Physical problems and health problems

There has always been controversy as to whether beauty pageants are good for
young girls. Beauty pageants may teach a girl how to be comfortable around
adults, give them chance to win money and teach them the importance of
friendly competition however, there are downsides such as physical and health
damages. Applying makeup is so common to girls who joins beauty pageants.
The makeup industry has been telling women for years how a little foundation and
dash of mascara can liven up your face instantly however, applying makeup can
have several harmful side effects on skin and body. Daily Hunt (2015) showed that
wearing makeup can cause headaches, acne, skin allergies, eye infection,
infertility, premature ageing, hormonal imbalance, cancer and skin discoloration
because of the chemicals like Diazolidinyl urea and DMDM Hydantoin which are
common ingredients of cosmetic products and are used as an antimicrobial
preservative. These chemicals have been known to cause headaches, irritation
of the mucous membranes and cause damage to the eyes. Herno (2015) also
stated that using chemical-based cosmetics regularly can have adverse effects
on your skin and could even lead to permanent damage.

As claimed by Ethiopia (2015), winners of big name pageants have one thing in
common, they are thin. This may result a great pressure to girls to cope up with
the standards. Eating disorder and depression run rampant among girls because
pageants promotes unhealthy ideals. Women strive to be sexy and being thin is a
must which can end up to suffering from eating disorder. The pressure and stress
of constantly being judge for the appearance takes a large physical toll. Flow
Psychology (2014) stated that the average body mass index of a contestant in
today’s time is 14.3. contestants face pressure to do more to control their weight.
Hammond (2017) showed that the pressure includes eating too little food to stay
thin or vomiting food once eaten. These conditions are referred as Anorexia and
Bulimia these conditions can have a seriously debilitating effect on an individual’s
body.
Every year, beauty pageants put idealized representations of femininity on public
display. It motivates women to be the best version of themselves. Moreover, we
all know that those who joins the pageants are beautiful, thin and single. In
connection to the norms, pageants require a respectable background, primarily
with regard to marital status and sexual relations. The pageant has been around
for a long time, so clearly people do not believe that there is anything wrong with
it. Naturally, thin women are more likely to join the pageant, many of them go
overboard on restricting their consumption and spending long hours at the gym.
They are literally starving to achieve the body goals.

Dante (2014) stated that beauty pageants has been a source of controversy since
its inception because it focuses on physical appearances and promotes
unrealistic female attributes. Young girls who compete in beauty pageants may
experience low self-esteem and depression as adults, beauty pageants have
negative effects because they maintain women should be tall, thin, and
conventionally beautiful in order to have successful lives