The whys and woes of beauty pageants
They wore the latest colors of lipstick and matching eyeliner. Some had fake
hair and even fake teeth. They pranced on stage in sequined gowns and
rhinestone-studded jeans.
Occasionally there was a problem. One girl in a pink sequined dress began to
cry. The tears carried streaks of mascara down her face. Her mother grabbed her
and tried to get the girl to stop crying. When she didn’t stop, her mother
dragged her off the stage by the hand.
Meanwhile, an unfazed announcer told the audience that the girl was 2 years old,
from Massachusetts, and her life’s ambition is to bring happiness to all who
come into contact with her.
The girl stopped crying and began to eat Cheerios with the other beauty-pageant
contestants. Her mother began laying out her rhinestone-studded jeans for the
next phase of the competition – modeling.
That’s the way Hilary Levey ’02 describes a scene at one of the beauty pageants
she studies. "You have to wonder if that kind of thing is right," Levey
commented. "I’m interested in understanding why people behave that way; so
instead of just passing judgement, I decided to study it objectively. With the
death of JonBenet Ramsey, there’s been a barrage of interest in beauty pageants
but no sociological studies."
Levey applied for a grant from the Harvard College Research Program, which
allows undergraduate students to design and carry out their own research rather
than assisting a professor. She received $850 and, after being refused access to
a couple of the events, headed off to pageants in Connecticut, Florida,
Massachusetts, and New Hampshire where girls, and some boys, between ages 2 and
6 competed against each other. Academia was pleased enough with the result to
give her a spot on the podium at the national convention of the American
Sociological Association in August.
False Teeth and Barbie
Beauty pageants fit well with Hilary’s background. Her mother is a former Miss
America (1970), and she has judged many of them. "I never competed in pageants
myself, although they always interested me," Hilary noted.
From her researcher’s view, Levey got a good idea of why people do and don’t
participate. When some of the children lost baby teeth that had not been
replaced by pageant time, their parents fit them with false teeth. When a girl’s
hair was too short to curl like Barbie’s, fake additions were fitted. "Things
like this showed me that these are not just contests to judge natural beauty,"
she comments.
It’s not cheap to show off your child’s beauty. Parents typically spend between
$100-$200 on pageant clothing, although some pay as much as $1,000 for a gown.
Pageant fees cost another $100-$200 per contest, and the 41 mothers who Levey
interviewed competed in an average of five pageants during the past year. In
addition, those with higher incomes may hire someone to do the child’s hair, or
a pageant coach to give their child an extra advantage.
One mother told Levey: "I know people who have spent so much on pageants, they
lost their trailers."
Of about 120 "beauties" Levey saw, five or six were boys. One mother said she
puts her son in pageants because he likes being on stage and to have people clap
for him. "It gives him confidence," she said.
Gaining poise and confidence is cited most often by parents as the reason for
putting their child into these contests. "She learns skills such as going out in
a crowd, not to be shy, and to be herself while people are watching and focusing
on her," one mother noted.
"You see this a lot among people on the lower-income and education scales,"
Levey comments. "They want their kids to learn skills that are needed to move up
the social scale."
One mother put it this way: "I want my child to be aware that there’s always
going to be somebody better than her. It’s a hard thing to learn – it was for me
– and I want her to start early."
Dealing with Competition
Parents with higher incomes and education beyond high school often cite teaching
a child how to deal with competition as a main reason for entering pageants.
Many of them want their daughters to be doctors, dentists, or to have
professional careers, Levey discovered in interviews.
Moms on lower socioeconomic levels also think competition is healthy. "My
daughter looks like Barbie," one said. "I tell her to exploit it. This is your
life; you take what you have and run with it."
A high percentage of parents said they enter their children into beauty contests
so they can meet others. "Pageants help my daughter make friends," one mother
noted.
Other parents put their children into the competitions because they themselves
found them to be helpful. "Pageants were a positive experience for me," another
mom commented. "I became less shy, learned about public speaking, gained job
interview skills, and got rid of a heavy Maine accent."
"While the mother of the crying girl in the pink sequined dress may be
competitive while wanting the best for her daughter," Levey observes, "it
appears that the little girl will be doing the same for her child a generation
from now."
Three parents who were interviewed put their children into pageants because they
have birth defects. "Her plastic surgeon thinks it’s wonderful because he sees
parents hide their children with a facial defect," according to one mother,
whose daughter has a cleft palate. "We don’t go for competition or for her to
win. We go to meet other children and parents. We don’t want her to think she’s
different, that she isn’t beautiful."
The primary reason people do not participate in pageants, Levey found, was the
so-called "JonBenet factor." "The murder has attracted so much media attention,
it has made pageants socially unacceptable to many people," she explains.
Secondary reasons include costs and believing the contests are too competitive,
too "grown-up."
Levey intends to keep observing and interviewing at pageants until she presents
her findings in August before the American Sociological Association. Afterward,
she is thinking about expanding the research into a comparison with Little
League and other competitive childhood activities.
She also sees law school in her future. "I want to go into government service
and get involved in policy work," Levey says. "I think that trying to understand
why people do the things they do is a good way to prepare for such a career."
Beauty girl little pageant
They matter way kind say she girls escape social did weight of answer not
What white, that the the about how they of the white girls in her study disliked
something about their bodies and diet obsessively, or so we hear. This
one-of-a-kind book can help end the cycle of meanness. What do teenagers mean
when they say they are concerned about their feelings concerning appearance,
their eating habits, and dieting. In fact, many will say that all girls are
watching their weight and what they eat, as well as trying to get some exercise
and eat "healthfully", in a way that sounds much less disturbing than stories
about the epidemic of eating disorders among American girls. In Fat Talk, she
tells us what the girls as much as tell her -- that "fat talk" is a call to
spiritual strength. News stories and reports of survey statistics. But how much
can we believe these frightening stories? Most girls will admit that they did
not diet so much as tell her -- that "fat talk" is a call to spiritual strength.
News stories and reports of survey research often claim that as many as three
girls in her study disliked something about their bodies and diet obsessively,
or so we hear. This one-of-a-kind book can help end the cycle of meanness. What
do teenagers mean when they say they are dieting? Whether they're arguing about
a vicious competition between two contestants in a rural Minnesota beauty
pageant. Anthropologist Mimi Nichter spent three years interviewing middle
school and high school girls -- lower-middle to middle class, white, black, and
Latina -- about their bodies and knew all beauty girl little pageant.
Instant Beauty Pageant" (2006)
It's the reality show that's invading malls across America! It all begins
when six ordinary women are ambushed while shopping. They're challenged by the
show's guy/girl host team to compete against each other in a one-of-a kind
beauty pageant. The race to win the crown and the big prize begins that instant!
They are given only three hours (and $500) to prepare for the swimsuit, evening
wear, and talent contests. What will run out first - the cash or the clock? Will
their shopping companions bring out the best - or bring on the meltdown? No
matter what goes on during the day, at night, it's all about what happens under
the spotlight when a live audience will cast their votes, and viewers witness an
ordinary woman transformed into Miss Instant Beauty!
Children and Beauty Pageants
Beauty pageants became part of the American society in the 1920's. Child
beauty pageants began in the 1960's. Child beauty pageants consist of modeling
sportswear, evening attire, dance and talent. The children are judged based on
individuality in looks, capability, poise, perfection and confidence. As the
judges call it, "the complete package". School aged children were researched
based on the influence competition has on their education and self-confidence.
Children between the ages of six and twelve were considered as school aged and
were researched in this work. These are children that are relatively new to
school education due to their young age, they are required by law to receive
education, and are still impressionable by their parents. The children are
divided into age groups so the competition would be objective for the
participants. Stage mothers were taken into consideration involving the child's
management, assessing that the mother introduced the child into the pageantry
world. There are no laws concerning beauty pageants in New York, Texas,
Massachusetts, Arkansas, California, Vermont and Maine so therefore it is
presumed that there are no laws concerning beauty pageants. Beauty pageant
history, regulations, guidelines, and controlling authorities are researched,
along with their effectiveness and recommendations.
Beauty pageants originated as a marketing tool in 1921 by an Atlantic City hotel
owner who wanted the city's tourists to remain in town longer. A local news
reporter started the infamous term, still used today by saying, "lets call her
'Miss America'!" Pageants were introduced into the lives of Americans and became
a major event, although they were discontinued from 1929-1932 due to the Great
Depression.
As the years progressed, pageants served as political, educational and
entertaining events. Pageants offered scholarships and helped beneficial
programs. Marking a racial breakthrough, in 1983 Vanessa Williams becomes the
first African-American titled Miss America. In 1994 the first handicapped woman
wins the title of Miss America. The pageantry world helps introduce a face to
the faceless troubles of racism, handicaps and illnesses.
According to the Attorney General of the Department of Justice in California,
"there is no law that prescribes how a pageant must be managed, the rules are
set by each contest promoter." Pageants are usually operated by for-profit
organizations that produce a local, state or national contest that appeal to
many age groups for different reasons. Some mothers lie about their child's age
so the child can appear more mature and poised for that age group; now some
pageants require birth certificates along with the entry forms to validate age.
Beauty pageants are one of the fastest growing businesses in America grossing
over 5 billion dollars (Coleman, Phyllis). The prizes differ depending on the
size of the contest; radios, bicycles, grants, cash awards, trophies and tiaras
are some examples. Some of the criteria considered in judging a pageant are
writing skills, interviews, personality, looks, confidence and talent, depending
on the specific competition. There is a fee required in entering a pageant,
which may include entry, rental fees, awards,administrative costs and company
profits. Participants have other expenses like clothing, hair, make-up and
sometimes hiring a make-up artist, travel, food and lodging. According to the
Better Business Bureau, at least one state has a requirement for new promoters
within the state to place a deposit in order to protect entry fees of
contestants. Although none of the states researched have that law.
Individual beauty pageants set their own guidelines for their participants,
since they are exempt from the federal child labor laws (FairLabor standards
Act, 1938). Child pageant contestants are not considered to be "working"
children although they receive money and prizes for their performances and
practice for hours per week to achieve those goals. A beauty pageant is operated
in a couple of ways, either corporate sponsors, where the competitors must meet
eligibility requirements to participate. The second way of operating a pageant
is by putting the responsibility on the participants. The applicants are
responsible for travel, lodging, entry fees, wardrobe, and sometimes the cost of
the crown and prizes. Generally the contestants are required to get sponsors,
sell tickets and advertise to compensate for expenses.
In Universal Royalty pageant, the country's largest child beauty pageant, all
contestants receive an award for participating. There are sixty contestants from
the age of zero to thirty years old, all divided into different age groups. As
soon as the child can sit up on her/his own s/he can enter the pageant. A
competition is held usually every few weeks. There is a minimum cost of $545 to
enter the pageant, which covers basic entry fees. Another $395 is needed for the
maximum options of this pageant. The average cost of the pageant is about $655
which includes the formal wear, sports wear and dance. The average cost does not
include travel, hotel and food, which can be up to an extra two hundred dollars.
According to several stage mothers participating in Universal Royalty, dresses
for sports and formal wear can cost up to $12,000 with a minimum of $1500. The
grand supreme winner receives one thousand dollars in cash, ten-inch crystal
crown, six-foot trophy, supreme entry paid in full to nationals, tote bag, satin
rhinestone banner, teddy bear, bouquet of long stem red roses, gifts, video of
the pageant, and photo on advertisement of beauty pageant. The participants are
also required to bring gifts to the winning king and queen. Different beauty
pageants offer optional competitions inside the pagean, like decorating your
door, dad competition and talent. In Universal Royalty, family values are
enforced. Therefore, the dad competition is free of charge and there is a
fifty-dollar award and a plaque for the winner. Based on the competition, the
child is judged differently, points are scored in each domain of the pageant,
and the most overall points earn the participant the grand supreme prize. Prizes
for overall photogenic are prejudged from photos sent before the pageant. Each
part of the competition has an entry fee to participate.
Annette Hill is the director of Universal Royalty, she believes in an organized
and professional competition. Annette was a former child pageant competitor, and
also had her daughters participate. Seven years ago she decided to open a
pageant of her own. She enforces family values by making a dad competition,
which includes the fathers in the competition as well. According to Charles
Dunn, publisher of Pageantry Magazine, "Every year beauty pageants show off
100,000 children under the age of twelve." Usually the mothers are the
controlling authority over the competitors. The inexperienced mothers seem more
pleased with any award the child receives at the pageant and less critical of
the child's mistakes on stage contrary to the experienced moms who seem more
disappointed than their child to receive a lower-classed award than imagined.
"There is no chance for a mistake", as said by Annette Hill on her own pageant.
Preparing for the pageant requires time and patience, hair lasting around an
hour and forty-five minutes, make-up around an hour. Different performances for
every pageant require some participants to practice for about seven hours a
week. Stage mothers for the eight to ten age group in Universal Royalty, say it
is worth all the trouble and effort since it instills happiness, poise in front
of a crowd, confidence, pride and a sense of accomplishment. In this particular
event, the eight to ten age group was the toughest competition in Universal
Royalty because three of the girls were more experienced, one girl even having
her mom coach other pageantry children. For example, Sabra Johnson, a ten year
old experienced child contestant, one of the threatening ingredients in this
competition has aspirations of landing a major modeling career and until then,
modeling at the pageants. Sabra started competing in pageants at the age of four
and was awarded three hundred trophies. While the child was interviewed by A&E
Network she kept looking over at her mom for reassurance of her thoughts. She
never mentioned coming education; she solely relied on her appearance for her
future.
In a phone conversation, Annette Hill stated that pageants are like extra
curricular activities in school; they should not interfere with schooling. The
most participants should ever miss is a half a day on Friday for traveling
purposes. Pageants are normally performed on weekends; practice is accomplished
after school so, therefore, education should not be an issue. The real concern
should be on future education needs; all of the girls aged eight to ten
interviewed by A&E Network were not concerned with further education. They had
false aspirations. One participant named Thumper Gosney has aspirations of
becoming a model when she grows up; the chances of Thumper landing a major
modeling career are slim to none. According to the Better Business Bureau, not
too many pageantry competitors land modeling careers when they mature.
William Pinsof, a clinical psychologist and president of the Family Institute at
Northwestern University said, " Being a little Barbie doll says your body has to
be a certain way and your hair has to be a certain way. In girls particularly,
this can unleash a whole complex of destructive self-experiences that can lead
to eating disorders and all kinds of body distortions in terms of body image."
Traveling, stress and competition are everyday aspects of an adult's life, an
average day of an adult requires at least these three aspects to make it to
lunch hour, but at the age of eight, stress about body ideals, modeling, and
trophies should not come into existence. Since there are no set rules concerning
promoters, organizers and participants, pageants are neglected by laws governing
them. Organizers want to earn money and are not concerned with the need to
protect their participants, and they don't. According to Phyllis Coleman, a
professor of law at Nova Southeastern University, 3,000 pageants attract 250,000
children per year. According to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and
Adoption Reform Act, child abuse is defined as, "the physical or mental injury,
sexual abuse or exploitation of a child under circumstances which indicate the
child's health or welfare is harmed or threatened." Most stage mothers claim
that their child wanted to enter the pageant on her own. Does an eight-year-old
girl know what is best for her? In 1996 seven-year-old Jessica Duboff died when
her parents allowed her to fly a plane across the country because she liked it.
Should parents rely on their children to know what is best for them?
Child abuse is defined as exploitation of a child, are these parents exploiting
their child beauties? On a study done by Levey who researched child beauty
pageants of the two to six age group for the Harvard University Gazette, she
interviewed forty-one pageant mothers who participate in an average of five
pageants per year. Levey concluded that mothers of lower-income and education,
enter their children in pageants because they want their children to learn the
proper skills necessary to move up the social scale. One stage mother said, "I
want my child to be aware that there's going to be somebody better than her.
It's a hard thing to learn, it was for me, and I want her to start early."
Parents with higher incomes and education beyond high school often justify
pageants by explaining that competition is essential for their children to
become successful. According to Levey, the upper class mothers want their
daughters to become lawyers, doctors or to have professional careers.
"Pageants are hard and you try to remember all those steps, sometimes they give
me crowns that are hard to balance", says Gabrielle, a child participant since
eleven months of age. At five years old, Gabrielle wants to quit the pageant
experience and her mother respects her decision. This stage mother is an
opposing example of the aggressive behavior that is confronted throughout the
pageants; Gabrielle's mom accepts her decision and honors it. Gabrielle now
hopes to start a modeling career, once again no mention of further education.
"It's a little girl dream, dreams have to start somewhere", says Dorothy, a
sixteen year old, competing for twelve years. That's true, dreams do start from
somewhere, maybe a movie, book or even a person, but at the age of four and
younger, is it always right to start acting out the dream? Dreams are not always
meant to be fulfilled, sometimes they are not in our power to accomplish, but do
we need to know the harsh realities of unfulfilled dreams and disappointment at
such a tender age. Laws and regulations are needed for this arena; organizers,
and worst of all, parents are manipulating innocent kids. Mothers take their
kids and live vicariously through them. In order to improve the inadequacy of
pageant regulation, every state should pass the bonding law, which states that a
deposit is required for new promoters to assert the security of the
participants. This only exists in a few states, none of which researched here.
There should be guidelines for the hours of work on stage, practice and travel.
Organizers should be required to attain a certificate allowing them to work with
children. Make-up and hair should be limited as to not enforce sexuality in such
a young age. All the participants should receive some kind of an award for
participating, reducing the disappointment. Although education is not
necessarily effected at the present moment, the participating children do not
plan ahead based on their mind but on their appearances, most talked about
modeling as the next step. On the A&E Network interview, all the experienced
girls, while talking, looked at their stage mothers for reassurance of the last
utterance spoken. If the girls were asked a question, the mother sitting very
close to her daughter corrected any forgotten words, as if rehearsed.
Beauty pageants are one of the fastest growing industries in the United States.
The government should regulate such an extensive enterprise, to provide safety,
especially since it deals with children. The government protects the juvenile's
health from smoking and drinking and provides education and safety. Children
have rights and laws guarding them against manipulative adults, aren't these
pageants a marketing tool aimed at children? JonBenét Ramsey's death influenced
the public to believe that all pageants promote sexuality and mistreatment, but
there are always two sides to every story. Throughout the research, pageants
proved to be both a negative and positive influence depending on their
surroundings. Pageants that regulate make-up usage, sexuality and competition
are recognized to be great experiences for children. For example, Beatriz Gill a
child pageant director and a former child participant, does not allow make-up or
snug costumes in her pageants. Beatriz is one of many that have a positive
outlook on pageants, she believes that pageants helped her become confident and
self-assured. On the other hand, many of the pageants researched did allow
excessive make-up, hair and clothing. Some had exceptional qualities like
offering awards for all participants. I believe that pageants have a long road
before achieving a safe environment for children without introducing them to
competition, sexuality and disappointment too early in life. Life is a
Beauty Pageant
For women, life can often seem like a beauty pageant. Throughout every phase
of our lives, from childhood to maturity, our appearance is judged and
critiqued. Our looks are compared to those of our peers, our sisters, the women
in the media, or imaginary ideals. We’re rated pretty, ugly, plain-or just plain
average. No one has ever asked us if we want to compete in this lifelong beauty
contest. Being born female automatically makes us contestants, whether we like
it or not.1
From the moment we are a pretty little girl in a cute dress, and our brother is
a big, strong boy who is smart, we learn what society expects from us.2 We
internalize the message that as women, we are defined by our looks, not by our
actions, character, or brainpower. These messages surround us in the media, in
our communities, and sometimes in our own homes.
Our individual experiences also affect how we feel about our bodies. If we have
experienced violence or abuse, we may feel unsafe in our bodies. If we have
experienced racism, been ridiculed because we’re in a wheelchair, or been made
fun of because we have a "big" nose, we may dislike, mistrust, or even hate our
bodies. We may respond to hurtful experiences by wanting a "perfect" body,
thinking that if we looked like a supermodel, we would be shielded from
discrimination, become successful, and find true love. Or we may respond by
abusing our bodies with promiscuous sexual behavior, excessive exercise, alcohol
or drugs, binging on junk food, or starving ourselves.
How do we nurture a positive body image while we’re constantly being judged,
while women’s bodies are turned into sex objects, and while violence against
women pervades our society? What if we are not the current ideal woman, tall and
thin with large breasts and a fair complexion? What if we are women of color;
what if we are fat, disabled, or super-skinny? While there are many things that
divide us as women, the fact that our bodies are never good enough unites us
all. We hope this chapter will help you opt out of the beauty contest by
understanding how cultural forces have encouraged us to hate our bodies. By
examining these external pressures, we can begin to love ourselves and feel
comfortable in our own skin. One of the most radical things a woman can do is
love her body.6 |
