Children's Beauty Pageants

In my women’s studies class we have been talking about children’s beauty pageants and how they affect a child’s self esteem. Most parents who choose to put their children in these ridiculous pageants where the child doesn’t look like a kid but looks like a 20 year old woman think that their children are getting a self esteem boost through this. It makes no sense to me that parents would think that making a 10 year old girl wear makeup and veneers so that you can’t see what the child really looks like behind all of that would make them have a better sense of what makes them beautiful. Even if the parents don’t see that as a problem for their girls what about the fact that there is only one winner and x amount of losers? Wouldn’t that alone crush a child’s self esteem, having a random panel of people tell them that they are not pretty enough? I think that children’s beauty pageants do more harm than they do good. Most girls walk away from it feeling like they are not beautiful enough and therefore will be losers in life. I feel like this is something that children shouldn’t be put through I understand that there is a possibility that the kids could make some money but I think that the psychological trauma that they are exposed to isn’t worth it. There are other ways of getting money that will contribute to a little girl having low self esteem.