The Truth Behind Toddlers in 10 Pounds of Makeup and 2000 Dollar Dresses

When thinking of beauty pageants the first thing that comes to my mind is Toddlers and Tiaras. This hilarious reality tv show, showcases little girls and their moms competing in beauty pageants from the age of 4 or even younger. I would watch this show with my friends laughing at how insane the moms were and how crazy it was to see a 5 year old in a 2000 dollar hideous bright pink and sparkly dress. Growing up this show was nothing more than entertainment that made fun of a world I just completely did not understand. Now when I think about this show all I can focus on is how did those little girls with pounds of make up on their faces grow up and who are they now. Are they still doing beauty pageants or did their mothers finally let them decide on a new passion on their own? I see now the horrible values it brought to these children, showing them false beauty standards, that girls are only pretty with a full face of make up, that competition based solely on your looks and one special talent is all that matters. This show no longer seems funny when I think of these little girls as adults now. What did this world of beauty pageants teach them?

John Olivers video on the Miss America beauty pageant showcased the lies behind these kinds of organizations. Miss America promotes the idea that it provides 45 million dollars towards scholarships for women. After lots of digging it turns out this number is a complete mask of the truth. In reality Miss America promotes not even 4 million dollars in scholarships. But what shocked me most was that it was still the largest organization in the country specifically for providing women with scholarships. The idea that a beauty pageant organization is the largest provider of scholarships and still only holds less than 4 million dollars is shocking to me. Not a single other organization that has more to do with women's intellectual power provides more then 4 million dollars for women scholarships. To me this shows one of the fundamental issues with our world today. Women should have more opportunities to acquire scholarships from places that actually showcase and value their intelligence and is not focused on beauty standards that are unnatural and unrealistic.

I was then very interested to read the article about Miss America 2.0. It was somewhat reassuring to learn that beauty pageants like Miss America are starting to change in light of changes in our world like the me too movement. I was impressed and almost happy to see that this movement has caused so much change in our country that it has even gotten one of the oldest beauty pageants to change its old ways. Miss America 2.0 is supposed to be much different, having girls dress in ways that make them feel empowered and strong, removing the bikini section, and changing it from a pageant to specifically a competition. These changes did surprise me and I'll be interested in seeing if these changes are actually upheld or if it is just used again as a mask to cover the truth of the beauty pageant world.

While my view on this industry will still mostly remain the same I was impressed by the way the British woman described her experience with beauty pageants. She depicted them as being much different than they originally were in just the last 10 years. She said she believed they were empowering to her and helped her come out of her shell and find herself in a way she didn't think she would have. She even believes the bikini section of the competition is looked at in a harsh light but for her she finds it an empowering moment of showing everyone this is her. While I might disagree with her views it was interesting to hear about it from her perspective. I do think things are slowly changing for the better in our country and in the world but the change is slow and we are not at a place of equality and viewing women not as objects but as intellectual people. Women should not have to compete for scholarships based on their outside appearance but instead should be competing on an intellectual level. The world of pageants seen through shows like toddlers and tiaras is still something that fundamentally bothers me and while improvements are happening I think more needs to be done to raise women in this country to not see their own value in their looks but instead the content of their ideas and minds.