Preview

To What Extent Do the Parents/Guardians of Child Beauty Pageant Contestants Meet the Criteria for Factitious Disorder by Proxy (Fdp)?

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3518 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
To What Extent Do the Parents/Guardians of Child Beauty Pageant Contestants Meet the Criteria for Factitious Disorder by Proxy (Fdp)?
1. To what extent do the parents/guardians of child beauty pageant contestants meet the criteria for Factitious Disorder by Proxy (FDP)? Introduction In the Western society, it has long been argued that child beauty pageant (CBP) is perversive because of its emphasis on sexualising innocent children. Child pageant’s parents tend to be the objects of social criticism and condemnation because they are in a position to encourage and authorise the CBP ideologies. Sarah Burge from the United Kingdom, who has dramatically ‘made over’ her seven-year-old daughter Poppy, and taken her to compete at the Darling Dolls of American Contest 2012, will be the object of study. The aim of this essay is to provide an assessment of Sarah as a child pageant’s mother, analyse and discuss whether her motivations and behaviours constitute the criteria for Factitious Disorder by Proxy (FDP). Although atypical, it is argued that Sarah’s behaviours and motivations have met the majority of the FDP criteria, including fabricating pre-pubertal maturity in Poppy and assuming a sick role in Poppy as sexually inadequate by proxy. In addition, this essay will critically analyse whether Sarah’s behaviours were encouraged by a set of intangible motivations, such as her illogical or even pathological demand for power, control, and excitement. Since FDP assessment takes both sociological and psychodynamic perspectives into consideration, Sarah’s FDP behaviours have implication for her coping with patriarchal suppression and trauma at both social and familial levels.

Factitious Disorder by Proxy and child beauty pageant
Although atypical, characteristics of Factitious Disorder by Proxy (FDP) suggest its relation to that of a child beauty pageant (CBP). FDP is also known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (Rosenberg, 1987) and Induced Illness by Carers (Parrish & Perman, 2004). FDP usually involves a caregiver, almost always the mother, who deliberately induces physical or


References: Mirror 2011, ‘Surgery addict Sarah Burge explains why 100 cosmetic procedures still isn 't enough’, 7 Aug, 2011, viewed 3 Oct 2012, http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/surgery-addict-sarah-burge-explains-184308 Pearce, D 2012, ‘Does this girl have the worst mum in Britain?’, The Sun, 25 May 2012, viewed 3 Oct, 2012, http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4337082/Does-this-girl-have-worst-mum-in-Britain.html
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Toddlers In Tiara Arument Analysis
    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Toddlers In Tiara Arument Analysis

    “Toddlers in Tiaras,” an article by Skip Hollandsworth, gives a glimpse into the world of child beauty pageants. It brings forth food for thought when one considers the “sexploitation“ of young girls, toddlers, even infants. In addition, it addresses the focus these pageants put on physical perfection and how these young ones are bombarded not only that singular focus but it questions their future development in light of the suggestive costumes and gestures they are encouraged to engage in. The article also questions the motives of parents who insist on pushing their children into these pageants and whether participation puts their children in danger .…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Shadow Of The Wind Analysis
    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Shadow Of The Wind Analysis

    When Fumero’s father married his mother, she had “delusions of grandeur and looks of scullion.” (Zafon 212). This illusion of a privileged life causes Fumero’s mother to believe she can do whatever she wants to her son. This leads Fumero’s mother to have very inappropriate relationship with her son. Fumero admits that she sometimes “ gets into his bed at night and fondles him.” (Zafon 212). In order for a mother to do this to a son, she has to be mentally unstable; however, her sinful behavior still leaves a long term effect on…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    bkbk
    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages

    bkbk

    The purpose of Stephanie Hanes’s “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect” is to bring awareness to the problem of increasing sexualization of little girls. While this trend is widely noted in the media and consumer market, it is a growing concern for parents and early childhood specialists, as it is taking a toll on the girls’ mental and emotional development. It starts when girls are young and goes unnoticed, but this trajectory eventually becomes evident. Stephanie Hanes is a freelance journalist who has written many U.S. publications. This article first appeared in the Christian Science Monitor where parents of little girls are her intended audience. Hanes not only presented to them the problem but also solutions to this ongoing predisposition. Hanes succeeds at proving her argument through providing anecdotes that appeal to her audience emotionally, logically, and ethically.…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy

    Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is a serious disorder that is often looked over by many. It is a very serious disease and must not be taken lightly. Munchausen syndrome by proxy, also known as factitious disorder by proxy, is a form of child abuse where the mother or parent makes up or produces illnesses in their own child. Many cases of this disease have lead to the death of the child and imprisonment of the parent. This is a disease that needs to be made aware of and not looked over by anyone person.…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Disappearance Of Childhood Analysis
    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Disappearance Of Childhood Analysis

    Part of the blame in childhood disappearing is placed on the parents of the children that encourage what is portrayed on this show while the other blame is placed on the greedy entertainment business that is allowing children to be sexualized, on television, to profit financially from it. In “Toddlers and Tiaras,” young girls are dressed in extravagant dresses, with their hair and makeup worn like women, spray-tanned, swaying down the runway showcasing their beauty and being judged for it. This poses another problem with a society where adults encourage children to act like more mature because it is easier for adults to relate to someone similar to themselves. The mothers in this show are insistent on their daughters modeling because of the mothers' possibly unrealized desires to have modeled sometime throughout their own lives. The sexualization of girls has significant consequences, such as negative effects on cognitive and emotional development in women and an increase in sexual harassment and violence in men toward women. If this show sexualizes and exploits young girls by allowing them to dress in provocative clothes such as the prostitute in “Pretty Woman,” girls are losing their…

    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Toddlers and Tiaras Essay
    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Toddlers and Tiaras Essay

    I believe that these mothers are living vicariously through their daughters, hoping their girls will receive the attention and praise they do not get in their own lives. The moms try to cure their poor self-esteem and hunger for admiration by making up and dressing their young girls in inappropriately scanty clothes. They put make-up on their daughters, without realizing that they are, in effect, pimping out their own child. To be a contender in these beauty pageants these children are getting spray on tans, wearing "flippers"—fake teeth to hide the gaps that normal girls have from losing their baby teeth, fake fat hair, and loads of make makeup. One four year old contestant was dressed by her mom donning fake breasts and a padded bottom to follow her idol Dolly Parton.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Child Beauty Pageants: Robbing Little Girls’ Innocence
    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Child Beauty Pageants: Robbing Little Girls’ Innocence

    There are over 5,000 child beauty pageants held annually across the United States with girls as young as two-years-old competing in them. Little girls strut across the stage with make-up painted on their tanned faces, hair teased into big and luscious curls, fake teeth, and a raunchy dance to complement it. There’s no doubt that the very young girls do not resemble their age when they are on stage and performing; they’re transformed into “sultry, Lolita-like waifs” (Giroux 270). Millions tune in and watch shows exploiting the children such as “Toddlers and Tiaras” and “Little Miss Perfect” where we see the little girls strive to be the best and prettiest. Parents should not enter their young daughters into beauty pageants that promote premature sexuality and a false image of what is beauty.…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Argumentative Essay On Child Pageants
    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Argumentative Essay On Child Pageants

    The idea of child pageants creates much conflict and discouragement to others whom do not have children. Young girls whom participate in this activity are portrayed as sex objects just as women are as models because they are subjected to looking older and much more sensual. However, in some cases having children in child pageants creates social skills along with comfortability performing in front of others. The idea of little girls being entered into child pageants is intimidating to most people due to the fact that children are not supposed to look like adults until they are old enough. Many people frown upon the whole concept of a child being exposed to older men and women having them wear makeup and flirtatious outfits. As older women are also involved in beauty pageants, they too go through extreme acts of body changes making it harder for parents to fathom. Restricting little girls from engaging in beauty pageants or contests protects them from dangerous people along with remaining pure with their self-worth, learning to live as a child and not a woman, and retaining a healthy emotional mind.…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Common Ground Essay- Child Beauty Pagents
    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Common Ground Essay- Child Beauty Pagents

    People who are against the pageants complain that they should be eliminated because they exploit children and place them in harm’s way. They claim because of major dangers; no one under the age of eighteen should be placed in a beauty pageant. The children who are in the pageants are dressed up in adult’s clothing, have piles of make up on, and are harming their bodies. They are harming their bodies by putting the make up on and tanning. By putting make up on at such young of an age, their face ages faster. By tanning, they begin to get that urge that some adults have to tan, which makes their skin age and have wrinkles early. It also puts them at the risk of having skin cancer at an early age. They say it also appeals the children to sexual predators. When a child is half naked on stage and sometimes on TV, these sexual predators see them and may even try to meet them. Sexual predators are only part of the problem. Studies show that every child who may benefit from the competition, hundreds of others suffer damage to their self-esteem and have warped self-vision of themselves and their bodies. Many times, they use JonBenet, a young child who competed in these pageants at the age of six. She was murdered in the basement of her home by a sexual predator. The suspect claimed he became aware of her by the pageants being on television.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Munchausen by Proxy
    • 2134 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Munchausen by Proxy

    Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MBP), a type of factitious disorder, is a mental illness. It is a term used to describe a behavior pattern where a caregiver, usually a parent, deliberately fabricates and perpetrates an illness upon a child. This person acts as if an individual he or she is caring for has a physical or mental illness when the person is not really sick. The adult perpetrator has MBP and directly produces or lies about illness in another person under his or her care, usually a child under 6 years of age. It is considered a form of abuse by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. However, cases have been reported of adult victims. (The term "by proxy" means "through a substitute.")…

    • 2134 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Child Beauty Pageants: Positive or Poisonous?
    • 2645 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Child Beauty Pageants: Positive or Poisonous?

    This article focuses on the effect of child beauty pageants has on the young girls and sometimes girls participating. Many problems rise from participation such as self-esteem issues and also problems with self-identity. “Education takes a back seat,” says Cartwright, author of the article, presenting another issue. She also concludes that the vigor of these pageants can be too much for these young children and that the parents either don’t care or don’t see it. This article is credible being that it’s written by Martina M. Cartwright, Ph.D., R.D., in Food For Thought. It’s also credible in that the website, Psychology Today, is where the article is found. This website is solely focused on issues in the psychology realm. This source was helpful also providing me with extensive detail and presenting the difference of society’s views and the pageants mom’s views on the topic.…

    • 2645 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
    • 2506 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy

    Munchausen syndrome-by-Proxy (MSBP), also known as Medical Child Abuse (MCA), is a mental disorder in which a parent (usually the mother) abuses her child by creating or falsifying medical symptoms, or by seeking unnecessary medical care for the child, in order to gain attention and sympathy. In 1998 the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) reported that the constellation of behaviors generally referred to as Munchausen by Proxy actually includes a pediatric diagnosis of child abuse and a psychiatric diagnosis of the perpetrator. Thus Munchausen by Proxy consists of two perspectives - the pediatric and the psychological; the victim and the perpetrator. From the perspective of the child victim, the diagnosis is Pediatric Condition Falsification (PCF) and is defined as “a form of child maltreatment in which an adult falsifies physical and/or psychological signs and/or symptoms in a victim, causing the victim to be regarded as ill or impaired by others.” From…

    • 2506 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Munchausen Syndrom by Proxy
    • 2948 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Munchausen Syndrom by Proxy

    Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy has been characterized by its distinguishable behavior that meets the criteria of fictitious disorder according to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR) (2000). Munchausen Syndrome affects many people that unconsciously expose themselves and their children to unnecessary abuse and maltreatment in attempts to gain attention by medical professionals, friends, and neighbors. The goal of clinicians and forensic professionals is to be able to effectively detect and assess individuals that maltreat their children hoping to treat these individuals and their families.…

    • 2948 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Confidentiality: Childhood and Sensitive Information
    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Confidentiality: Childhood and Sensitive Information

    the principles and boundaries of confidentiality are to do with safeguarding children and young people. The principle - or main reason for having confidentiality in settings is to maintain positive, supportive, respectful relationships with children and young people that recognises each individual's right to privacy, their right to protection and their right to free expression. This could be done by finding quiet less public areas for discussing information, ensuring information given within a setting isn't repeated outside of the setting for less professional reasons, everyone connected with a setting understands how sharing information relating to safeguarding is valued and welcomed. A boundary of confidentiality is that it isn't always appropriate/safe to keep information confidential where there may be a risk of harm to a child or young person.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Behaviorally Disordered or Socially Maladjusted
    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Behaviorally Disordered or Socially Maladjusted

    Write a brief explanation of factors to be taken into consideration when assessing and determining whether a student is behaviorally disordered or socially maladjusted.…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics