• “‘Toddlers & Tiaras’: TLC Sinks to a New Low.” Examiner.com. 25 Jan. 2009. 2 June 2009 This source questions the beliefs of beauty pageants for young children and the reality television show Toddlers & Tiaras. Children are forced that the importance of ideal beauty are in beauty pageant. Young girls are becoming sexually exploited to layers of makeup.
Scars & Tiaras Childhood is sacred; everything is new and everything is pure, it shouldn’t be tainted. Although some believe that child beauty pageants help build self-esteem and instill confidence the negative effects far more outweigh the benefits. Being involved in beauty pageants at a young age can ruin a child psychologically, they punch major dents into families’ wallets, and they contribute to the sexualization of young girls. Eventually, these pageants will destroy the innocence of childhood. The human brain is not fully developed until the age of 25.
They compete against other contestants for an award of money, pageant titles, trophies, and a big sparkly tiara. However I don't approve of the parents position to put their child through this, and how they treat their daughters throughout the competition. Not only are they exploiting their five-year-olds for their own personal gain, they are putting their child through so much misery to look beautiful. They live through their daughters fame and glory, and make their daughters look very high maintenance. The Toddlers and Tiara girls go through hours of make-up, to different hairstyles, and wearing big fake wigs.
All over the world, girls often go through a "princess phase", made up with anything pink and pretty. When it happened to Peggy Orenstein's daughter, the writer decided to examine the phenomenon. She found that the “girlie-girl” culture was less innocent than it might seem, and can have negative consequences for girls' psychological, social and physical development. From a very young age, girls learn to define themselves from the outside in, and a lot of researches suggest that our culture’s emphasis on physical beauty is the root of problems such as negative body image, depression, eating disorders and high-risk sexual behavior. I strongly agree with the Peggy Orenstein’s article.
The slender, “beautiful” women are regarded as influential, successful, and erotic. This being said, it is very much so based on facts and reason, also known as logos, in the aspect that real life is often viewed this way. Throughout Elementary school up to High school, no one wanted to be best friends with “the fat kid”. As the world already knows, girls and women in general seem to stress over their physical appearance and have been especially concerned about weight for many years now. The emotional effect media has on a woman’s mindset, or ethos, could very well send her overboard into what is commonly known as an eating disorder.
As Peggy Orenstein’s three year-old daughter entered the “princess phase,” Orenstein became increasingly frustrated. As a feminist, she worried about the negative effects the princess obsession would have on her daughter and other young girls in their futures. In “Cinderella and Princess Culture,” Orenstein sets out to discuss these effects. She discovers that although it seems as if this princess craze is creating negative gender stereotypes at an early age, maybe princess enthusiasts are really benefitting from their obsession. Orenstein has gotten accustomed to adults assuming her daughter likes pink and princesses.
Not only do the competitions cost a large amount of money but they also cost the children their confidence and other emotional issues. Competitions claim to boost self esteem and encourage self confidence but they do the opposite if you are not the winner. The pressure of winning put on them by their parents causes more stress than normal children would have to handle. An article in Current Events titled “Kids on the Catwalk?” states, “Some psychologists say pageants for kids are inappropriate. ‘Pageants force children to focus too much on themselves,’
In which, sometimes, she would go two or three days without eating or would feel too fat after going a day with only one apple, worried family members and friends. Gabby, after an eye-opening experience with her father, discovered she hated herself and because of that she had become anorexic. This story takes a micro-level orientation tact of the Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm because it shows that the cause of the young Gabby's anorexia was her need to please the crowd because of her interaction with the society within her school. John J. Macionis' book entitled "Sociology" (the sixth edition) states that society is constructed "Through the human process of finding meaning in our surroundings, we define our identities, rights, and obligations toward others." Gabby felt that she needed to
This is disappointing to me. How are little girls suppose to grow up with any self confidence when something as big as the Miss USA pageant is making them feel like their bodies need to be altered to be beautiful? In our society thick or bigger women are not acceptable. It is skinny, tall, big boobs, and a tan that is in. And if your natural body type is so far from that, well then hurry and change yourself with thousands of dollars in cosmetic surgery.
Studies have shown that over 60 percent of women were unhappy with their bodies, as they have been raised comparing themselves with Barbie and other various models of the fashion industry. Women are left feeling inadequate and bad about themselves, which can lead to eating disorders. Kristen Overman, a mental health counselor says, “What’s frustrating for most women is that they’re generally stuck with the body type they have.” Body image, and girls’ perception on what they should look like, starts at adolescence, at home, with our parents, and in school, when trying to fit in with the rest of the girls their age. Acceptance becomes a priority at this age. Studies reveal children are going on diets in as early as the fourth grade.