Jill Stark’s opinion article, appearing in The Age 19th Jan 2008, outlines in a concerned and direct fashion, that most stereotypes seen in glossy magazines have a negative and dangerous impact. She contends that there is a growing trend for woman to produce magazines, promoting healthy and realistic figures, empowering the female. The headline ‘Sick of impossible princesses, real girls fight back’, indicates to readers how fed up the author is with these unrealistic stereotypes. Stark informs the reader that the traditional content of glossy magazines, with “extreme dieting tips and air-brushed waifs in micro bikinis”, is being questioned by ‘real girls’ who are “fed up with images of emaciated models and a celebrity culture pushing them to be thin, sexy and silent.”. Confronted with these images, the reader is encouraged to sympathise with the author’s contention.
I'm especially critical of the way these problematic relationships between girls are represented in the media." But what is it about the concept that has galvanized people's interest right now? "I think, in part, it's a reflection of social anxiety about girls' success," Gonick tells me. "Girls and boys both endure a lot of pressure in the times we're living in. There are fewer social programs to support kids and the cost of failing is so high.
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.
These expenses are a hefty sum just for the child to enter the competition, but this does not include the cost of coaching experts hired by the parents. There is no true investment ever to be made. These children are being exploited internationally since this show has gained recognition, not only in the United States but also abroad. Little girls who are made to look glamorous, such as grown women, are prey to sexual predators who will stop at nothing to get what they want. Where I live, parents are discouraged from placing birth announcements in the local paper for fear of what could happen to their baby.
Now that’s growing up without a childhood. Jane Smiley seems like a great parent who cares about her children but to allow her daughters to put on makeup even entering their teenage years just isn’t right. Her girls where prematurely growing up, where behaving beyond their age, and with their only priority being beautiful at all times it seem to help them in the long run. As they burned off the “Barbie stage” and grew into more important things down their lives. Like for example Smiley talks about her older daughter, “Now she is planning to graduate school and law school and become an expert on woman’s health issues, perhaps adolescent health issues like anorexia and bulimia” (377).
21 Aug. 2006. 2 June 2009 This source discusses the anger of beauty pageants. Beauty pageants promote the sexualization of young girls and provide to those involved in pedophilia. Parents are the ones who are at fault for exposing and subjecting their daughters to the sexual use of beauty pageantry. I’m going to use this info to prove that Beauty pageants aren’t just for fun and games, that there child could be in danger .
In my opinion, Americans tend to think that their appearance is everything and go to great measures to get their desired looks. I also believe that people in society are always trying too hard to make them self look like their ideal celebrity. I feel that men and women have different standards when it comes to appearance and how they view it. I also agree with Nancy Hellmich in her article, “Do Thin Models Warp Girls Body Image?” as she says that girls are becoming skinnier and skinnier as the years go by. I think as society tends to focus on their appearance more, it also becomes more dangerous.
Emma Valek Period 3 Typical Mother-Daughter Conflicts in Modern America No matter what kind of mother-daughter relationship one may have, perfect or improvement is needed, the bond between a mom and daughter starts at a very young age. When the daughter is young, she wants to be just like her mother. Once the teenage years begin, she wants nothing to do with her mom. She is annoying, nosey, embarrassing, and always bossing you around. Then, if you are fortunate enough, once the daughter has mature enough her mother becomes her best friend again.
The article that I found to relate to sexism at its finest is about Miss America, Carrie Prejean and her new breast. Not only did she receive free breast implants, but they were organized and paid for by the pageant, weeks before the Miss USA competition. If this doesn’t create an image of what women should look like I don’t know what does. So her boobs weren’t big enough so in order to have her fit in she received implants? This is disappointing to me.
Pageants require discipline and dedication. Young girls will have to come to the understanding of the importance of winning and losing graciously. By competing, girls can learn that if they wish to succeed and achieve something, they will have to work for it (Williams). Child pageant participants are not considered to be “working” children, although they are awarded money and other prizes for their accomplishments and spend hours of the week practicing. A majority of child pageants do not award cash prizes.