Beauty Pageants And Self Esteem

â€Å"Lets Call Her ‘Miss America’!†(Nussbaum). Beginning as early as the 1920s, beauty pageants presented girls and young women wearing various attires and showcasing their talent (Nussbaum). Judges, then and now, are looking for the â€Å"complete package†: the young lady that exudes the most confidence, beauty, and knowledge (Nussbaum). Since then, the child beauty pageant business is one of the most popular in pageantry and has evolved into a â€Å"multi-billion dollar industry† that has led to numerous reality†¦ The Dark Side of Beauty Pageants With their glamour, expensive dresses, jewels and, big fake smiles, beauty pageant contestants are just hiding their true personalities under materialistic things. People may say that beauty pageants aren’t always about looks. The contestants are scored on beauty, personality, evening wear, athletic wear and over all perception of the contestant. Beauty contestant ages range from 2 years old to 60+ years old. The fact that contestants lie about their beliefs†¦ the televised pageants in front of a worldwide audience. Every year when the time of the televised broadcast comes, opposition arises of the great tradition of beauty pageants. Today, pageant girls face people who cringe once they mention they compete in pageants. Shows like Toddlers & Tiaras make it worse for pageant girls, because the show makes pageantry look childish and petty. Most people only see the televised broadcast and are not aware of everything that goes on once the pageant crowns a new†¦ Most Americans are unaware that the first beauty pageant in America originated in 1854, 66 years before women could even vote. Since then, beauty pageants have been extremely detrimental to our society in many ways, although they may seem like nothing but glitter and glam. I believe that beauty pageants are exploitive because they promote the idea that women are just bodies that can be rated on a scale from 1 to 10, which causes society to believe women are nothing more than their appearance, it†¦ The Ugly behind Beauty Pageants Iconic actress and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn once said, â€Å"The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode, but the beauty of a woman is reflected in her soul.† (â€Å"Audrey Hepburn Quotes†). These words remind girls that their self worth should not come from the artificial things, but from the strength and morals inside of each child. Child beauty pageants heavily contradict this idea, by leading girls to believe that physical perfection is just as, or more valuable than†¦ Beauty pageants originated a long time ago, and over the years they have evolved tremendously. Today, the use of spray tans, false eyelashes, fake teeth, layers of makeup, and over-sexed outfits are the norm of child pageants. Just over the course of a few decades, the pageant world has changed from simple church dresses to expensive glitzy outfits. Most little girls would relish at the thought of being treated like a princess, even if just for a few days out of the year; however, some parents take†¦ alone, 2.5 million females compete in Beauty Pageants every year. (Harden, Beauty) A beauty pageant is a competition that is based solely on physical attributes but also contains personality, talent, and question and answer segments. Beauty Pageants are seen by some as a path of boosting one’s self esteem and creating connections for contestants in hopes of advancing their careers, through popularity and promotions. (OccupyTheory) Many also say that through pageants one can learn public speaking, interview†¦ entrants, usually women, are judged as to physical beauty and sometimes personality and talent, with the winners awarded prizes of titles.’ The definition of a beauty contest objectifies women. Pageants only shows the beauty of someone. Sometimes showing talent, which involves singing, dancing, or baton twirling. In pageants, women display ‘girly’ talents to make themselves seem more appealing than their competition . Beauty is not everything, beauty pageants and contests shows little girls that the only†¦ the depiction of beauty in animated Disney princess films and measure the consequences that the portrayal of beauty has on young girl’s individual self-esteem levels. The hypothesis of this study, states that young girls who idolize the beauty standards of Disney princesses will have lower self-esteem levels than young girls who do not idolize Disney princesses standard of beauty. I expected that young girls who have the desire to mimic Disney princesses would have lower self-esteem levels because†¦ televised pageants in front of a worldwide audience. Every year when the time of the televised broadcast comes, opposition arises of the tradition of beauty pageants. Today, pageant girls face people who cringe once they mention they compete in pageants. Shows such as Toddlers & Tiaras worsen the situation for pageant girls; the show makes pageantry appear childish and petty. Most people only witness the televised broadcast and are not aware of everything that goes on once the pageant crowns a new†¦

How the French in the United States View the Americans Essay

How the French in the United States View the Americans - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that considering the different historical economic affiliations of France and United States, citizens from these two countries have different opinions concerning social, economic and political views of each other. France is known to have supported communism ideologies while the United States supported capitalism hence the different perspectives held by the citizens of both countries. To start with, according to the reading, money is described as the ultimate value in America. This is because people who make fortune in America are very respectable compared to those in France. In America, it does not matter how the rich make money, whether, in suspicious or genuine ways, the fact remains that the rich are respectable and are seen as hardworking citizens. On the other hand, the French do not value money greatly. They only require money for their survival and having a lot of money does not earn people respect in France. Secondly, the work cultu re is different in the two countries. According to the reading, the Americans are strict in terms of time management, execution of commands and also limit social associations at workplaces. This is in contrast with the French people who have relaxed rules at their workplace and encourage social relations. Thirdly, the choice of food is different in the two countries. According to the reading, Americans like to have fast foods as opposed to the French who enjoy having quality meals. This is shown by the increased number of fast food restaurants in America.

The Aftermath of World War II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Aftermath of World War II - Essay Example In the words of Cordtz, "Six years of the worst carnage ever inflicted on mankind. That was World War II. Between 35 million and 60 million were killed, and far more wounded. Property damage was literally incalculable" (par. 1). In terms of geopolitics, the aftermath of the war was a bi-polar world in which two Superpowers faced off from opposite sides of the world and of the ideological divide. The Cold War and nuclear arms race that followed the Allied victory constituted an incredibly costly military buildup that ended up diverting economic resources of the major countries of the world that might otherwise have been used for the betterment of humanity through education, economic growth, and cultural enrichment. All of these factors must be accounted for in any audit of the negative effects of World War II. The first and most important consideration in evaluating the consequences of World War II was the human toll, both civilian and military. From the six million victims of the Nazi extermination program to twenty-five hundred American service personnel who were lost at Pearly Harbor to the hundreds of thousands of Japanese whose lives were snuffed out by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it defies understanding to think about the potential each of those lives had to affect the world for the better. There are no words to describe the anguish suffered by so many loved ones who lost their family and friends during the war. Families were permanently shattered, and relationships were severed by the war. The moral cost of the war was also staggering. Not only did the German death camps obviously illustrate a new level of human degeneracy, but killing of civilians in the name of military necessity became and acceptable standard in the conduct of warfare, an unfortunate development that continues to be reflected in combat operations to this day. Richman contends that "area bombing of Germany and Japan set a new standard in the indiscriminate killing of civilians under color of combat" (par. 7). Thus, when evaluating the human cost of the war, it is essential not only to count the number of people whose lives were lost, but also to consider the impact on the moral standards of those who remained. The Economic Toll World War II was simply devastating from an economic perspective. The sheer destruction of entire cities had left little or no infrastructure to support economic stability of nearly every major economic power in Europe, as well as others around the globe. Nevertheless, the destruction left in the wake of the war ended up prompting a reconstruction and recovery effort known as the Marshall Plan that ultimately led to a far stronger global political and economic foundation than would otherwise have been possible. According to Cordtz, "even the losers ultimately emerged from the destruction and humiliation far better off than before. The people of Japan and Germany (most of it at any rate) escaped from totalitarian captivity to erect sturdy democratic political systems. Both countries rebuilt such powerful industrial machines that they can now successfully challenge their military conquerors. And both were able to accomplish all this in large part because of American assistance" (par. 4 ). The Marshall Plan was perhaps the most generous and successful foreign economic aid program in the history of the world. Without it,