One would believe that a life of glamorous hair and make-up, beautiful gowns, and sparkling tiaras would be every young girls dream, unfortunately, for many, this dream often turns into a nightmare. For nearly fifty years children have been subjected to the world of beauty pageants where they have been forced to behave as young adults rather than the five year olds that they actually are. Young children spend numerous hours every day practicing speeches and model walks for upcoming pageants rather than focusing on schoolwork and playing with friends. With an emphasis placed on appearance in beauty contests, children become devastatingly concerned with the way that they look before many of them can walk. The lifestyle of child beauty pageant participants has proven to be one full of stress and negative self-evaluation which can ultimately lead to a number of mental and physical disorders as the children become older. While it is clear that beauty pageants can be damaging to its participants, especially ones who begin their career of pageantry at a young age, nothing is being done to solve this problem. Every pageant is independently organized and rules are specifically developed for each one. This variance in rules and guidelines allows an opportunity for anyone of any age to enter into beauty pageants. Pageant promoters, with little more than how much money they can obtain, do nothing to curb or change the aspects of pageants which lead to easily influenced children developing issues with their appearance and self-esteem. In order to put a stop to the lifelong negative effects of beauty pageants on young children, state laws need to be established, putting minimum age requirements and event restrictions on beauty pageants throughout the United States. Beauty pageants have continued to grow in popularity ever since they were first created in the 1920's, however, they involve a much deeper level of commitment and work than many people are aware of. With nearly…
