The pros and cons of beauty pageants
			Nikki Bernard and Ashleigh McKinstry Guest Writers
			Beauty pageants have long been a facet of our country’s culture. Since the first modern American beauty pageant in the 1850s, the debate over whether or not beauty pageants are good or bad has only become more heated. A childhood friend of mine once told me the story of how she entered a beauty contest at age four. After the pageant, a mother of one of the other contestants spanked her daughter because she did not win the contest. After that day, my friend’s father forbade her to enter another pageant. However, in her teenage years, she finally convinced her father to let her enter a pageant, and she won. Her pageant career soon opened many doors and won her several thousand dollars in scholarship money, which allowed her to pursue her collegiate career. So, although there can be a downside to pageants, there are many positive aspects, as well. The first pageants emerged as publicity efforts to promote tourism in cities like Atlantic City in hopes of attracting visitors after the summer months had ended. Today, beauty pageants are now referred to as scholarship pageants, and for good reason. One of the most prominent and well-known pageant organizations, Miss America, is responsible for providing more than $45 million is scholarship money, which is available to over 12,000 women that compete in the state, local and national pageants. For women who have few options for advancing their education, pageants can be a positive way to further their careers and also a way to stand up for any issues they wish to bring to the forefront. Pageants usually require contestants to have a platform, which is basically a critical issue, such as cancer awareness or the benefits of mentoring, that she wishes to promote and inform others about. Community service is also a major aspect of today’s pageants. Scholarships are awarded specifically to those women who show an exemplary effort in volunteering. Pageants not only consist of women parading a stage in a swimsuit, they focus on in-depth interviews with each contestant. The benefits of being able to think on your feet during an interview extend past the pageant forum and into many real life situations. Almost everyone must go through some sort of interview process to apply for a job. Those women who have been through the extensive interviews conducted in many pageants just might have an advantage over the average applicant for a position. There is also something to be said for the positive self-esteem that comes from being able to walk on a stage in front of hundreds of people in a swimsuit and evening gown. If entering a pageant can lead to a gain in confidence, then it’s a positive thing. Of course pageants are good for the money and the confidence boost that comes with winning. But what about when winning becomes everything? Watching these tall, uber-skinny women can cause negative effects on young girls and women. As a little girl most of us want to be just like Miss “Perfect"- tall, skinny, and paid for being gorgeous. But, what if you aren’t? What can happen? The thoughts of wanting to be just like a beauty queen can lead to eating disorders, extreme measures to become “perfect,” and an unhealthy idea of competition. The need to be a certain weight for a pageant can lead to eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia. Fad diets and strange eating habits can also be used to lose weight or maintain a minimal weight. Such diets can have long term medical problems such as a lower metabolism to conserve energy, muscle and organ tissue loss, and even bone loss. I am not saying that all pageant contestants have eating disorders, but some girls aren’t naturally skinny yet would go to the edges to compete. Some might even go to extreme measures like having breast implants or other plastic surgeries to fit the part of beauty. Those who have surgery may not be thinking of the side effects that can occur. Not getting the results you wanted, infection, and the possible need for more surgeries are just some of the bad things about plastic surgery. Plastic surgery is definitely going to the limits to win a pageant. Simply being in a pageant can lead to unhealthy competition. Some will go to any length just to win. It is never healthy for a person to want to win so badly they sabotage another competitor. We have all seen the movies where girls try to drop lights on their main competition or hear stories of shoes getting misplaced at the very last moment. Is this what we want to teach our young children-- that winning is everything? I am not saying that everyone who enters pageants will have a negative change but some might. Perhaps everyone considering becoming the next Miss Perfect should determine if they are in pageants for a healthy reason or not. And those who enter their young girls in pageants should definitely be aware of what lessons they might be teaching.