Child beauty pageant
Encyclopedia
A child beauty pageant is a beauty contest
featuring contestants up to 18 years of age. Divisions include talent
, interview
, sportswear
, casual wear, swim wear, western wear, theme wear, outfit of choice, decade wear, and evening wear, typically wearing makeup as well as elaborate hairstyles. The contestants wear custom fitted and designed outfits to present their routines on stage.
. However, the idea had already circulated through "Most Beautiful Child" contests held in major cities across the country. The Little Miss America pageant began in the 1960s at Palisades Amusement Park
in New Jersey
. Originally, it was for teenagers from 13 to 17 years old, but by 1964 there were over 35,000 participants, which prompted an age division. The modern child beauty pageant emerged in the late 1960s, held in Miami, Florida
. Since then, the industry has grown to include nearly 25,000 pageants. It is an increasingly lucrative business, bringing in about a billion dollars a year.
The murder of JonBenét Ramsey
in late 1996 turned the public spotlight onto child beauty pageants. Critics began to question the ethics of parents who would present their child in such a way. Dan Rather
was noted for criticizing CBS for airing Ramsey’s tapes, calling them “kiddie porn.”
In 2001, HBO aired its Emmy-winning Living Dolls: The Making of a Child Beauty Queen
, which garnered much attention.
, Texas
, Massachusetts
, Arkansas
, California
, Vermont
and Maine
do not have any laws regulating pageants.
as well as clothing and outfits. Dresses can cost anywhere from $200 to $6000, depending on the designer and the amount of adornment on the garment. Some parents hire pageant coaches to teach their child professionally choreographed routines. There have been cases of families going into debt or losing their homes because of overextending family resources to cover the costs that the pageants required. Contestants may sell sponsor tickets and get ads for ad books to help with the cost of competing. Sponsor tickets range in price from $1 to $10 and are entered in raffle drawings for cash prizes. It is estimated that the attire and props as they relate to costs of putting a child through a beauty pageant can range from $300 and upward of $5000 depending on the level of competition.
, as well as teach poise
, public speaking
skills, tact
, and confidence
.
Another commonly thought reason is to fulfil the mothers own childhood dreams through the life of her daughters.
daughters in very direct and concrete ways—for example,
by entering their 5-year-old daughter in a beauty pageant
in which she and the other contestants engage in behaviors
and practices that are socially associated with sexiness:
wearing heavy makeup to emphasize full lips, long eyelashes, and flushed cheeks, high heels to emulate adult women,
and revealing “evening gowns.”
Beauty contest
A beauty pageant or beauty contest, is a competition that mainly focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests often incorporate personality, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria...
featuring contestants up to 18 years of age. Divisions include talent
Talent
Talent can refer to:*Talent *Aptitude, a talent is a group of aptitudes useful for some activity, talents may refer to aptitudes themselvesEntertainment*A show-business personality or group of them...
, interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
, sportswear
Sportswear
Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons....
, casual wear, swim wear, western wear, theme wear, outfit of choice, decade wear, and evening wear, typically wearing makeup as well as elaborate hairstyles. The contestants wear custom fitted and designed outfits to present their routines on stage.
History
Beauty pageants started in 1921 when the owner of an Atlantic City hotel struck upon the idea to help boost tourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
. However, the idea had already circulated through "Most Beautiful Child" contests held in major cities across the country. The Little Miss America pageant began in the 1960s at Palisades Amusement Park
Palisades Amusement Park
Palisades Amusement Park was an amusement park located in Bergen County, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City. It was situated atop the New Jersey Palisades lying partly in Cliffside Park and partly in Fort Lee. The park operated from 1898 until 1971, remaining one of the most...
in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Originally, it was for teenagers from 13 to 17 years old, but by 1964 there were over 35,000 participants, which prompted an age division. The modern child beauty pageant emerged in the late 1960s, held in Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Since then, the industry has grown to include nearly 25,000 pageants. It is an increasingly lucrative business, bringing in about a billion dollars a year.
The murder of JonBenét Ramsey
JonBenét Ramsey
JonBenét Patricia Ramsey was an American child beauty pageant contestant who was murdered in her home in Boulder, Colorado, in 1996. The six-year-old's body was found in the basement of the family home nearly eight hours after she was reported missing. She had been struck on the head and strangled...
in late 1996 turned the public spotlight onto child beauty pageants. Critics began to question the ethics of parents who would present their child in such a way. Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
was noted for criticizing CBS for airing Ramsey’s tapes, calling them “kiddie porn.”
In 2001, HBO aired its Emmy-winning Living Dolls: The Making of a Child Beauty Queen
Living Dolls: The Making of a Child Beauty Queen
Living Dolls: The Making of a Child Beauty Queen is a 2001 HBO documentary on Child beauty pageants. It was directed by Shari Cookson.- Synopsis :...
, which garnered much attention.
Law
Besides the laws that regulate child education, pageants are a relatively ungoverned program. Child contestants are not considered "working", so pageants are exempt from federal child labor laws. Pageants also have different rules, so it becomes hard to set a law that will cover every pageant. New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
and Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
do not have any laws regulating pageants.
Pageant
Contestants spend about two hours or less in actual competition and no longer than 90 seconds on stage for talent or 45 seconds for modeling routines. All pageants have slightly different guidelines, rules, criteria for what they judge on, and events. Events may include sportswear, swimwear, evening wear, talent, interview, writing skills, and modeling. Children are critiqued on “individuality, capability, poise, and confidence.” They compete to win a variety of prizes, such as electronics, toys, scholarships and grants, cash, tiaras, sashes, robes, and trophies. Trophies can be taller than the contestants themselves; in the “Little Miss” pageant, the World level trophies can be 5 to 6 feet tall. Some pageants do their best to make every child feel like a winner. There is a queen for every age division and there are Ultimate Grand Supreme awards, Mini supreme queens for certain blocks of age divisions (0-5, 6-11, 12-16, 17 and up). There are also side awards and overall side awards. Pageants may cater to the "natural" contestant (who typically wears minimal makeup, only her own hair, no false teeth, no spray tan, and unmanicured nails) and/or the "high glitz" contestant (who typically uses any and all of the above listed techniques to enhance her appearances).Cost
Besides travel and lodging expenses, pageants require an entry fee that usually ranges from fifty to several hundred dollars, depending on the type of competition being entered. Makeup and hair is typically done by a professional makeup artist. Spray tans and other accessoriesFashion accessory
Fashion accessories are decorative items that supplement and complement clothes, such as jewelery, gloves, handbags, hats, belts, scarves, wigs, watches, sunglasses, pins, stockings, bow ties, hand fans, leg warmers, leggings, neckties, suspenders, and tights....
as well as clothing and outfits. Dresses can cost anywhere from $200 to $6000, depending on the designer and the amount of adornment on the garment. Some parents hire pageant coaches to teach their child professionally choreographed routines. There have been cases of families going into debt or losing their homes because of overextending family resources to cover the costs that the pageants required. Contestants may sell sponsor tickets and get ads for ad books to help with the cost of competing. Sponsor tickets range in price from $1 to $10 and are entered in raffle drawings for cash prizes. It is estimated that the attire and props as they relate to costs of putting a child through a beauty pageant can range from $300 and upward of $5000 depending on the level of competition.
Reasons
The most cited reason parents give for putting their children into beauty pageants is to boost their child’s self-esteemSelf-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...
, as well as teach poise
Poise
The poise is the unit of dynamic viscosity in the centimetre gram second system of units. It is named after Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille ....
, public speaking
Public speaking
Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
skills, tact
Tact
Tact may refer to:* Tact , a term used by B. F. Skinner for a type of verbal operant* TACT * TACT * TACT Records, a record label* Tact Meyers, a Galaxy Angel character...
, and confidence
Confidence
Confidence is generally described as a state of being certain either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Self-confidence is having confidence in oneself. Arrogance or hubris in this comparison, is having unmerited...
.
Another commonly thought reason is to fulfil the mothers own childhood dreams through the life of her daughters.
Mental health and self image
In a study published in 2005, a small control group of eleven women who had competed in beauty pageants as children were compared to eleven women who had not competed. They were compared in different areas, such as BMI, age and overall body satisfaction. In general, this limited study found that those who competed in beauty pageants as children were more dissatisfied with their bodies, and had greater impulse dysregulation and trust issues than those who did not participate, but showed no significant differences in measures of bulimia, body perception, depression, or self-esteem. The authors acknowledged their small sample size reduced the conclusiveness of their study.Sexualization
Parents can also contribute to the sexualization of theirdaughters in very direct and concrete ways—for example,
by entering their 5-year-old daughter in a beauty pageant
in which she and the other contestants engage in behaviors
and practices that are socially associated with sexiness:
wearing heavy makeup to emphasize full lips, long eyelashes, and flushed cheeks, high heels to emulate adult women,
and revealing “evening gowns.”
See also
- Little Miss SunshineLittle Miss SunshineLittle Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama film. The road movie's plot follows a family's trip to a children's beauty pageant.Little Miss Sunshine was the directorial film debut of the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer...
- Toddlers & TiarasToddlers & TiarasToddlers & Tiaras is an American reality series that debuted on TLC in 2009. The show follows the controversial world of child beauty pageants, looking closely at the pageant contestants and their families as the children prepare for their pageant shows...
- reality television series (TLC, 2009–present) - JonBenét RamseyJonBenét RamseyJonBenét Patricia Ramsey was an American child beauty pageant contestant who was murdered in her home in Boulder, Colorado, in 1996. The six-year-old's body was found in the basement of the family home nearly eight hours after she was reported missing. She had been struck on the head and strangled...
- Modern freak shows