Girls who participate in child beauty pageants are more often harmed by the experience than helped. Many suffer from low self esteem and/or eating disorders because they simply do not know their own value. If one has been participating in beauty pageants since she was a toddler, her parents basically have been telling her for years that she was never good enough. She wasn't pretty enough without makeup, so they caked it on. She wasn't popular or well liked enough, so they made her into a stage act. You can only imagine what this does to the mind. Just think about the culture between the competitors, little girls are judging each other based on their appearances, based on a skewed and unhealthy standard of beauty. Photographer Zed Nelson said, "When everybody around you has had their breasts enlarged, their teeth whitened and their skin peeled, then you become the odd one out, you become the freak". These girls very quickly learn what it takes to win, be noticed and be appreciated in our society.
Later, the participants are displayed to the world, and American females quickly learn what will get them noticed, that is whatever the girls on TV are wearing/doing. It is not surprising that these values that are being instilled in girls are for economical purposes, and in this case, they are fueling the beauty industry. By telling girls that they aren't pretty enough or skinny enough, the beauty industry can make thousands of products that will "fix" their problems. Women who are unsatisfied with their bodies make excellent target costumers. We all want that "luscious beach hair", the "silky smooth legs", the "voluminous mascara" or the "seductive perfume".
It is sad that the American beauty industry is set up in a way that takes advantage of women's flaws in order to make money. In my mind, the harm that is being done psychologically outweighs the potential good that could come from beauty pageants.
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