successful yet still accessible woman who struggled with her weight and talked about surviving sexual molestation. But hosting a talk show wasn't all Winfrey had in mind.
She had more than twenty operations and dispensed more then $55,000 in her attempts to look like Barbie. Barbie's image of being abel to do it all may have put pressure on many women. In today's society, there is pressure on women to work, have a marriage, make money, take care of the kids, and still try to look beautiful. Barbie's attitude idealizes the hardships women must go through to try and be