A beauty pageant is a competition where female entrants sign up to compete against other and are then judged based on physical appearance, talent, and personality. Like everything else, there are always advantages and disadvantages to participating in these types of recreational activities. Due to the increase of interest surrounding pageantry, concerns regarding adolescent pageants have peaked. The main question on everyones mind is this; are beauty pageants truly good for young children? In the end the answer is no. Beauty competitions deal with the superficial characteristics of humans and place the children in uncomfortable and awkward positions causing multiple negative effects. These types of consequences can end up affecting them for life and put strain on the relationship between the parent and child. Adolescents should not be allowed to participate in such competitions unless they have been educated on the subject and participate in a safe and healthy way. .
The biggest issue regarding modern day pageantry is how these competitions are affecting the health and safety of young children. So far there have been multiple psychologists and doctors such as Phil McGraw and Syd Brown, who have come to the conclusion that these pageants are truthfully doing harm to these young participants. They are too young to realize what they are doing and are placed in these competitions by their parents who seem to be unaware of the implications a pageant can have on a young child and their health. .
Our society has no idea what kind of damage is being done to these participants. Although beauty pageants may seem harmless the eye, the effects can be detrimental. In Laura Agadoni's article,"How Do Beauty Pageants Affect A Child's Development," she interviews Psychologist Phil McGraw on this subject. He claims that parents need to sit down and talk to their toddlers about these pageants and ensure that they understand that they are not real.