Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, it is an honour to be here.
I would like to address a very and controversial issue present in our 21st century society, child beauty pageants. Every year, there are more than two million women and girls competing in child beauty pageants in the United States alone. Approximately 250,00 of those girls are young children . The beauty pageant industry is worth over $5 billion, and each year is grossing more and more, due to the demand of pageants across the majority of states.
As a working mother of three, my weeks are generally hectic and extremely busy. However, one night a week my family have a movie night, where we can all spend quality time with one another while …show more content…
Entry can cost around $100 to $1000 for the most superior pageants, with dresses costing up to $5000 each. To put that into perspective, competing in approximately 5 pageants with extravagant dresses and over-the-top entry fees could cost the same amount of money as four-year college tuition! Many parents on the show state that they want their children to compete in pageants in order to save for college, however if you calculate it, their argument is invalid and they are spending much more than they think they save. According to the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Psychiatric health, sixty per cent of children are unhappy during the competition. In addition, forty per cent of girls who participated in pageants developed “psychological problems” later in …show more content…
How can any parent let their child be stripped of their innocence, naively performing a provocative routine, cheered on by ruthless pageant coaches? The contestants perform inappropriate routines and are judged for their looks and sex appeal by a panel of middle-aged judges. The concept is just not right, I cannot get my head around how parents could exploit their children while causing distressing and major long term health and self image problems. How could you watch your child dancing around channelling Julia Robert’s prostitute character in Pretty Woman with an E-Cigarette in their mouth? That is most definitely not the kind of message and example I want my 4 year old to follow and to think of as normal. By allowing this, the parents and the judges are creating future unhealthy habits for these young