Depending on the type of pageant system (glitz or natural), contestants may be found wearing anything from makeup to fake teeth, known as flippers, as well as elaborate hairstyles and custom-designed fitted outfits to present their routines on stage.
Beauty pageants started in 1921 when the owner of an Atlantic City hotel struck upon the idea to help boost tourism.
It is an increasingly lucrative business, bringing in about twenty billion dollars a year to the Americas with its popularity spreading worldwide.
[4] It has grown from the senior beauty pageants, previously originating from South America, in particular in Venezuela, to become an event held throughout the world for young boys and girls, with an emphasis on competitions being popularized by mainstream media in the United States, to much criticism.
In 2001, American Network HBO aired its Emmy-winning Living Dolls: The Making of a Child Beauty Queen, which garnered much attention.
"[8] They compete to win a variety of prizes, such as electronics, toys, scholarships and grants, cash, tiaras, sashes, robes, and trophies.
[10] Unlike the live or on-stage counterparts, contestants in an online pageant submit an application and photographs or videos for judging.
[12] Natural pageants do not generally require a professional makeup artist or hair dresser although some girls choose to use them in the older age divisions.
By holding very young girls to a "beauty" standard involving things such as makeup and spray tans, pageants are seen as reinforcing a very superficial, modern type of femininity.
One sociologist, Shelby Colene Pannell, questions why parents would willingly subject their children to gender socialization in such an extreme form.
[1] Families on TLC's television series Toddlers & Tiaras are subject to intense criticism for negatively influencing their children that their physical appearance will score them attention and prizes.
[3] Certain pageants encourage contestants to emulate grown women, applying heavy makeup to create full lips, long eyelashes, and flushed cheeks, wearing high heels and revealing "evening gowns", and doing provocative dance steps, poses or facial expressions.
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 youth psychologist practicing in Maryland told ABC News.
Hillary Levy, an undergraduate researcher at Harvard University, found that many parents felt that their children, even males, were able to gain poise and confidence in front of a group.
"[This quote needs a citation] She believes that gaining this self-confidence at a young age will benefit her child in the long run by helping her open up to people more easily and rid her of her shyness.