Class-Action Lawsuit against University Royal Beauty Pageants - Term Paper Example

? Action Lawsuit against Royal Beauty Pageants and Section # of Action Lawsuit against University Royal Beauty Pageants University Royal, a Texas based company, has been hosting child beauty pageants for years, showcasing children from the age of one to ten, offering various cash prizes and monetary rewards in pageants held throughout the year. These competitions have always been the source of great attention and rarely without controversy, leading one to question whether these competitions are ethical, and whether it is fair on the children who participate in them. Our firm believes that while they may be carried out with the best of motivation, their execution is one that is terribly flawed, and could be greatly detrimental to the well being of these children in the future, accompanied by the severe lack of laws governing the state and regulation of beauty pageants (Nussbaum, 2008) thus feel that legal action must be taken against the child beauty pageant industry. While it may be true that some of those contestants are there of their own accord and are indeed old enough to make that decisions, for example those that compete in the category for eight to ten year old children, it leads one to question what the sense is in having a competition that has contestants under the age of two. Surely they have no desire to be made up and dressed up, put into costumes and props, and taken out before a room full of cheering and shouting people. Babies at that age hardly appreciate getting dressed after a bath, it is unreasonable to expect one to believe that they would appreciate being adorned in ruffles and sequins and enduring extensive hours of make up, when they are at an age where they hardly have developed eyelashes or eyebrows. Furthermore, even if those girls who are in the 'older' category of the competition, eight to ten year old’s, which is still young by any stretch of the imagination, are there of their own accord as many representatives of this industry remark, it leads one to question whether firstly, they are conditioned into wanting that, and secondly, whether it is fair to allow them to do it in any case. When a child has been raised with the idea that they are beautiful and they will not only be appreciated for that beauty, but rewarded for it, as long as they allow someone to sit them on a pedestal and extensively observe them, how is a child expected to work out for themselves that it is wrong to be judged and rewarded on the basis of outward appearance? Those that argue over the fact that there are talent rounds and other judging criteria, what they don't realize is that even dancing and singing is a talent based on showcasing oneself, and ultimately makes the competition one that is based on outward superficial criteria of appearances. When a child learns that how they look is an easy ticket to getting recognition, they do not develop the understanding of how it is what is inside, intellect and compassion that is what should be focused on and developed. Every little girl wants make up and clothes, but it is the job of the parents to teach children that they do not need to rely on make up or glitter to appear beautiful, and that being the center of attention does not necessarily warrant one to be the best, nor should that be the criteria that they judge, or allow themselves to be judged on. In addition to these fundamental problems with the concept of a beauty pageant, our firms finds there to be many contradictions with the statements the child pageant industry puts out. Standards have risen so high in recent years, with the advent of greater stakes and higher levels of competition, that girls are having to rely more on more on fake beauty enhancers, rather than their own natural beauty. Fake spray tans, fake eyelashes, fake hair extension, even fake teeth, and all this on children who are at most nine or ten, and at their youngest, one or two, what sort of a message does that send to these children. Not only does it damage their skin and features for when they will actually be adults, but it inculcates into them a sense of insecurity and the belief that they in their natural skin are not good enough to be judged in a beauty competition, but rather need enhancement. If it is a competition based on the children's own beauty and self esteem, then why do parents need to fake them up so much? If pageant spokespeople say that there is nothing wrong with making a child happy with the way that they look, as all parents no doubt do, then why are the children being told that they need to change the way they look in order to be perceived as beautiful? Authors Anderson, Greene and Doonan (2009) attribute this to be part of our society's inherent obsession with glamourizing superficial appeal, which through these competitions is now being inculcated into these children. Many parents also say that they put their children into these pageants in order to develop in them a sense of confidence and grace (Cromie, 2000 & Prodis, 1997). While this may be fair, and it is indeed true that contestants eventually develop a far greater sense of maturity and poise, my question is not over the motivations behind the competition but rather over the execution of those motivations, and the eventual end result of it. Unfortunately, the leading executor of those motivations is indeed Universal Royalty Beauty Pageants, and indeed they will thus be the lead source of debate and controversy. There is no reason why children should not compete in beauty pageants, but as long as those pageants are kept to a level where they are indeed children pageants and not attempting to imitate their adult counterparts, which for the moment your company seems to be doing. By not only offering, but promoting cash prizes as the greatest motivation for winning these pageants, your company seems to encourage the exchange of beauty for reward. It is understood that parents need money to allow their children to compete in these competitions, but if it is all in the benefit of the children in the end, why are none of the prizes something children can understand benefit from? Your company promotes cash prizes and make the contestants believe that money is why they are in the competition, but children do not need money, their parents do. So why are they not given toys or something a child would be able to appreciate? Perhaps these competitions would be more ethically and morally acceptable if a few amendment were made. For example, your company and the industry you represent claim that among other aims, their primary aim is to promote a child's self esteem. If that is so, perhaps there should be a limit on the fake items a contestant is allowed to make use of. For now, there are no such rules in your competition. In fact your website promotes retouching photos of contestants so that they appear to have more make up and a more polished, plastic look. Furthermore, no category of the competition relies on the thoughts of the contestant, or even the personality of the contestant. Charm should not be confused with personality and while dancing and singing might showcase a child's charm, it it no way showcases a child's personality. Perhaps if the pageants went through some form of regulation, where certain rules are laid out across which the competition may be held, it would be more morally acceptable. For example, if more emphasis was on the talent round, or on interviews the judges could conduct with the contestant the pageants might indeed be beneficial in the sense your company claims they can be, that is to say, they would give the contestant confident and grace, and encourage them to develop their unique talents rather than rely on their beauty to win the competition. Even if the beauty round must be included, it could be done in a way where the contestants are encouraged to rely on costumes perhaps, and not their own natural beauty. The latter should be something no child is judged on, but rather on the contrary should be told is pristine and perfect, as it is, however it may be. Sending a child the message that another child is more beautiful than them, based on something the child has no control over, their natural beauty, could be highly emotionally damaging to them. However if they were judged on costumes perhaps, it would be more of a competition of creativity, and again, it would encourage the child to more actively participate in the competitions and have a sense of control over the outcome of the competition. Our firm has no doubt that your company has the best of interests for these children. However, the child beauty pageant industry has become a business more than a competition, and your company, University Royalty seems to be the prime promoter. Perhaps if the rules and regulations change the competitions could indeed be a healthy activity for these children, but that does not seem to be happening, and thus our firm feels that action must be taken before any further damage that might potentially take place on the personalities and lives of these children. References 1. Anderson, S. Greene, R. & Doonan, S. (2009) High Glitz: The Extravagant World of Child Beauty Pageants: powerHouse Books. 2. Cromie, W. (2006) The Whys and Woes of Beauty Pageants: Harvard Gazette Archives 3. Nussbaum, K. (2008) Children and Beauty Pageants. A Minor Consideration. Retrieved Augst 2nd 2011 from 4. Overington, C. (2011) Ugly truth about beauty pageants Retrieved August 2nd, 2011, from 5. Prodis, J. (1997) Child Pageants' World A blur of Crowns, Gowns: Experience can be Healthy, Parents Say: Associated Press, Daily News, Retrieved August 2nd, 2011 Read More