Child Beauty Pageants

3227 Words13 Pages
Make up. Gowns. Fancy walks. Bathing suits. Fake tans. Fake eyelashes. Fake hair. That is what goes through the majority of peoples minds when the word beauty pageants is voiced. Of course people also think of Miss America or Miss Universe as well, these being two of the most popular beauty pageants in the world today. But are beauty pageants getting too out of hand? Not the ones that are for older girls that are 18 years old or older. For those girls it’s their own decision whether they want to participate in the competition or not. But as for the girls that are younger than 18 and are still under their parents control. Do people think that child beauty pageants have gone too far? With all a rules, make up, dresses, practising and so much more, the children participating never really have time to actually be a child. History of Beauty Pageants Way back in the 1800s is when the whole idea of beauty pageants started to arise. In 1854 a man called P. T Barnum was the the person to start up a beauty pageant and have people come to participate and watch. The only problem was that the public didn’t like that idea and they protested against the pageant and P.T Barnum (Unknown, 2011). The pageant was evidently shut down before it really got a chance to get going. Around 34 years later in 1888 in Belgium, the idea of a beauty pageant was brought up again. But the beauty pageant was not like the ones that we have nowadays. Back in this day and age the contest was based only on looks. What the contestants did was they would send in a picture of the lady participating in the contest and instead of judges they had the public vote on who they liked the best. So in August 19, 1888 the first ever beauty pageant was completed and 18 year old Bertha Sourcaret was the girl who the public liked best (Weiss, 2011). Nowadays there are many opinions on what beauty pageants are and
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