Mini Miss

Who has never heard of Honey Boo Boo? Child beauty pageant is quite popular in Western countries. However, the senate in France has recently voted a bill to ban beauty pageant for children under 16 years old (Urback, 2013). It is a controversial subject. Some argue that those beauty pageants are sexualizing young girls and some other argue that it is not the role of the government to tell the parents what to do with their children. In my opinion, child beauty pageants should not exist.

First, some beauty pageants make children look like objects or 20 years old heading to the club. Little girls wear makeup, high heels, sexy outfits and have fake tan (Wallace, 2013). I do  not think that it is what a child should be wearing. Childhood is for playing outside in the sand, catching frogs and butterflies. It is maybe idyllic, but it is far more close to what childhood should be. Dressing up little girls like strippers is seriously insane. What worries me is what would become those girls. Their self-esteem will be based on their physical appearance. They will think that it is the most important thing. It will make them weak women with no character. Is it what we want for women in our society? We are supposed to stand up for the gender equality. Be pretty and be quiet is what society told girls not too far ago. Do we want to go back then? Some will say that participants have to talk and say something clever too. Seriously, is it the part that interest people? There are many other ways to develop talking skills that are more relevant.

Second, children are forced to do beauty pageants by their mom. Robyn Urback (2013) states that ‘’little girls parade across stages to win their mothers a vicarious sense of approval’’. If little girls do beauty pageants, it is because their mother wants to. Children want to please their parents. So, if doing beauty contests is what it makes to please their mom, they will happily do it. Wynn Westmoreland, a competitor in the University of Georgia pageant, affirms that ‘’the pageant bodies should get together and create a new rule only allowing girls to enter when they are at an age when they can choose what they want to do for themselves, around 9, 10 or 11’’(Wallace, 2013). Children cannot choose by themselves, even at 9, 10 or 11 years old, because all their live is based on their parents. It is only at the adolescence that children push aside their parents’ opinions and learn how to get their own.  Furthermore, those girls are raise in the minding that physical appearance is all, so it is normal that they think this way too. For those girls who really like beauty pageants, they can participate when they are older.

Third, I think it is the role of the government to forbid child beauty pageants. Robyn Urback declares (2013) that ‘’government should not decide how parents raise their kids, even if some parents seem to make poor choices. It’s a hazard of a free society’’. I do not agree. Even if we are in a free society, it does not mean that everyone can do anything. Children are not furniture. Parents cannot treat them like they want. It is true that government cannot provide a good family for every child, but it can provide bills to protect them. I think that child beauty pageants are harmful for the body image of young girls. In case of harm, the government should act.

To conclude, child beauty pageants should be ban by governments of all Western countries, because beauty contests are not a place for happy and healthy childhood. Our society is deranged. We push little girls to play with dolls and to be pretty and we push little boys to play with cars and to be strong. We are in 2013. Girls can be mechanic and boys can be nurse. We are caught with strong stereotypes that do not seem to vanish with the progress of our society.