Today I'm reading the headline post on Salon.com entitled Little Darlings
Inside the Elaborate, Disturbing and Downright Riveting World of Child-Beauty Pageants. The piece was not so much of a shock to me--I have seen the movie Little Miss Sunshine which features a pre-teen pageant--but the fact that pre-teen beauty is a $5 billion industry did, as did information about some of the phoniness, including fake teeth called "flippers" that mask baby teeth.
Much of the news coverage about sex education deals with health issues and the act of sexual intercourse; very little is discussed about the topics younger people should learn. But when I read a story like this, I wonder if body image and self-esteem should be two of these topics.
It disturbs me that a seven-year old girl is being told she is more beautiful than other seven year old girls because she was made up to look more like an adult, or a Las Vegas showgirl, to impress adult judges. I admit, I have never been a father, or even a brother, to a seven year old girl, but why are parents prematurely engraving a message that looks are everything? Children do not start school on equal footing academically, so why do parents want to have their daughters on unequal footing socially, too?
I will not try to answer those questions. But I will point out an example of a company that has been trying. Dove, best known for soap and moisturizing creams, among other products, has operated Campaigns for Real Beauty for five years. The current charitable focus of the campaign is a partnership with the Girl Scouts USA to raise the self esteem of girls and young women ages 8 to 17. Some of the tools used to build self esteem are interactive, too.
You have to give a beauty products company credit for taking a global lead on this issue and building true confidence in girls and young women. As I read this Salon story about pre-teen pageants, I hope that others will follow their lead.
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