...Think back to when you were a little kid. What was most important to you? A trip to the store to pick up the latest baby dolls, teddy bears, Barbie’s, and doll houses? Imagine your childhood dedicated to applying hairspray, lipstick and working on your strut for the runway. Child beauty pageants are becoming more popular and hinders a healthy childhood by exposing a child to pedophiles, encourages that beauty is a judge of one’s character, and could affect one future outcome on life. Beauty pageants were started many years ago but became more prominent in the society in 1921, when a hotel owner started a contest to keep tourists in town past Labor Day. The winner of this contest would be called Miss America. Miss America pageants have been a yearly event ever since then, except during the Great Depression. Then, in 1960, pageants were getting so popular that a Little Miss America was started for parents who wanted their children in beauty pageants (Nussbaum). Our past has played a remarkable role in today’s society of children beauty pageants. Pageant mothers may say that its healthy competition and it encourages socialism at a young age. There are pageant age divisions that start as young as 0-11 months of age. How much competition and socialism does a child this young need to encounter? As we see today these young girls spend hours and hours preparing for their competition. These preparations can include rehearsal, shopping for revealing talent costume, endless make-up and...
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...Why Beauty Pageants are Harmful to Young Girls “Since I was three I was pressured by my mum to be perfect. But living up to her expectations was impossible.” This is a quote from national pageant star, Brooke Breedwell. In 1855, a national contest that circus entrepreneur, businessman, huckster, and all-around exploitation artist P.T. Barnum orchestrated, called the "National Baby Show," attracted 143 child contestants and 61,000 viewers nationwide. This was the first child beauty pageant. But what most people don’t know, is that Barnum attempted to orchestrate a teen pageant, but failed because society found that it was immoral. So why is it okay to but babies in pageants but not teens? Child beauty pageants are harmful to young girls for...
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...At the age of 16 months to 16 years old, it is estimated that 3 million children compete in beauty pageants(“Beauty Pageants Draw Children and Criticism”). Some parents enroll their children into these pageants in order for their children to follow the steps of celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner, who began modeling at a young age and now have a successful career. Parents enroll their children at a young age to get the urge of starting to become famous at a young age to be cast into acting and get movie parts; however, the child may not want to participate and is forced to. Enrolling children into beauty pageants at a young age is not acceptable. Parents should stop the enrollment of their children into beauty pageants due to the...
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...House of the Sleeping Beauties possesses themes of inevitable death, senility versus youth, and nostalgic love. These themes are relevant to Kawabata, who was growing old, experienced heartbreak, and had seen all of his close family die when he was young. Kawabata formulated the plot for House of the Sleeping Beauties by drawing from his personal experience of having withdrawals from sleep medication which caused him to drift between sleep and wakefulness (Haruki 434). Eguchi possesses a multitude of similarities to Kawabata. Emulating Kawabata, Eguchi was elderly, orphaned, and bereft of his lovers. The themes of eroticism and death that permeate the novel, both in its premise and culmination, feign the romantic pursuits of Kawabata’s adulthood and the tragedies of his childhood. Kawabata ends The House of the Sleeping Beauties very abruptly, not providing much resolution to readers, which makes sense if one views the novel as a chronicle of his life. Kawabata’s life had not ended; therefore, there would be no clear ending to the story. Evidently, House of the Sleeping Beauties evidently a manifestation of Kawabata’s internal conflict over age and...
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...been practicing body modification for the sake of beauty. Two common forms of body modifications are corset wearing and foot binding. The corset was an important part of the female wardrobe for several centuries in the Western culture. It helped to sculpt the body, allowing for an outward intimate visualization of the female physique. Middle-class women depended heavily on the use of the corset to aide with keeping the mind and body tamed. Foot binding, was equally important to women of China for centuries. Tiny feet were once seen as a sign of female beauty by the men in China. A woman needed to bind feet so that she was able to find a good husband. Parents were obligated to make sure the process of foot binding...
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...Comes Honey Boo Boo” being watched by millions, children’s beauty pageants are becoming more popular than ever. Today more than 16,000 child pageants are held annually, with an estimated 290,000 contestants (Bowling). Behind the popularity, however, follows the controversy. There are essentially two types of children’s beauty pageants, the “natural” pageants and the “glitz” pageants. In natural pageants, children under a certain age are not allowed to wear make up or fake teeth (flappers), spray tans and big hair are discouraged, and there are specific age appropriate dress guidelines that the contestants must follow. In contrast, at a glitz pageant you will see fake smiles, fake tans, heavy stage make up, and wigs on almost every girl. Advocates of both types of pageants argue that they are a good source of friendly competition and healthy for a child’s self esteem. Critics of child beauty pageants, however, argue that the glitz pageants, more so than the natural pageants, could potentially have damaging effects on the child contestant. One of the most significant reasons parents cite for entering their children into beauty pageants is to boost their child’s self esteem, and to teach poise and confidence. A group of parents interviewed by TODAY contributor Michael Inbar claimed that putting their children on stage builds their confidence and that it doesn’t distort their self-image. Many parents of young beauty queens would tell you that the pageants are healthy for a young...
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...Maria Montessori once said, “Early childhood education is the key to the betterment of society.” The question is though, when is the early childhood education taken too far? When is there a clearly defined line in the sand showing what a child should know in their youth, compared to what they shouldn’t know? Since 2015, the issue of child transition has become a concerning issue in the United States, one of morality and legality. The question is should a child of such a young age be the face of what our worldly mission politically? Are we truly willing to end our child’s innocence for our own gains? In two completely different articles, Steven Crowder, a Conservative talk show host, and Samantha Allen, a Liberal columnist for the Daily Beast, discuss the issue of ‘child transition.’ Until the past decade, childhood was not about deciding what gender you were, but going to the park and hanging out with your friends, laughing and playing with each other until it was time to go. Childhood however, has changed immensely,...
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...change from childhood to adulthood can be perplexing to perceive. In “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, the author provides an example of this transition through the main character, Lizabeth, and her relationship with Miss Lottie’s marigolds. Lizabeth lived in the time of the Great Depression where anything that resembled beauty seemed out of place. To her and the other children in her community, the marigolds were the beauty amidst the ugliness of their poverty. Without truly understanding the significance of their existence, she went and destroyed the flowers. The destruction of the flowers caused her to consider Miss Lottie’s motive for planting the marigolds in the first place, which results her in the loss of naivety and the gain of compassion of her and Miss Lottie’s situation. To begin with, Lizabeth slowly started to mature when she apprehended the consequences of her actions and felt remorseful for them. In a part of the story, Lizabeth initiated the onslaught upon Miss Lottie’s marigolds, and after the assault, she did not “join the merriment” with the other children and felt “ashamed” instead. Unlike them and her very own brother, Joey, she felt responsible for what...
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...lives irresponsibly. Today, child beauty pageants opened kid’s eyes on things they are not supposed to encounter in their early childhood. Kids now act like adults; they have unleashed their innocence and pure minds for the sake of beauty.Child beauty contests resemble young kids, under the age of 18. Contestants are usually divided into groups according to their age. Very young aged kids are usually not interviewed dude to their very little knowledge, so only outer appearance is considered. Kids are shown up on stage in different outfits typically wearing make-up and overage hairstyles.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/child beauty pageant )In 1921, the owner of Atlantic City Hotel struck upon the idea to help boost tourism “Most Beautiful Child”. Business owners adopted these competitions, because it increasingly bought about a billion dollars a year. People loved the idea; they encouraged their kids to attend such contests.(zinzi williams, 12/6/10)The murder of Jon Benet Ramsey, born August 6,1990 turned the public spotlight in the late 1996 into child beauty pageants. JonBenet was murdered in her house, the six years old girl was found in the basement with her hands tied up and strangled after nearly 8 hours from being reported missing. However, this case remains unsolved. Critics began to question the ethics of parents who would present their child in such a way.( kareen nussbaum, http://www.minorcon.org/pageant.html ) Parents may think that beauty pageants are helpful for their...
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...“Nothing Lasts Forever” ENG125: Introduction to Literature Instructor Shawn Mangerino November 25, 2013 Patricia Martinez In all aspects of life we have a beginning and an end. Not many things last forever and if they do they do not usually stay the same. In life things change, and they end. I believe the pieces I have chosen both speak of endings and changes. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” describes a sunrise and the beauty of it and how that beauty fades as the sun continues to rise. In “I Used to Live Here Once” the main character is remembering her childhood home and in the story visits the home and describes the changes. I choose these pieces because they are both about endings and change and use symbolism to describe the changes. These pieces both show the change in a very detailed way even though one is a poem and the other a story. In comparison they may not look the same but when you read the words in both you can imagine what is being seen and feel that you can see it fade, as nothing lasts forever. In the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” I found it is full of symbolism. "Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold, Her early leaf's a flower, But only so an hour, Then leaf subsides to leaf, So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day, Nothing gold can stay.” (as cited in Clugston, 2010) In the poem the first line states “Natures first green is gold” the symbolism I find in this line is green refers to new life or birth, often times you hear...
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...PAGEANTS: LITTLE GIRLS IN BEAUTY PAGEANTS Pageants: Little Girls in Beauty Pageants Terry Williams-Reed Western Governors University “FINAL PAPER” Pageants: Little Girls in Beauty Pageants In today’s society, being beautiful is very important to women and many little girls. Beauty pageants are a major source of entertainment for little girls. Beauty pageants have been around a long time, setting a trend in thee American’s society. Children as young as two months old are being entered into the world of beauty pageants. While the beauty pageant industry continues to grow, the controversy surrounding the effects and harms these pageants can have on the contestants has also grown. Children are entered in to these competitions for a variety of reasons. Maybe some of the potential prizes awarded to the winners tempt many parents to get their children involved in these events. There are many risk factors that may take effect in some children, like developing eating disorders and having mental health problems. This not only takes their innocence away, but also makes them likely to develop several mental and emotional imbalances later in life. The glitter and glitz of the glamorous life with its elegant dresses, elaborate hair-dos, sparkling tiaras, heavy make-up, and the deafening applause is short-lived. These fairy tales fades away into a nightmares that can leave these children with a notion of a world that is not as...
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...present childhood in “Sun and Moon” and “Prelude”? Mansfield presents childhood as a time where everything in the world is fascinating and as a time where one is allowed to be ignorant and innocent, as well as a time during which many things can seem violent or intimidating. One way in which Mansfield presents childhood is as a fairy-tale. For example, in the story “Sun and Moon”, Sun is fascinated by the beauty of the dinner table, when it turns out to be like a mask hiding the ugly truth. He is particularly taken with the ice-house: “Oh! Oh! Oh! It was a little house.” This house resembles the house from Hansel and Gretel, and this fairy-tale is about a pair of innocent children being captured by a witch; slightly sinister. At the end of the story, Sun is taken into the dining room by his parents and the ice-house is all smashed: “broken – broken – half melted away.” This is upsetting for Sun, but what is more upsetting is when his sister, Moon, eats the little nut that is the door handle, because he was so enthralled by it earlier on. What this tells us about the way Mansfield is trying to represent childhood is as a time when everything seems overwhelming, and that parents do not always understand their children, because Sun is sent to his room by his father for being upset about the events. Mansfield also presents childhood as mysterious and exciting. For instance, in “Prelude”, Kezia walks through the garden, looking at the flowers, and is enchanted by their beauty and form:...
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...thoughts." or "...the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility”. He sees poetry as acting like Nature, which touches all living things and inspires and delights them. Therefore, poem is an instrument that draws attention to the hidden, unnoticed beauties of nature. In addition, Wordsworth also emphasizes the relationship between the mind and poetry. The “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” leaves an individual incapable of articulating the beauty of nature, thus these feelings should be “recollected in tranquility” and deep thought. “My heart leaps up when I behold” is one of the best poems that convey Wordsworth’s definition The poem encompasses all of the themes central to Romantic movement such as the importance of the emotion, the important of nature, the transience of joy, and the sanctity of childhood. Nature and its connection to humanity makes an appearance in the vast majority of Wordsworth’s poetry, often holding a poem’s focus, thus the important of nature is introduced in the first two lines: “My heart leaps up when I behold/ A Rainbow in the sky.” (Line 1, 2) He is moved emotionally by the beauty of nature and his experience out of doors as he gazes at the sky, as “the spontaneous overflow of human feeling”. Therefore, the connection between him and the nature will be constant until he becomes an old man, or else he would rather die: “So be it when I shall grow old; / Or let me die.”(Line 5,6) Wordsworth...
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...2011 Hlavaty Argumentative Research Essay Exploitation in Beauty Pageants In 1920, the World War I ended and the women’s movement began to take off, marking the first year of the American beauty pageant formally known as The Miss America Pageant (“Child Beauty Pageants,” 2011). Women from all over the United States were given the opportunity to show their talent, superficial beauty and inner intelligence. Little did our country know that 40 years later, children as young as ten months old would be competing in these beauty pageants; since the tragic death of JonBenet Ramsey in 1996, child beauty pageants have become a topic of debate (“JonBenet Ramsby,” 2011). Ramsey’s death opened a new door to the skepticism of beauty pageants. The media began to see beauty pageants as a threat to children and their safety. Children were exposed to the world at a young age with a made-up face of inappropriate maturity. Destruction of a child’s self-esteem and attentiveness to appearance are major ploys that continue to grow, ploys of outstanding expenses, loss of educational concern and loss of innocence also remain. Strengthening the fact that beauty pageants are harmful to children who compete in them therefore, children under the age of ten should not be allowed to participate in beauty pageants. Children who are aspiring beauty queens tend to be pressured by their parents. According to the article titled, “The child beauty-pageant queens who grew up” (2008), mothers hire make-up artists...
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...Sample Student Research Paper (Spring 2013) All Dolled Up: The Effect of Child Beauty Pageants on Contestants Reality TV shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and Little Miss Perfect expose the growing popularity of child beauty pageants. These shows have turned pageants into an industry that is valued at $5 billion (Cartwright 1105). This newly created pageant industry has changed the child beauty pageant system—contestants are competing at younger ages, they are wearing more makeup, and the focus is shifting away from natural beauty towards glitz and glam. The emergence of a pageant industry has changed the pageant system, but what affect does this industry have on contestants? More importantly, do pageants’ effects on young contestants warrant regulation? As more young girls compete in pageants, answering these questions and determining the effects of child beauty pageants becomes more important. These questions need to be answered so that the well being of pageant participants is ensured. The issue of regulation is of particular importance since parents, pageant companies, and the media all contribute to the growing pageant industry. Some regulation is needed to protect the young participants. Generally this regulation would be the parent’s responsibility, but in this paper I will argue that the industry merits specific regulation. In order to prove that regulation is warranted, I will analyze the negative impacts of the pageant industry using research from psychologists...
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