child beauty pageant (Research Paper Sample)

We'll print newspapers everyday With pictures of seductive girls. The world will judge our progress by The girls that win beauty contests. (Wole Soyinka, The Lion and the Jewel, cited in Latham, 2004) Problem and Objectives This study aims to critically examine the child beauty pageant, Little Miss Philippines in terms of ideological and commercial structures existing within it. The analysis shall look beyond the superficial rituals of dressing up, posing, smiling and other acts the contestants project on different portions of the program. Specifically, the study would like to answer the following questions: * What are the images portrayed by Little Miss Philippines contestants? * What do the images of young contestants suggest about the child beauty pageantry and the broader society? Methodology Selected videos are examined for the purpose of this study. Such videos are available online, most of them coming from the internet site, Youtube. Printscreened photos of the videos are taken to effectively explain each point being raised in the study. The videos, however, belong to their owners who reserve all the rights for such works. Popular literatures that proved relevant to the study are also gathered. In particular, the poem Litel Mis Pilipings of writer Jim Pascual Agustin which effectively examined the existing structures at play behind the beauty pageant was primarily refferred to. Review of Related Literature Malik (2011) says that The Miss World event, involving women from 113 countries, is still watched by an estimated 1 billion people around the world. Ted Cohen, president of World Pageants Inc., which publishes an international directory of pageants, estimates that the pageantry industry represents a billion-dollar-a-year industry, with sponsors such as Proctor and Gamble, Black Velvet, and Hawaiian Tropics (Giroux, 1998). In the Philippines, five international adult women beauty pageant successes were recorded in 2012 alone ("Pinoys in pageants: 8 successes in 2012," 2012). Similar to adult beauty pageants, contestants in child beauty pageants—young girls—are judged primarily on appearance. The Little Miss Philippines Pageant was established in 1984 for contestants age 7 years and below. It is a segment in Eat Bulaga!, the longest-running noon-time variety show produced by the Television And Production Exponents Inc. (TAPE). Among its original hosts (as well as the segment Little Miss Philippines) are Tito and Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon (eatbulaga.tv, 2013). The variety show's title is a play on two children's games: Eat is the transliteration of It! from the game Tag while Bulaga refers to Peek-a-boo! Because of this, the slogan "Hangga't May Bata, May Eat Bulaga!" ("While There Are Children, There will be Eat Bulaga!") was formulated (eatbulaga.tv, 2013). There is a talent and a question and answer portion to determine the daily Little Miss Philippines winner. The daily winners qualify for the weekly finals, and so on up to the Grand Coronation Day (eatbulaga.tv, 2013). A number of documentaries has exposed the viewers to the elaborate world of child beauty contests. The controversial American reality show Toddlers & Tiaras has documented young contestants who endure a lot in the name of "beauty": eyebrow waxes, wigs, heavy makeup, manicures, and partial dentures called "flippers" that fill in gaps left by missing front teeth (O'neill, 2011). From the intricacy of preparations to the actual pageant, the show follows families on their quest for sparkly crowns, big titles, and lots of cash (howstuffworks.com/tv/toddlers-tiaras). Controversies documented in Toddlers and Tiaras have send a number of parents on courts. FoxNews.com reported that a court-appointed psychologist who handled a case against a contestant's mother had said the following: Children adorned with pageantry identities are not ‘playing' or ‘pretending.' Instead, they are trained to closely resemble their adult counterparts. Their makeup transforms five or six year old faces to that of women in their twenties or thirties and is not something for playtime. (Murphy, 2012) Theorist Henry A. Giroux argued in his Nymphet Fantasies: Child Beauty Pageants and the Politics of Innocence (1998) that the "politics of culture" provide the conceptual space in child beauty pageants, a platform for construction, identity formation and marketing of a nymphet fantasy. The writer Jim Pascual Agustin eloquently captures the politics behind the bizaare sphere of child beauty pageants. His poem, Litel Mis Pilipings which was published on 1995, effectively examines the cultural and political conditions that produce the performances of the Little Miss Philippines contestants, from which the work's title was taken from. Study Framework According to Vey (2010), "The concept of innocence is central to the continuing debate over the value of child beauty pageants" (p. 234). For Giroux (1998), under the myth of innocence, children are portrayed "as inhabiting a world that is untainted, magical, and utterly protected from the harshness of adult life" (p. 31). It doest not only simplify or shrugg off the complexties and experiences of childhood into mere innocence but also "offers an excuse for adults to evade responsibility for how children are firmly connected to and shaped by the social and cultural institutions run largely by adults" (p. 31). Such a restricted notion fails to understand how the existing power relations connects to and works its way through the most seemingly benign of cultural spheres such as the beauty pageant (Giroux, 1998). Thus, the beauty pageant is not only ignored as a serious subject of social analysis but oftenly dismissed as simply part of traditions. Such idea, therefore, helps protect and reinforce a particular set of dominating beliefs that are intself, dictated by the class divide. There is therefore a great need to situate the child beauty pageantry within a broader set of political, economic, and social considerations that probe deeply into the cultural formation. Such is the aim of this research study, in which critical and cultural theories such as Marxism are used in its spine of investigation. Findings and Discussion While most children of ages 7 years and below would play with other kids, or be taught to read and write by their parents, beauty queens of the same age bracket must be groomed, pampered and trained well to routinely pose before a crowd and move their way through the catwalk (Glover, 2010). In the Little Miss Philippines, young girls must be equipped with unique skills and talent and be able to captivate the judges through a mix of beauty, charm, poise, and personality. At the start of the pageant, each contestant will emerge from the stage in gowns or themed costumes, one hand on their tiny waists, the other waving tirelessly before the eroticized audience. Each will walk mechanically towards the center of the stage, swaying their pre-pubescent hips, smiling until their sweets-restrained teeth show off. They will introduce themselves in corresponding spiels that follow similar format: name, place of origin, age, and their motto oftenly delivered in a sing-song manner. At any moment, they may mispronounce a word or break their not yet fully-developed voices, much to the enjoyment of the audience. lefttop Standing akimbo, 4-year-old Lady Lee, introduces herself in the Little Miss Philippines 1990 Agustin clearly depicts this "formula" in his Litel Mis Pilipings (1995): Manikang walang susi o baterya pero sige nang sige ang bira. Simula. Lakad na parang modelo ng gamot sa nagsusugat na paa, may dalang bulaklak na plastik o lanta, ginagabayan ng kababatang lakad-bangkay. Tigil. Porma. Ngiti. Lakad. Lakad. Ingat sa di-pantay na entablado at mga pakong nakausli. Lapit sa mayk. Tili: Gudapter nun! Ay em X pram X! Ay em X yirs ol! Sabi po ng matanda! Nasa bata ang kinabukasan! Ng bansa! Ay tengkyu! Bow. Hingal. Lakad uli. Hinto. Pormang estatwa na kinakati ang baywang. Pasok ang iba. Parehong formula. Nicole Renopal, 6 years old, says "Ay tengkyu" as she bows before the audience. As noted by Agustin, earlier Little Miss Philippines contestants are escorted by young boys, often in traditional Barong Tagalog suit. Holding hands, the contestant and the escort will walk simultaneously towards the hosts. The hosts, who oftentimes are the three comedians Tito, Vic and Joey deliver jokes and punchlines, teasing the boy until they or the audience have had enough amusement. A young boy escorts 7-year-old Pauleen Luna as she moves and introduces herself on stage. Currently, there are no more young boys to escort the Little Miss Philippines contestants. There are, however, adult female dancers to assist the girls from time to time; to the more satisfaction of the hosts, that is yet to be found out. Little Miss Philippines 2012 Winner Ryza Mae Dizon is being assisted by a lady dancer. Agustin's poem skillfully describes how the show is entirely formalized, intensely scripted and shaped accordingly down to the minute detail of taped applauses, that each young girls participating in the contest prove to be all alike in the end. The culture industry, as coined by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1940), "impresses the same stamp on everything" (p. 30). The Little Miss Philippines contestants are reduced into a set of commodites, appearing as statistics – X, Y, Z – which are no different from each other. Talent Portion Aiza Seguerra, Lady Lee, Camille Pratts, Pauline Luna, Jessa Zaragosa, Gladys Reyes, and Francine Prieto have one thing...