Keyla Martinez

Professor Altman
Eng. 115 M/W 2:00
Nov. 4 2014
Argumentative Proposal
Today in television programs like TLC we see toddlers as young as one year old
competing in beauty pageants. The show that started a lot of controversy was Toddlers in
Tiaras. Little girls would compete for a title which they had to fully prepare for which meant
loads of makeup, fake tanning and hours of rehearsal, everything had to be perfect. So the
question is, what does this do to young girls and is it a healthy hobby. Some, usually parents who
involve their children in this kind of activity, would argue that these pageants instill good
qualities as confidence, poise, and high self-esteem and could bring about great opportunities for
the future. The problem being other, even doctors, argue against this saying that pageants to this
extreme can cause many problems for a girl as she grows older. Much research has been
conducted and found out some of these problems one being the idea of having to be completely
perfect as in their body which then can lead to many other diseases like anorexia and bulimia.
When doing these pageants education is usually less important which influences these younger
girls that being pretty is more important that learning. These pageants may instill good qualities
for a young girl to have but the lasting effects from the what they were taught end up being
problematic as they grow up.