Child Abuse

Forcing your daughter to participate in child glitz pageants can be a form of child abuse. Many mothers may force their children to be in these beauty contests because they couldn't do pageants when they were younger. This isn't fair to the children because they are a lot younger and they don't know how to stand up for themselves. Some of these processes that the girls go through so they could be ready for the pageant could be quite painful. Some may not be physically painful, but they require the child to sit still for a long period of time. For example, an 8 year old, Britney Campbell's mother Kerry Campbell, was injecting botox into her own daughter's forehead. Kerry says "Lots of pageant moms do it.” Britney's story was aired on the popular TV show on TLC: Toddlers and Tiaras on May 12th. Thankfully, Britney was taken away from Kerry Campbell from child protective services. Some mothers might force their children because they may have some insecurities of their own. Brooke Breedwell, a former child pageant star states, "Since I was three I was pressured by my mum to be perfect. But living up to her expectations was impossible," (Breedwell). Her mother would make her practice and take her away from her friends. She made her attend pageants everyday. She feels that she missed out on her childhood because she was forced to do pageants and never had time for her friends. Her mother would also get mad at her if she didn't do something small like make eye-contact with the judges. This is a good example of why forcing your daughter can be a form of child abuse. Another disturbing example of a child pageant star was JonBenet Ramsey. She was a 6 year old beauty queen who was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She won the titles of Colorado State All-star kids pageant, Tiny-Miss beauty, Colorado's little miss Christmas, Sunburst National Pageant in Atlanta, Georgia. Her schedules consisted of her summers doing a pageant and photoshoot, photoshoots around September and October, and pageants during November and December. She would also dye her hair a lot for her pageants. Patsy Ramsey, her mother, also hired a professional dance instructor. JonBenet was murdered on December 26, 1996. Her father was interveiwed and he says, "The pageants were Patsy's gig, JonBenet was her alter ego. Patsy had the money, she had the costumes, and she had the kid. She could relive her own pageant thing. You got the picture right there. Patsy didn't have a sense of proportion about how this should fit into her child's life. What I saw on the pageant video - you don't do that to a six-year-old. " Her father didn't agree with JonBenet participating in pageants. He regrets letting JonBenet in pageants. He watches the pageant moms in the TV show Toddlers and Tiaras and has a very interesting veiw point. He says, “'It’s very bizarre,' he says outright. 'And, it certainly– Patsy and JonBenet didn’t approach it that way.  We– they just did it for fun'” (Ramsey). JonBenet would be 21 years old today. 

There should be a change of rules for beauty pageants. They should let beauty contests for children be more natural. Allowing girls to be wearing such glamorous outfits and expecting little girls to tan, have bling, expensive outfits can affect how a child can grow up. Parents don't realize that giving their daughter access to these things could actually make their egos rise to unhealthy levels. It causes mothers to force their child into spray tanning, wearing wigs, putting on make up, and singing and dancing. They could also force their child into wearing outfits that make them uncomfortable. If there was a change of rules to make pageants be more natural for little girls, they wouldn't be forced into doing so much for these beauty contests. Usually the purpose for these beauty pageants is to win money or to win a title. This could affect the children into growing up as very materialistic. 

Forcing little girls that can't stand up against their mothers into doing beauty pageants is very wrong. Children deserve to have a childhood, and act like kids. They shouldn't be forced to do beauty pageants if they don't want to. Being in a beauty pageants takes up a lot of time for both the mother and the child. The child can only do it if she has a passion and really wants to. If they don't it just makes the child miserable. They should be allowed to do what they love. Some people may say that abuse is too strong of a word to say for talking about just pageants. The definition of child abuse is "mistreatment or sexual molestation of a child." Mistreatment fits into children being forced to be in pageants because they are mistreating their children by not listening to their wants and forcing them to do unnecessary things just to please parents.    Forcing your daughter into participating for beauty pageants is a form of child abuse.



"Child Beauty Pageants: A Form of Child Abuse?" Examiner.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.

"An Inside Look At the Creepiest $5 Billion Industry in America." Mic. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.

Bindley, Katherine. "Brooke Breedwell, Former Child Pageant Star, Warns Parents Against Pageant Life." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Sept. 2012. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.