Child Beauty Pageants
Beauty Pageants: From the Title of Mini Supreme to America’s Next Top Model
English 106
Cassie Robinson
3 Otober 2012
Abstract
Beauty pageants have changed drastically in the past fifty years. Beauty pageants used to be all adult females who dressed in their Sunday best and walked on the catwalk at the county fair. Now, little children are decked out in glitzy outfits, have wigs that make their hair twice as long, and have teeth to make it seem like their baby teeth haven’t fallen out yet. In this literature review, I reviewed different articles, some against child beauty pageants and some that showed a firsthand look into the beauty pageants. Based on the reviews, I have made a decision as to whether child beauty pageants are good for those involved or not.
Hundreds wait in silence as the announcer walks to the stage. “And the first place award goes to…” The pause is added for dramatic effect, as if these parents and children need any more drama in their lives. Hair is pulled, tears are shed, and crowns are won. This is just another typical weekend for those in the pageant world. The views of beauty pageants have drastically changed within the past decade. Some think pageants are used to exploit little children and are a way for mothers to live vicariously through their daughters who are winning crowns and money. Others believe they are just a more drastic way for their children to play dress up and win money while doing it. The six articles chosen for this literature review will discuss one side of the argument. Something eye-catching in the article, “Toddlers in Tiaras,” written by Skip Hollandsworth in 2011 was the line, “And you know what I hate? All these years later, I’ve still got this anxiety about feeling like I have to be perfect” (Hollandsworth, 2011). This is how Brooke Breedwell feels about pageants now, after being a pageant queen from age three months to eight years old. After telling her mother she wanted to quit pageants and
English 106
Cassie Robinson
3 Otober 2012
Abstract
Beauty pageants have changed drastically in the past fifty years. Beauty pageants used to be all adult females who dressed in their Sunday best and walked on the catwalk at the county fair. Now, little children are decked out in glitzy outfits, have wigs that make their hair twice as long, and have teeth to make it seem like their baby teeth haven’t fallen out yet. In this literature review, I reviewed different articles, some against child beauty pageants and some that showed a firsthand look into the beauty pageants. Based on the reviews, I have made a decision as to whether child beauty pageants are good for those involved or not.
Hundreds wait in silence as the announcer walks to the stage. “And the first place award goes to…” The pause is added for dramatic effect, as if these parents and children need any more drama in their lives. Hair is pulled, tears are shed, and crowns are won. This is just another typical weekend for those in the pageant world. The views of beauty pageants have drastically changed within the past decade. Some think pageants are used to exploit little children and are a way for mothers to live vicariously through their daughters who are winning crowns and money. Others believe they are just a more drastic way for their children to play dress up and win money while doing it. The six articles chosen for this literature review will discuss one side of the argument. Something eye-catching in the article, “Toddlers in Tiaras,” written by Skip Hollandsworth in 2011 was the line, “And you know what I hate? All these years later, I’ve still got this anxiety about feeling like I have to be perfect” (Hollandsworth, 2011). This is how Brooke Breedwell feels about pageants now, after being a pageant queen from age three months to eight years old. After telling her mother she wanted to quit pageants and
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