The document discusses the sexualization and exploitation of young girls in child beauty pageants. It provides perspectives from former child beauty queens, psychologists, and footage from documentaries on the negative impacts of pageants including loss of childhood, pressure to grow up too fast, body dissatisfaction, and exposure to sexuality at a young age. The document calls for action to protect childhood and end the sexualization of girls through these pageants.

1. Spray Tan
Hair
extensions
False
Caked on
eyelashes
make-up
Skimpy
costume Klarkparker (2011) Fake teeth

2. CHILD BEAUTY
PAGEANTS
Presented by Lisa Reid
Toddlers in tiaras (2010)

3. OVERVIEW
 Footage on and off the scenes
 Sexualisation
 Body dissatisfaction
 Loss of childhood
 Former beauty queen’s opinion
 CAUSE FOR ACTION Toddlers in tiaras (2010)

4. THE PAGEANT
 Five year olds dressed as real life
Barbie dolls
 Costumes costing thousands of dollars
 Competition focuses on perfection and
beauty
 Girls are encouraged to flirt and
exploit their sexuality on stage Divas In Diapers (2012)

5. ‘The title is child beauty pageant but if you look at
the way the children are dressed and required to
act, it's actually a child sexualisation pageant’
(Cupit, cited in Brown 2011, para. 17)
Hollingworth (2011)

6. SEXUALISATION
 Sexualisation can occur through
inappropriate imposition of sexuality (APA
2010, p. 1).
 Mothers directly contribute to the
sexualisation by entering their daughters to
engage in behaviours associated with
sexiness (APA 2012, p. 15).
Divas In Diapers (2012)

7. SEXUALISATION
 Two year old daughter did choose to be
a pageant queen!
 Disguised as sexual objects
 ‘Exposure to competition, sexuality and
extreme disappointment at a young age
results in destructive effects on maturing
children’ (Lieberman 2012, p. 752)
Divas In Diapers (2012)

8. BODY DISSATISFACTION
 270% increase in the number girls
hospitalized with eating disorders
(Ioannou, 2011).
 Body image is the number one issue
amongst young girls today (Smart, cited in
Overington 2011, para. 12)
 Why put them at risk?
Eden Wood Hairstyle (2012)

9. BODY DISSATISFACTION
 Guaranteed the girls will hate their body
 Study found pageant contestants scored
higher on body dissatisfaction, interpersonal
distrust and greater impulsvie behaviours
(Wonderlich 2005 cited in Tankard Reist)
Eden Wood Hairstyle (2012)

10. Sad little girls forced to undergo this
pain, disappointment and
suffering, when all they want is to be a
normal kid

11. CHILDHOOD
Pictures Of (2012) Pictures Of (2012) Pictures Of (2012)
Childhood is stripped away from
pageant girls

12. LOSS OF CHILDHOOD
 Forced to grow up way too fast with
their lives dominated by competitions
 Put under extreme pressure, endure
criticism, failure and exhaustion
(Lieberman 2010, p. 752)
 Growing up is complicated enough-
fear for their safety and wellbeing Strempler (2011)

13. FORMER CHILD QUEEN
Brooke Breedwell
 ‘At five all I wanted to do was dig for
worms in the dirt
 The pressure on me was immense
 I hated every minute
 I cringe that I was once part of that crazy
world and I resent my mum for pushing me so
hard’ (Breedwell 2012 cited in The Sun). 123People (2012)

14. ‘Don’t EVER let your youngsters be
part of them
I know more than anyone how they
can ruin your life’
(Breedwell 2012 cited in The Sun)

15. Why
Why
Why

16. It is time to
take a stand

17. Help us help
Childhood be
protected and
maintained

18. Together we can
fight to protect
life’s greatest gift
of all

19. BIBLIOGRAPHY
American Psychological Association 2010, Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, APA Task Force on the
Sexualisation of Girls American Psychological Association Washington DC, viewed 12 September 2012
<http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report-full.pdf<.
Atkinson, J 2012, ‘Former pageant beauty's stark warning to parents’, The Sun, 14 September, viewed 14 September
2012, <http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/4537615/Why-mums-shouldnt-enter-kids-into-beauty-
pageants.html#ixzz26SD9PCNB>.
Browne, R 2011, ‘Tiaras before bedtime’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 May, viewed 8 September
2012, <http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/tiaras-before-bedtime-20110430-1e1zi.html#ixzz26Jh2q8WQ>.
Divas in diapers 2010,Pageant girl, In the pageant world, Blogger, viewed 14 September
2012, <divasndiapers.blogspot.com.au>.

20. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Eden Wood Hairstyle 2012, Eden Wood Hairstyles, TheHairStyler.com, viewed 8 September
2012, <http://www.thehairstyler.com>.
Hollingworth, S 2011, Cartoon frogs, Pet hates or pet peeves cartoons, Wordpress, viewed 8 September
2012, <http://cartoonsbysheila.wordpress.com/>.
Ioannou, K 2011, ‘Beauty pageants expose ugly truths, City journal online, 16 September, viewed 10 September
2012, <http://cityjournal.dsc.rmit.edu.au/2011/09/16/beauty-pageants-expose-ugly-truths/>.
Klarkparker 2011, Beauty pageant girl, American-Style Child Beauty Pageant Coming to Letterkenny, Donegal Dollop, viewed
14 September 2012, < http://donegaldollop.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/american-style-child-beauty-pageant-coming-to-
letterkenny/>.
Lieberman, L 2010, ‘Protecting pageant princesses: a call for statutory regulation of child beauty pageants’, Journal of Law and
Policy, vol. 18 no. 2, p739-774, viewed 12 September 2012, EBSCOhost, Academic Search Complete, item: 10740635.

21. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Overington, C 2011, ‘Ugly truth about beauty pageants’, The Australian, 2 August, viewed 10 September
2012, <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/ugly-truth-about-beauty-pageants/story-e6frg6z6-
1226106209926>.
PageantStories 2010, 60 Minutes Australia- Beauty Pageants, online video, viewed 8 September
2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts_xEeB2mAc&feature=related.
PageantStories 2011, Today Tonight story on Universal Royalty Pageant Australia, online video, viewed 8 September 2012, <
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTQ51p6QW1A&feature=endscreen>.
Royalty Free Clipart Picture 2012, Three girls playing jumprope, Pictures Of Medford, viewed 14 September
2012, <http://www.picturesof.net/>.
Royalty Free Clipart Picture 2012, Two little boys climbing a tree, Pictures Of Medford, viewed 14 September
2012, <http://www.picturesof.net/>.

22. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Royalty Free Clipart Picture 2012, Two young girls playing with dolls, Pictures Of Medford, viewed 14 September
2012, <http://www.picturesof.net/>.
Strempler, E 2011, Sad beauty pageant girl, Are child beauty pageants child abuse, EmilyStremlpler.com, viewed September 14
2012, < http://emilystrempler.com>.
Tankard Reist, B 2012, ‘Pageants reeking of blatant exploitation’, Sunday Herald Sun, 15 July, viewed 10 August
2012, <http://melindatankardreist.com/2012/07/pageants-reeking-of-blatant-exploitation/>.
Toddlers & Tiaras, Toddlers & Tiaras returns, Wordpress, viewed 13 September 2012, http://iamnoahjames.com/2010.
123People 2012 Brooke Breedwell, 123People.com, viewed September 14 2012, <http://www.123people.com/>.