Child Beauty Pageants

Some clarifications: the resolution has been constructed in such a way that pro is to argue for Child beauty pageants while con is to argue against. My position is con and I will be establishing a case against child beauty pageants while simultaneously refuting any case or premise that may opponent may elicit.Child beauty pageants promote more harm than good. They should not be continued. The benefits for continuing child beauty pageants are outweighed by much more harmful potentials. First, I would like to present a case against societal conduct. As civilization progresses in growth and establishment, the need for system of order arises. For large groups to live together in relative peace, some system must be there to keep the group in check as there will always be those who prioritize the consummation of personal pleasures over the good of the societal group as a whole. Still, even with the group safeguarded with societal order (laws and philosophically developed systems of morality and such), there exists facets of danger... hence criminals.A few of the major crimes we've marked within our system of justice and order are murder (nearly all criminal murder receives very high degrees of repercussion and scorn), arson (property destruction & potential murder), theft (property 'destruction'), and rape (most, if not all, societal tenants deem rape a very serious crime).What are beauty pageants? If you thin it's simply a self-confidence machine, you are wrong. If this were purely so, adults would quickly abandon such ventures. So why do adults run beauty pageants. There are two simple explanations: 1. Profit (if you're not getting money, why the hell would you waste months of effort planning something when you could be spending that time earning that which could feed you, house you and help you survive?). Clothing companies can advertise clothes, managers can earn revenue from such companies, and pageant models receive payment. 2. Sexuality - put into simplest form, a beauty pageant is the display of people, usually female, and their bodies; visually prostituting their bodily assets to the group of viewers available. What motivates the viewers' willingness to patronize this field of activity? Reasons pertaining to sex and the admiration of sexuality seems a very likely reason to me.So what happens when children do it? A default argument would claim that child beauty pageants are viewed for the pleasure of watching cute, adorable children in their cute, childish innocence. According to childhelp.org (link below [1]), nearly 6 million children have been reported to suffer child abuse to some degree. 9.2% of these cases of abuses are sexual, that is 552,000 children who are targeted for sexual malignity. I don't know about my opponent, but I found this figure astounding. Over half a million children subjected to unwilling sexual activity.. disgusting. Why would people do this? Why would the corruption of the adult world seep into even that of children? There can only be one reason: the child presented itself as an alluring potential sexual target (otherwise, the abusers wouldn't even bother). What better (or worse, depending on how you look at it) way is there to create an organized presentation to the minor population of corrupt sexual morality than a child beauty pageant. Five hundred and fifty two thousand children. Adult beauty pageants are designed to display sexual assets. It is not safe to assume that viewers of child beauty pageants will remove sexuality from their mentality when swapping 'adult' with 'child'. In fact, the very same viewers of adult beauty pageants with sexual intent may be the ones watching your kid standing in revealing clothes and exorbitant makeup. Here are some supporting excerpts: "When you have them looking older, for a lot of people that means looking sexier. I don't think it's a great idea for girls at that age to be focused so much on their sexuality," Syd Brown, a child and adolescent psychologist practicing in Maryland told ABC News.[16] "If you're telling a 6-year-old to act like a 16-year-old, you're telling her to be seductive and to be sexy." [4]" flirtatious poses or facial expressions, and revealing "evening gowns"[15] is not only preferred but expected if a child is to take home the ultimate prize" [4]And you wonder why there are so many cases of child molestation...stupid...My second contention also runs along the lines of sexuality. By running beauty pageants for children, we are essentially teaching them to be zealous devotees to personal appearance; implying and promoting a priority in flaunting their physical appearances now and in the future. And you wonder why there are so many cases of sexual abuse.. In the US, 1 our of every 3 women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime [2]The United States has the world's highest rape rates of all countries that publish such statistics. The U.S. rape rate is 4 times higher than Germany, 13 times higher than England and 20 times higher than Japan [2]The average Pageant Contestant has 3.3 stalkers [3]Which nation began running beauty pageants? The US! Which nation has run the most beauty pageants? The US! Which nation has child beauty pageants? The US! And you wonder why there are so many cases of rape? Pro, you are hysterical.There are so many more mediums through which a child could gain self confidence (the one and only benefit provided by Mr. Pro, by the way) that there is no reason we should risk running child beauty pageants. Sports, theater even the promotion of simple socialization, providing guidance in this field, are much better alternatives to beauty pageants, whose inherent sexuality is more than jsut a potential ulterior motive, it is the motive.[1] http://www.childhelp.org...[2] http://www.crisisinterventioncenter.org...;[3] http://thecomedypoint.com...;[4] http://en.wikipedia.org...;