It seems as if flawless skin, gorgeous and skinny bodies, stunning dresses along with dazzling crowns and tiaras is like a fairytale coming to life. But are they really what we should idolize? Should we really live our lives trying to fit into the unrealistic beauty standard the society believes in? Girls from all over the world feel unappreciated or not beautiful if they don't have the ideal body or beauty standards which beauty pageants promote. Therefore I believe that beauty pageants should be banned.
Nowadays it is not only adults who are performing in beauty pageants but also children who range from the age of sixteen to even a few months old. Beauty pageants cause little children, especially girls to use artificial means like makeup, fake tans, and expensive clothing to boost their self-esteem. I believe that our society has overlooked the fact that there are child predators, and placing children in beauty pageants only makes them a target for those people. I also believe that parents who are placing their children in these types of competitions are giving their child a false message that appearance can get you anywhere in life. It is extremely wrong to teach children that looks are the most important asset to possess. TLC's well-known show 'toddlers and tiaras' has also been creating a lot of controversies lately with parents giving more priority to hair, skin, and bodies rather than school or studies. The show has been known to show some of the craziest parents who have made their children go on crazy diets just to lose their baby fat and have spent over $4,000 on a single pageant. Having toddlers walking around in risqué costumes, with fake tans, eyelashes, hair extensions, wigs, and even artificial teeth develops a poor self-image of themselves. Also, it causes low self-esteem which can have long term effects. For children, the idea that everything they are doing is being judged can be too much too handle and it causes them to question their true beauty. The show clearly shows what the pageant life has done to kids because at such a young age rather than wishing for books or dolls the young girls scream and yell at their parents saying their makeup isn't good enough or that their clothes aren't expensive enough. I believe that young children should not be exposed to such materialism!
No limitation to beauty
Many people believe that pageants promote healthy competition and boost public speaking and confidence. However, rather than competing overlooks, people should try to develop a skill or talent and compete with that skill/talent. Young people have become extremely conscious about outer beauty, when in fact there should be platforms that celebrate inner beauty. In today’s world, there is so much hype about outer beauty, whereas there are other contests like quiz competitions and talent shows that allow contestants to compete on skill and talent. But no media coverage or hype is created around them, which is much more important because such contests can help create a better world. And is being beautiful an accomplishment? Should people really be satisfied with just being beautiful rather than being smart? Is it any type of talent? Sports teach us about teamwork, determination, agility, keeping an eye on the goal and working towards that goal, how to work the mind, how to cope with loss and many other abilities depending on the game. What does a beauty pageant teach us? How to change ten different outfits in five minutes? How to tone your beauty? How to apply mascara and eyeliner in a way to make your eyes look big? How to apply makeup in a way that all your flaws are covered? Is that really what we want to learn in life? How to look like a plastic doll? It causes a person to be excessively compulsive about his/her beauty, which is not normal. Do we really need a plastic crown and flowers to know that we are beautiful? Is it worth starving yourself and living like a Barbie? Do we need validation from others to know that we're all beautiful? Beauty standards differ from person to person, and we should all know that we're all beautiful in our own special way.
Nowadays women feel pressurized to achieve the standard of beauty presented to them and also to let beauty define them. But what we look like on the outside is not who we are and we should never let that define us. When we watch pageants like Miss World or even Miss Nepal we see that there are round where great questions are asked to the contestants however the answers are not very good and in the end, the winner comes down to whoever has the best face, body, and outfit. One of the examples of this could be seen clearly in the Miss Nepal competition of the previous year where one of the most famous models of Nepal had participated. She clearly lacked confidence and her stage presence and answers were horrible but in the end, she still got third place solely on her looks when there were other girls way more deserving than her. Thing like these proves to women that no matter how smart or talented you are in the end what defines you is your looks. As these standards become more prevalent and persuasive, so do the girls with low self-esteem, eating disorders and depression. From a very young age, we are shown unattainable 'perfect body' ideals, and for many women, the 'perfect body' pictures we see are that of those who are extremely skinny or underweight. Women are expected to maintain their bodies by exercising compulsively, implementing restrictive and nutritionally deficient diets and developing crazy eating habits which lead to life-threatening eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia. Research has shown that plus-size models are known to be healthier than models with a stick like a figure. Also, more than fifty percent of models in America have once in their life has an eating disorder. So we should stop trying to attain all these unattainable standards the society, media, and beauty pageants present to us and focus on what is really important in our lives.
I believe that beauty pageants have more negatives than their positives. Firstly, it promotes the fact that the person who is distinguished and unique is the one who has good physical features. So, it distracts people from focussing on improving their education, culture, skills, career and shows more focus towards looks. Secondly, beauty is a very vague and personal topic. I believe that every woman has her own beauty and you can never compare the beauty of one woman to the other. So comparing different people on the basis of what according to a few judges is true, beauty should not be allowed. Therefore I believe that beauty pageants should be banned.
