Banning beauty contests

61% of the world agrees with me in the fact of we could ban beauty contests. Let's see what they have to say."Must be banned Beauty contests must be banned because it lowers girls and woman's self-esteem and confidence when they don't win. It also makes women and girls believe that beauty is the most important thing ever when really your personality is what is most important!!!So that is why beauty contests without a doubt must be banned!""Beauty contests should be banned Beauty contests warp the minds of children, teens and adults alike that there is a certain criteria like being 'thin' and having, pardon my French, 'big boobs'. Boys and men panting after them at the beck and call is now a sign that they are 'beautiful and desirable'.We see women, especially those of Asian origin undergoing several forms of plastic surgery to achieve the stature of their Western counterparts: like the removal of their calf muscles for slimmer thighs; usage of dyes, bleaches, hot irons that cause hair loss for their hair; inorganic make up, especially eye-makeup which is primarily composed of carbon. At least women of today no longer use lead-based powder to improve their complexion the way the Ancient Greeks did, at least, not any that I know of .""Beauty should never be the main thing we judge a woman by. Beauty is a nice extra if you have it but if you don't it shouldn't invalidate your intellect, your personality, or your achievements.Pageants/contests like this only focus on the looks of a girl/woman, basically telling them and others that their main if not only worth is in their appearance and that they should seek validation based on this from other people, rather than doing so to please themselves first.""Judging anybody by appearance alone is terrible These pageants teach girls that their main if not only worth is in their appearance, and that any effort they put into their appearance is first and foremost for the purpose of others happiness and that they should seek validation from others based upon this. Beauty is nice but it isn't a patch on and can never replace nor stand substitute for intellect and personality. The intellect and personality should be what we judge girls and women on. The beauty of these girls and women is a side issue, a nice extra if they have it, but if they don't it shouldn't invalidate any of their other great qualities or achievements. And so beauty should never be the main focal point in a competition of any kind." The world of beauty queens and pageants was in the hot seat last week, and not just because of the racist online comments hurled at Nina Davuluri after she became the first woman of Indian descent to be named Miss America. In France, legislators moved to ban child beauty pageants on the grounds that they promote the "hyper-sexualization" of minors. A measure even proposes jail time and a fine for violators " including parents and organizers " who sponsor or encourage "access to these competitions" for anyone under age 16, the Associated Press reported. The French Senate approved the bill, but it must be passed by a lower house of parliament before becoming law. According to The Guardian, the attention to the "Mini-Miss" beauty pageants was prompted by debates over a 2010 photo spread in French Vogue featuring a 10-year-old girl in heavy makeup, high-heeled shoes and tight clothes and pouting provocatively. Such a ban wouldn't fly in the USA, says sociologist Hilary Levey Friedman, a research associate at the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and author of the new book Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture. "Historically and legally, our system defers to parents to make the right decision for their child," she says. "We see the family as more of a private entity." Karen Kataline, a mental health professional near Denver who participated in child pageants in the 1960s, says she understands the motivation to ban the competitions, but doesn't think that's the answer. The problem "is not just the pageants, it's the parents" who support and encourage the sexualization of their children, says Kataline, author of the memoir FATLASH! Food Police & the Fear of Thin " A Cautionary Tale. "I'm not against children singing and dancing on stage, but you want them to sing and dance and perform in age-appropriate ways," she says. "Today, we've pushed the envelope to ridiculous degrees." The proposed penalties of up to two years in prison and $40,000 in fines "seem a bit extreme" but the concerns are certainly legitimate, says Martina Cartwright, an adjunct faculty member at the University of Arizona. Her research on child pageants was published last year in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. A task force of the American Psychological Association noted that "girls who are sexualized early will tend to gather their self-worth as an adult based on their appearance," says Cartwright. And there's also the issue of certain adults who "make the assumption that the girls have the ability to make adult decisions just based on the way they look rather than their actual age." She doubts, however, that a ban will adequately address the issue of girls and women "being judged solely on appearance, and the idea that self-worth is only based on how they look." As seen on the hit TLC reality show Toddlers & Tiaras, and its spin-off, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, child beauty pageants put a premium on appearance. And in the case of so-called "high-glitz" pageants it's an appearance that requires girls to dress up and perform like pint-size adults, complete with fake hair, spray tans, full makeup, ornate costumes and even artificial teeth (known as flippers). Glitz pageants are a multibillion-dollar business now, having exploded since Toddlers & Tiaras came on in 2009, says Cartwright, a registered dietitian who started researching pageants as a result of her work with young performers and athletes. The average total cost of participating in a single competition, according to Cartwright's research: $3,000 to $5,000. Read more @ http://www.usatoday.com...