Should we just let our children be children?
(Before continuing on, please note that I have no personal experience at all with beauty pageants, this blog is simply my own thoughts - and some others)
Child beauty pageants. Are we boosting the confidence of the participating children like some claim or are we just forcing our children to grow up too fast, too soon? Are we teaching participants poise or are we teaching them beauty is everything? (Helene Malmsio, 2013)
Many beauty pageant competitors are started off at a young and vulnerable age, so is it fair to be shoving them into such a world centered around beauty and competition?
So, what is a child beauty pageant? Miranda Barzey (2010) states that: "Essentially a beauty pageant is a contest over physical attractiveness. Some contests have portions of that focus on talent and interview, but a majority of the points come from the beauty and grace of the contestants as well as their outfits. Contestants try to sway the judges by having the brightest smile, cutest clothes, and prettiest hair."
It is debatable that beauty pageants have more pros than cons, (Helene Malmsio, 2013) as child beauty pageants can help a child build on their confidence, they can help them refine some of the skills they possess.
Whose confidence is child beauty pageants helping? surely not the child who came second or third and especially not a child who didn't place at all. What do you tell the runners up? "Sorry you aren't as pretty as that girl." Unlike other competitive sports where are losing team can improve the needed skills, a beauty pageants competitor can only look at their looks as the fault, and in a competition of 20, there is 19 'losers' left to wonder why they weren't beautiful enough to win.
Hi Elsie
ReplyDeleteThis is a good blog. I liked how you used the video to start off with. I think it helps to set in the topic of child beauty pageants. Very interesting topic to look into. I would have never thought about such a topic. Good job with this. I didn't even know there were child beauty pageants.
I don't think there are any mistakes.
But one thing I found confusing was your opinion. I didn't seem to find out what you thought about Child beauty pageants. You do put up a strong argument talking about the young pageants but the blog has to have some ideas about what you feel about the issue. Where do you stand on the values continuum? I hope this helps.
Hi Elsie, I love your topic as I think it is very relevant in today's world. I like the gifs, they add something new rather than just videos or pictures. I like that you acknowledged that you have no personal experience as well as the fact that you say this is your thoughts, and no one elses. Your quotes seem very relevant and help in understanding what a beauty pageant truly is as what is described as purely on physical attractiveness. I agree with above that although these are your thoughts, i cant see a clear choice on what you think of beauty pageants. Other that that, I can't wait to see the final product.
ReplyDeleteThank you guys for the feedback, definitely helped a lot!
ReplyDeleteWould be so screwed without you guys pointing out that my own opinion isn't clear!
I know I already posted some feedback on your latest post, but I had to scroll back here and say something haha. You know how you watch a movie that has a really profound ending, and there is like, a person driving away in their car, crying because something crazy pivotal has just taken place? Well, it is similar to that with the ending to your piece of writing here! NO, I did not cry haha, but I just think that the last sentence was the perrrrrfect way to end. Cool as, girl!
ReplyDeleteHay Elsie,
ReplyDeleteI 100% support you on this issue! I think it's so degrading to little girls, parents should just let them be children! Although it's entertaining to watch little characters like Honeybooboo, you just can't help but think how this is going to affect her when she grows up. Along with many other little girls. I also agree it is indeed another form of child pornography. Watching the videos made me disgusted that parents would make there little girls do such outrageous, over the top things. To me the Mother's are teaching the young girls that beauty is everything, adding to there insecurities they may have currently or late on in life.
Anyways I can go on but I wont, lol. By far my fav blog atm!
Thanks :)
p.s. that gogo juice, shocking!
I'm a little bit confused: is your last paragraph your own thoughts or continuing on from Barzey's statements in the previous paragraph or both?
ReplyDeleteAs for confidence and losing, I think you need to clarify: what about beauty pageants for children would make them more harmful to children's self esteem than losing, say, in a spelling bee or a game of marbles or baseball? Some people would argue that competition is a part of normal, everyday life and that learning to cope with it is part of growing up.
Great topic! I love that you've worked gifs, images, and videos into your posts to make the posts more eye catching and help break the ice. I like the way you present rhetorical questions and get the reader to think a bit, and the way your writing flows makes it very easy to read.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think you need to include more hyperlinks to your sources to fit the blog format a bit better.
I personally think that beauty pageants, for children or for adults, are incredibly misogynistic. Beauty pageants are essentially pitching women against each other in order to be the most attractive - and for who? Beauty pageants exist largely for the entertainment factor that male viewers can get out of seeing a heap of beautiful women in a variety of outfits (some pageants even have swimsuits contests). I think that beauty pageants are socially extremely harmful. Whoever wins the pageant sets a standard of beauty to which all other women are for some reason expected to aspire. This is the beauty standard, and it affects mental health all over the world. Winners of these contests are often stick thin, presenting a skinny ideal and not at all promoting body positivity.
I don't think beauty pageants help women to feel better about themselves - maybe the winner, but no one else. And I don't think that child beauty pageants are right at all. When you expose children to the beauty standard at such a young age you are setting them up to live their lives comparing themselves to others, which will ultimately be harmful to their mental health later in life. Children should be children, not small adults living in the cruel standards set by the patriarchal society.
Hi Elsie. I like your topic as its quite relevant to todays world. The political issue of whether children should be involved in beauty pagents creates quite a debate as its important to let children be children while they are young. I like the photograph at the top, it gives you an idea of what you are reading about! Its great.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you, I hate seeing these children plastered with make up, even having plastic surgery done! its horrific, what (sane) mother would want to do this to their child? I think it really reflects the mother, its almost like they didn't get the chance to do this while growing up that they want to out their child through it. I don't understand it. I agree with Alex when she says beauty pageants don't boost women's self-esteems, it just lowers them. So think of what this is doing to children? Its madness, just let your child run around in the backyard and be young. It really is cruelty!
ReplyDelete