260:, the public is concerned that young contestants are being displayed as objects of sexual desire to their audience. Reality shows such as Toddlers & Tiaras reinforce the dominant perception of women's worth being inherently and directly linked to their sexual desirability. The reality shows that document the journey of young children through pageant competitions are centred around the physical transformation of the contestants from a typical childish aesthetic to a mature woman's aesthetic. Through observing and learning from the way their environment praises these physical transformations, child contestants in these pageants come to learn that their gender identity is a performed concept and the more sexual, mature, and feminine this performance is, the more they are succeeding in performing womanhood.
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defend pageants as being similar to other athletic, music, or educational programs. Since young girls like playing dress up and enjoy participating in beauty pageants, they argue, that they are positive events. The
Pageant Director for the Cities of America preliminary pageant system echoes these sentiments and argues that pageants are good for girls—they develop self-confidence by actively trying to be a part of something, they compete with others through a fair process and enjoy meeting others with similar interests. Being able to communicate and network with others is an important skill that children learn at a young age when participating in beauty pageants. Through pageants, they also learn how to communicate with adults.
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taught to these them remain engrained in the way they view themselves long after they retire from pageant competitions and transition into adulthood. Since mothers are usually the parent that is emotionally involved in their child's participation in pageants, there's a lot of information regarding their outlook on the contests. Some of the immense pressure that is put on child beauty pageant contestants are attributed to the overcompensation of pageant moms due to their own insecurities. As a result of these mother's constant pushing, many of these young girls feel as if they let their mothers down by failing to achieve the unattainable standards of beauty and sexuality that is set for them.
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only way to gain success in both their pageant and non-pageant lives. Due to the way these pageants are set up so children are directly competing against other children, they come to understand that it is obligatory for them to perform adult "sexiness" in order to receive positive attention and praise from their own parents.
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and grace." This may be true for some contestants, as the child's attitude typically derives from the parent. When the parents embrace a positive attitude, the children usually follow. In these cases, pageants can teach children how to be gracious winners and good losers. They will learn the aspects
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of rules and fair play. Thus, pageants teach them how to be calm, cool, and collected in front of crowds. Supporters believe participants learn tenacity when they fail and must move on, and they practice arduously trying to achieve something which proves even more valuable when they are successful.
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The psychological problems related to perceptions of the self are long lasting and carry onto adolescence and adulthood due to the hyper fixation on their physical appearance at an early age. The implications regarding the achievement of "perfection" and the perception of body image that have been
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Children are in child beauty pageants solely because of their age. These children are judged along with the same criteria as an adult pageant woman would be judged on. Since the children are aware that their performance is expected to be the portrayal of adult womanhood, it indirectly teaches them
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College of Social Work, states, "sexualization occurs through little girls wearing adult women's clothing in diminutive sizes, the use of makeup which often is applied by makeup consultants, spray tanning the body, the dying of hair and the use of hair extensions, and assuming provocative postures
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There is controversy around the Glitz Child Beauty
Pageants due to contestants dramatically enhancing their appearances and provocative performances. Performances and image alterations like the ones displayed in glitz pageants encourage young contestants to believe that having glitz beauty is the
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The training for child beauty pageant competitors includes long hours and strict daily routines. During training periods, they are often pushed beyond their limits and denied necessary rest. Parents can pay for private coaching, teach their children themselves, or enroll them in pageant schools.
87:. These impacts can negatively affect a contestant's self-esteem and relationship with their own bodies throughout their lives due to hyperfixation on achieving professional adult aesthetics at a young age. In more extreme cases, the impacts of early sexualization in pageants can lead to various
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was broadcast on television across the U.S. of her performing onstage wearing a skimpy outfit with full makeup and hair during a child beauty pageant—viewers felt as if they were watching "child pornography". However, the coverage of her murder investigation became a public spectacle due to the
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Despite widespread criticism of child beauty pageants, contestants' parents continue to argue for the positive impact that they have on their children's personal development. Supporters often cite self-confidence and poise as attributes that they learn during the pageant process, and still more
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Children develop a sense of sexual identity during the ages of adolescence and sexualization makes this task a greater priority during their youth. When parents enter their child into beauty competitions they are encouraging their children to engage in behaviors and practices that are socially
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surrounding scandal regarding her hypersexuality in her pageant performances. The scandal marked one of the first instances of the public questioning the practices that take place in child beauty pageants, as the discourse around her adult and sexualized image played a key role in her trials.
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criticized child beauty pageants because participants and viewers impose adulthood on children while still expecting them to radiate innocence. The appeal of child beauty pageants in this context is the simultaneous existence of adult sexuality and childhood innocence in the contestants.
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In reports of children being sexually abused, research shows that the sexualization of children is a contributing factor to their abuse. Also, if a child is winning constantly in a competition that is based primarily on their looks, they are more likely to develop
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them at a very young age. The child perceives that sexuality is not only encouraged but can be a means to an end. The child pageant industry involves thousands of contestants and $ 5 billion a year in revenue, and television networks air in-demand shows like
288:"'Some critics contend that the child beauty pageant culture fails to acknowledge that "sexualized images of little girls may have dangerous implications in a world where 450,000 American children were reported as victims of sexual abuse in 1993."
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varies from 16 to 18 years of age, yet in child beauty pageants, the children's parents permit them to participate, pay their entry fees, dress them, and train them to perform on stage in front of judges and an audience.
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has been the topic of controversy and debate. Since all contestants for these pageants are minors, there are concerns regarding the potential long-term impacts early sexualization can have on their
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more specifically cites sexuality that is imposed on someone, rather than undertaken by choice, as evidence of sexualization. In the United States, the age of legal adulthood and ability to give
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issues later on in life, such as depression, low self-esteem, and eating disorders. There is also a link to lowered sexual efficacy and contraceptive use later in life.
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that womanhood cannot exist without sexuality. The indirect lessons impact the mindset of young girls in the long term due to its implications regarding
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From some child contestants' perspectives, pageants are fun and a way to make new friends, and they are able to feel good about their friends winning.
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The hyper attention and judgement towards children's physical appearance in child beauty pageants increases their risk of developing various forms of
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law and condemned all these pageants for violating children's equal rights due to their objectification in child beauty pageant competitions.
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as an annual part of the "del Rio Suarez" Festival. Activists say that the competition, though legal, abuses the human rights of minors.
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due to the way contestants are challenged to have more confidence in order to be able to compete successfully in these pageants.
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In preparation for these pageants, children have their appearances altered by costumes, makeup, and other products, which
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1222:"Darling Divas or Damaged Daughters? The Dark Side of Child Beauty Pageants and an Administrative Law Solution"
982:"Darling Divas or Damaged Daughters? The Dark Side of Child Beauty Pageants and an Administrative Law Solution"
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Although these children are working long hours throughout the week for the financial gain of their parents,
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There is a wide scope of criticisms regarding children participating in beauty pageants. A writer for the
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648:"Princess by Proxy: What Child Beauty Pageants Teach Girls About Self-Worth and What We Can Do About It"
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295:. Some of these eating disorders that have long lasting physiological and psychological impacts include
692:"Pageant Princesses and Math Whizzes: Understanding children's activities as a form of children's work"
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more appropriate for adult models". Many view the child's appearance as obscene or inappropriate.
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that states a
Knowledge editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic.
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Giroux, Henry (2000). "Nymphet
Fantasies: Child Beauty Pageants and the Politics of Innocence".
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associated with sexiness. With popularity of similar child beauty pageant television shows like
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1009:"Performing the Ultimate Grand Supreme: Approval, Gender and Identity in Toddlers & Tiaras"
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In France, Senators voted to ban child beauty pageants altogether. The ban took the form of an
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pageant removed the swimsuit competition and replaced it with an athleticwear round.
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469:. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company Inc., Publishers. pp. 1–2.
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934:"APA Task Force Report on the Sexualization of Girls: Empowering Girls". 2007.
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335:"APA Task Force Report on the Sexualization of Girls: Empowering Girls". 2007.
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There are several components to sexualization that set it apart from healthy
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874:"Trial by Media: DNA and Beauty-Pageant Evidence in the Ramsey Murder Case"
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175:, which translates as "Miss Little Thong", is held in Barbosa, Santander,
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901:"Nymphet Fantasies: Child Beauty Pageants and the Politics of Innocence"
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Bartlett, Myke (2008). "Sex Sells: Child
Sexualization and the Media".
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One mother insists that pageants have helped her daughter "gain poise,
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Journal of the
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
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119:. Sexualization occurs when a person's value comes only from their
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do not apply to them and the practice remains mostly unregulated.
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Girls gone skank: the sexualization of girls in
American culture
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127:, to the exclusion of other characteristics. A report by the
491:"Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls"
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personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay
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103:. However, there is also support of children competing in
608:"Wah, Kontes Ratu Bikini Anak-Anak Digelar di Negara Ini"
582:"Child Beauty Pageants: A Scene From the "Other America""
1192:"Child Beauty Pageants: What Are We Teaching Our Girls?"
41:
1098:"Toddlers and Tears: The Sexualization of Young Girls"
742:"Parents defend Putting their kids in beauty pageants"
437:"Parents defend Putting their kids in beauty pageants"
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Consequences of child sexualization in child pageants
1251:"France's Senate votes to ban child beauty pageants"
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1158:. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 39–64.
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606:Raya Desmawanto Nainggolan (14 January 2015).
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505:"United States Age of Consent Laws By State"
231:Criticism of sexualization in child pageants
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64:Learn how and when to remove this message
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819:"Why Beauty Pageants Are Good For Girls"
646:Cartwright, Martina M. (November 2012).
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1007:Hodel, Christina (1 January 2014).
821:. Shine from Yahoo. 3 February 2011
793:"Benefits of Child Beauty Pageants"
412:Grosaru, Lucia (7 September 2009).
1133:American Psychological Association
1096:Morgan, Mandy (18 November 2012).
845:De Witt, Karen (12 January 1997).
540:"Nothing Pretty in Child Pageants"
386:American Psychological Association
129:American Psychological Association
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744:. Today Parenting. Archived from
439:. Today Parenting. Archived from
580:Giroux, Henry A. (11 May 2009).
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847:"Never Too Young to Be Perfect"
245:In 1996, footage of 6-year-old
1055:WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly
879:New York Law School Law Review
542:. kentucky.com. Archived from
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190:Training for beauty pageants
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314:to the already established
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690:Levey, Hilary (May 2009).
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899:Giroux, Henry A. (1998).
203:Support for participation
168:Bikini contests of minors
1049:Zaborskis, Mary (2015).
769:"Pageantry With Purpose"
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182:Beginning in 2016, the
89:psychological disorders
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141:University of Kentucky
44:by rewriting it in an
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1190:Cartwright, Martina.
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257:Toddlers & Tiaras
155:Toddlers & Tiaras
81:child beauty pageants
1131:. Washington, D.C.:
509:www.ageofconsent.net
384:. Washington, D.C.:
1257:. 18 September 2013
871:Kibbey, A. (2000).
799:on 18 December 2017
416:. Psychology Corner
161:Little Miss Perfect
1283:Child sexual abuse
1156:Stealing Innocence
979:Wolfe, L. (2012).
851:The New York Times
266:gender performance
46:encyclopedic style
33:is written like a
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905:Social Text
514:19 February
420:27 February
217:showmanship
149:objectifies
1303:Pedophilia
1277:Categories
1261:5 December
1232:5 December
1051:"Age Drag"
322:References
221:discipline
213:confidence
111:Background
93:depression
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1083:201782196
1075:1934-1520
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716:0907-5682
696:Childhood
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117:sexuality
1255:NBC News
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1125:(2010).
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