Negative Psychological Effects on Participants
As one can easily determine positive psychological outcomes from participating in beauty pageants, one can also see the negative aspects on a child’s wellbeing. Society has their views on beauty pageants but do they know all the facts? Adults need to understand the potential long term effects that can come with these child participants. Growing up within pageants can cause children to believe that one has to be perfect in order to succeed in life. Within this section I will present some common negative effects that are connected to the participation in beauty pageants as a child.
From personal experience with watching the TLC show “Toddlers and Tiaras” one can see how some of the children don’t want to be on the stage, practicing, or even putting on all the glitz and glam that is involved. I can even see that forcing a child into any activity is not healthy for them. The common routines that the participants undergo to get ready for a pageant is one of the biggest reasons for children not enjoying the experience. Most of the pageantees wear fake beauty enhancers. These include ‘flippers’ which are fake teeth, fake eyelashes and nails, heavy pinned in hair pieces, eyebrows plucked or shaven into formation, and most of all spray tans. Katherine Bindley, interviewed and published on the Huffington Post an article on Brooke Breedwell, a former pageant star. Within the article, "Brooke Breedwell, Former Child Pageant Star, Warns Parents Against Pageant Life", Brooke explains that “I absolutely hated the make-up, the hairspray and fake teeth. But most of all I hated being forced to go on the tanning bed and I would cry every time. That was three times a week for 20 minutes at a time" (Bindley Para 5). Another glitz pageant star Daney Meyer, claims “My mom wanted to be a pageant queen and she put me in them [pageants] when I was 9 months old. By the time that I was 8, I had done over 400 pageants. When I was 12 I broke my leg at a pageant and that actually saved me. I used that as an excuse to stop and my mom was really angry with me. I hated doing them. I hated everything that I had to do to look the part. It was painful and I would never do that to my child” (Child Beauty Pageants… Para 5). When hearing the stories within these articles I can feel the hurt that participants can undergo. It is apparent that even though most contestants love what they do, for some of them it is not a choice and it is psychologically and physically damaging.
Further detail of the psychological harm pageants cause children is created from deeper within. Growing up within the pageants can harm a child’s views of body image and self -worth. While fighting for ‘most beautiful’ the participants grow to learn that one can only succeed if beautiful and perfect. William Pinsof, the president of the Family Institute at Northwestern University and a clinical psychologist, warns within the article, "Child Pageants' World A Blur Of Crowns, Gowns : Experience Can Be Healthy, Parents Say", that dressing these children as ‘little barbies’ will cause disorders. Growing up having to have the perfect hair and perfect body distorts their views of natural beauty and a good self-image. When these young children grow out of the pageant scene they have a destructive set of guidelines that they believe are mandatory to follow (Child Pageants’ para 14). A study done by, Anna Wonderlich, a student at the University of Minnesota, Diann Ackard and Judith Henderson, psychologist at a private practice, suggests that there is an increase in adult body dissatisfaction, impulse deregulation, and interpersonal distrust within post beauty pageant contestants. Within the same study, women who had once participated in beauty pageants viewed their body figure as larger than the compared views of non-pageant women of the same body mass index. They also wished their figure would be smaller than those who never competed in a pageant (Wonderlich 291, 296). This study shows the connection between beauty pageants and the psychological consequences it can create in regards to self-image and worth. Furthermore, with the views of imperfection it is more likely for a post beauty pageant child to cause self-harm by having eating and exercise disorders in hopes to reach their distorted view on beauty.
Within the pageant world the stress to be perfect and beautiful clearly can put a lot of toil on the contestants. Having unwanted and unneeded beauty regimens can be abusive to the children. Meyer, Pinsof, and Wonderlich all provided striking stories and information that can explain some of the more dramatic reasons for distorted body images. As these little babies grow up their views of beauty become distorted and can affect them emotionally and physically. Just as pageants can be good for the contestants it can also cause turmoil.
From personal experience with watching the TLC show “Toddlers and Tiaras” one can see how some of the children don’t want to be on the stage, practicing, or even putting on all the glitz and glam that is involved. I can even see that forcing a child into any activity is not healthy for them. The common routines that the participants undergo to get ready for a pageant is one of the biggest reasons for children not enjoying the experience. Most of the pageantees wear fake beauty enhancers. These include ‘flippers’ which are fake teeth, fake eyelashes and nails, heavy pinned in hair pieces, eyebrows plucked or shaven into formation, and most of all spray tans. Katherine Bindley, interviewed and published on the Huffington Post an article on Brooke Breedwell, a former pageant star. Within the article, "Brooke Breedwell, Former Child Pageant Star, Warns Parents Against Pageant Life", Brooke explains that “I absolutely hated the make-up, the hairspray and fake teeth. But most of all I hated being forced to go on the tanning bed and I would cry every time. That was three times a week for 20 minutes at a time" (Bindley Para 5). Another glitz pageant star Daney Meyer, claims “My mom wanted to be a pageant queen and she put me in them [pageants] when I was 9 months old. By the time that I was 8, I had done over 400 pageants. When I was 12 I broke my leg at a pageant and that actually saved me. I used that as an excuse to stop and my mom was really angry with me. I hated doing them. I hated everything that I had to do to look the part. It was painful and I would never do that to my child” (Child Beauty Pageants… Para 5). When hearing the stories within these articles I can feel the hurt that participants can undergo. It is apparent that even though most contestants love what they do, for some of them it is not a choice and it is psychologically and physically damaging.
Further detail of the psychological harm pageants cause children is created from deeper within. Growing up within the pageants can harm a child’s views of body image and self -worth. While fighting for ‘most beautiful’ the participants grow to learn that one can only succeed if beautiful and perfect. William Pinsof, the president of the Family Institute at Northwestern University and a clinical psychologist, warns within the article, "Child Pageants' World A Blur Of Crowns, Gowns : Experience Can Be Healthy, Parents Say", that dressing these children as ‘little barbies’ will cause disorders. Growing up having to have the perfect hair and perfect body distorts their views of natural beauty and a good self-image. When these young children grow out of the pageant scene they have a destructive set of guidelines that they believe are mandatory to follow (Child Pageants’ para 14). A study done by, Anna Wonderlich, a student at the University of Minnesota, Diann Ackard and Judith Henderson, psychologist at a private practice, suggests that there is an increase in adult body dissatisfaction, impulse deregulation, and interpersonal distrust within post beauty pageant contestants. Within the same study, women who had once participated in beauty pageants viewed their body figure as larger than the compared views of non-pageant women of the same body mass index. They also wished their figure would be smaller than those who never competed in a pageant (Wonderlich 291, 296). This study shows the connection between beauty pageants and the psychological consequences it can create in regards to self-image and worth. Furthermore, with the views of imperfection it is more likely for a post beauty pageant child to cause self-harm by having eating and exercise disorders in hopes to reach their distorted view on beauty.
Within the pageant world the stress to be perfect and beautiful clearly can put a lot of toil on the contestants. Having unwanted and unneeded beauty regimens can be abusive to the children. Meyer, Pinsof, and Wonderlich all provided striking stories and information that can explain some of the more dramatic reasons for distorted body images. As these little babies grow up their views of beauty become distorted and can affect them emotionally and physically. Just as pageants can be good for the contestants it can also cause turmoil.