The U.S.

Should Ban Child Beauty Pageants

Flawless, alien faces caked with pounds of makeup. Barbie-like creatures strutting round

a stage in elaborate costumes completely inappropriate for their age. This may sound like a

creepy horror movie, but this is the modern definition of a child beauty pageant. The U.S. should

ban child beauty pageants for these two main reasons: firstly, pageants are harmful to children

and secondly, these pageants expose children to inappropriate things.

My first reason why beauty pageants should be banned is because they are harmful to

these children. These little girls are harmed both mentally and physically. According to ABC

News, children who participate in these events get stress from anxiety, or may get frustrated if

the lose, and this can cause mental disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. Anorexia is an eating

disorder that causes people to lose more weight than they should, due to intense fear of weight

gain. Bulimia is an illness in which a person overeats for a short period of time with no control,

and then tries to lose weight dramatically (Vorcick, “Anorexia Nervosa: MedlinePlus Medical

Encyclopedia”).

Clearly, we do not want little kids to get these terrible diseases. Additionally, kids who

participate in these pageants teach kids bad morals. Syd Brown, a psychologist, says, “What they

are learning, basically, is that they have one characteristic of total primary importance, and that is

their body and their attractiveness.” (Schultz, “Beauty Pageants Draw Children and Criticism”).

Little girls will not only be more focused on their image rather than their morals, but this can

also be detrimental to them as they start growing. As they grow, they might develop acne, or

need to get braces. This will make them think that they are ugly, just because they are not

completely perfect. They will get frustrated about this, and may even get depression from it.
Moreover, these pageants also show and teach children inappropriate things.

Another reason why child beauty pageants should be banned is because they can expose

these children to inappropriate things. Traditionally, a beauty pageant was just a mere contest

that simply required a nice dress with a satin bow. Now, contestants have to wear spray tans, hair

extensions, fake eyelashes, extensive makeup, “flappers” which are false teeth to cap in for

missing ones, and huge, elaborate dresses often inappropriate for the child’s age to even

compete. Teaching these children that these things are okay shows them that it only matters how

you look on the outside, which is completely inappropriate. (Williams,

“student.purduecal.edu/~zmwillia/1800-2200%20words.htm”) In fact, some moms even take it a

step further by giving their child Botox. Imagine giving an eight year old Botox. It may sound

crazy, but it is true. Britney Campell, an eight year old pageant contestant was given Botox by

her own mom! And ABC News states, “The eight year old said it was okay.” (Hagan, “Mom

Gives Botox to 8-year old Daughter: How Young is Too Young?”)! This is completely

inappropriate! Why would an eight year old need to reduce wrinkles? She didn’t even have

wrinkles! This clearly proves why beauty pageants should be banned. Also, even though beauty

pageants have many negative effects, there are some positive effects, but I will prove to you that

these positive aspects have flaws.

Some people may say that these contests offer children many benefits, such as college

scholarships and cash, however there are too many negative effects that outweigh these benefits.

For example, the average cost for entry fees themselves cost $100, with dresses averaging $100,

and the training session also costs so much money that the total cost often averages $10,000

(Schultz, “Beauty Pageants Draw Children and Criticism”). Additionally there is only one
winner, so not everyone gets these benefits.

As you can see, since these pageants obviously do no good and only hurt these children,

they should be banned. My two reasons are that these pageants are detrimental, and these

pageants teach kids inappropriate things. So go out there and show the world what “beauty

pageants” really are and restore justice!