Is the pursuit for beauty going too far?

Going back to Week 6's topic on Defining Beauty in Post-Modern days, I remember reading a discussion regarding beauty pageants for children aged 3-18. Your first response may be "WHAT?! What does a 3-year-old know about beauty and make up?"

In these beauty pageants, the young girls get fake tans, put on make up, go on extreme diets, dye their hair, etc. In today's entertainment industry, the popularity of beauty pageants and aesthetic makeovers in reality shows has even brought children into the limelight. It is usually the girls' mothers who decide to put them through the competition, send them to singing classes to improve their performing skills, and even put them through diets to maintain a "slim diet".

Such a phenomenon reflects a general societal expectations of girls and their definition of beauty. As a dietician puts it, in many of her experiences with teen girls with eating disorders, they are usually trained from young to think that "thin is beautiful". The popularity of child beauty pageants may just lead to a higher rate of eating disorders among girls.

This pursuit for beauty may have crossed the line. Especially since teenagers today are impressionable, the portrayal of beauty in the media has already impacted a young girl's definition of beauty. By exposing them to a beauty pageant at such a young age, it simply emphasizes the fact further that they have to conform to the society's expectations of girls. This definitely affects the psyche of a young girl, making them obsessed with their physical appearances. This is definitely not what a young 6-year-old girl should be concerned of. Instead, she should enjoy her childhood, and know that it is ultimately the inner beauty that counts.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/food-thought/201108/child-beauty-pageants-what-are-we-teaching-our-girls

If you are interested, here is a documentary on Baby Beauty Queens.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/baby-beauty-queens/