The lingering scent of $5 hairspray, Victoria's Secret Perfume, and drug store makeup drafting through the air. The silent yet deafening tension between little girls sitting on either side on the same plastic dressing table. A bell rings, and all our hearts drop to our stomachs, the clitter clattering of little feet tripping over high heels spreads, and the excruciating nerves mixed with excitement dilute the air. It is time to perform. Hit shows like Toddlers and Tiaras bring in 2 million viewers per episode and become one of the most viewed reality tv shows. It is no surprise that more parents are enrolling their children in pageants. Are pageants the key to success? Pageants have clear success opportunities, but this glittery world has a dark side. "Pageants will make my child more confident," some say. However, others believe that "Beauty pageants will corrupt my kid's brain!" These common claims can push against and towards enrolling children to become pageant kings and queens. Beauty pageant popularity grows each year. The United States Holds 5,000 child pageants each year, generating $5 billion in business. Around 250,000 children compete in these pageants, with 100,000 under 12. Even in such a big business, does anyone know the truth?

Supporters of children competing in pageants argue that beauty pageants make one feel good about themselves. I remember the joy of going through the process before a procession. My mom slicked my hair into a ponytail that lifted the whole face and the makeup brush's gentle glide on the skin. Getting dressed in the prettiest outfit in the world, it felt like I was playing a giant dress-up game. Pageants taught me to carry myself with grace and confidence, which are skills I put into practice to date. Pageants helped me with my self-esteem. I owe a lot of my public speaking skills to the times when I stood up on that pageant stage and answered questions the judges threw at me.

Beauty pageants help children feel more accepted in society. Statistics show many kids who participated in pageants as a child had disabilities like down syndrome or autism, and parents entered them in pageants to help them feel in touch with other kids and less of an outcast. Pageants teach kids social mannerisms; According to Hilary Levey, a researcher at Princeton University, pageants teach children essential skills, such as confidence, being comfortable on stage and around strangers, obtaining poise, and finding the best way to portray oneself. Especially for lower-income households, this will help them climb up the social ladder because face it or not, people will judge them on those manners. The pageant world opens kids up to many positive things. Jackie Hart, executive of the Illinois branch of the Sunburst Beauty Pageant, states 'Like other extracurricular activities, child pageants are to be enjoyable learning experiences. When children compete, they develop learning skills such as poise, good sportsmanship, and, in most cases, how to lose gracefully. Overall, the experience boosts their self-esteem.' People believe a pageant is simply An enjoyable experience that promotes beauty and brain, just as any other extracurricular activity like dance or sports. It has its downsides, but it can benefit a kid for life with the skills it instills.

`However, People against Child Beauty pageants believe that Pageants cause little girls to be over-sexualized. Child psychologist Elizabeth Dybell has pointed out that primping for pageants is "not dress-up. It is a sexualized, sensual model of someone trying to get attention."

 Running on stage in outfits at six years old that are traditionally worn by teenagers can create many psychological issues for the child. When constantly trying to act older than their age' as a child, they might not learn what appropriate behavior in settings outside the pageant stage is. A newspaper column by Rebecca Eder notes, "From a developmental standpoint, it is as inappropriate to try to teach a 6-year-old to pose like a 20-year-old model. They tend to lose their childlike innocence way younger than most, and participating in pageants can cause physiologic issues that they will deal with way beyond their pageant days. Pageants put this idea in little girls' heads that they need 'improvements' to their image to compete, such as hair extensions, acrylic nails, and spray tans. This not only physically harms their bodies by doing these procedures at such a young age but causes kids to feel incomplete and ugly without these artificial accessories. This causes girls to have a lousy self-image at a young age. At only five years old, some start to pick at the flaws they possess and become dependent on artificial things way too early. This bad self-image stays with them until adulthood and can be hard to reverse when instilled in their brains early in life.

After researching both sides of the issue, I can say that competing in pageants has helped with my public speaking skills, shyness, and poise. However, I do not think entering your children into beauty pageants is wise. I face severe self-image issues, especially regarding my body. I believe that many of the natural challenges of growing up, like acne and the body changing, hit me extra hard. Causing me to become even more self-conscious than I would have if I did not come from a background where my looks were under scrutiny. The positive attributes gained from being in beauty pageants could be achieved in other activities. Children should not be concerned about the size of their thighs or the bloating of their stomachs. Child beauty pageants are not beneficial for children.

So, with more children getting into pageants, what is their fate of them. The pageant industry does not seem to be slowing down any time soon, and there is little concrete evidence to show how these pageants benefit kids, but at the same time, there are also few facts to show how these pageants harm children too.

Pageants are not going anywhere, and I believe that further pageant research is crucial to ensure the best for these children truly.