Beauty pageants are opportunities to gain recognition, win scholarships, show off beauty and even win numerous awards, but do we really know what goes on behind the scenes of contestants? 

Beauty pageants can be exploitative. They can cause emotional, physical and mental harm. According to Lindsay Lieberman, an author who focuses on impact of beauty pageants, “Family therapists report that pageants interfere with healthy child development.” 

Not only can beauty pageants harm children, but adults as well. “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” which aired on TLC, is a prime example of how beauty pageants are exploitative. This show has gained many criticisms. It has been called offensive, outrageous, horrifying and exploitative by many critics around the world. The little girl on the show is seen being not childlike while participating in these beauty pageants.

One thing star Alana Thompson’s mother gave her was “Go Go Juice,” which is a mixture of Red Bull and Mountain Dew. Her mother’s explanation was it gets her ready for the pageants.  This is degrading and downright wrong, and can physically harm this child in the long run. 

Lieberman says, “As a result, little girls who participate are prone to persistent lifetime challenges, including body shame, perfectionism, depression and eating disorders.” 

Children who participate in pageants are more likely to hate their body, be unhappy and develop disorders. 

As I look throughout articles, this is happening all over the world. In countries such as India and Asia, beauty pageants are held to display girls and their “beauty.” Women are treated as if they are trophies, and are being “showed off.” 

As the Miss Southeastern competition approached, I was glad to see the contestants’ beautiful faces, and I think Miss Southeastern is a great event put on by the university. Miss Southeastern allows for the winner to represent the university at her finest. Even the first, second and third runner up get a semester’s worth of tuition paid, and I know it is a fun event to participate in. As I sat in The Mane Dish one day, I saw contestants walk around asking for donations to raise money for a great cause. 

And yes, these contestants have beautiful and wonderful personalities, but statistics do not lie. Indeed, beauty pageants have positive sides such as giving young women better public skills, listening skills, self-reliance, individuality, poise and talent. There are positive outlooks from the media dealing with beauty pageants such as “Kim of Queens” aired on TLC where young women are taught how to be ladies and the good qualities of beauty pageants. 

As I weigh the good and the bad, the bad outweighs the good. 

Certainly, someone will disagree and have a million explanations as to why beauty pageants aren’t exploitative, but as I research and look at the media, beauty at its “finest” can damage someone’s life and corrupt their mind.