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Beauty Pageants

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Beauty Pageants
6 percent of beauty pageant girls have suffered from depression. This does not seem like a lot, but 2.5 million girls compete in a beauty pageant. (“Women’s news Columbus dispatch”) People say child beauty pageants make children grow up faster before their time.
Others say that all little girls like to dress up and experiment with make-up. That they are curious and want to learn what it is and why should they use it. (Malmsio Helene) I believe that child beauty pageants do make children grow up faster because they wear too much make-up and how they have to wear short dresses that look more for adults, not children. Also the routines they have to do which sometimes they take it to the extreme. Young girls' beauty pageants are harmful to the girls. For instance their psychological health, how it harms family relations, how it changes their way of childhood, and how they end up having people make a bad view on women. (Maliakal, Lalan) Beauty pageants for children focus mainly on appearance, what they wear, and how pretty or cute they are. Talent competitions happen in some pageants and almost always are just a small part of the competition. It basically is just about appearance, because little girls can not really have a talent so they mostly focus it on their appearance. Pageants are showing young children that it is important to focus on their appearance and be judged by others. This can lead to body-image distortions, and adults who once participated in child beauty pageants experience low self-esteem and poor body image. (Grosaru, Lucia) In 2009, a survey of 3,000 teenage girls showed that more than a quarter would spend their money on their looks rather than their studies, while one in five had considered plastic surgery. (Dhandi, Suki) Child pageants often require dieting. Parents encourage children to quickly lose weight so they can fit into small costumes or show tiny bodies in swimsuit

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