Should U.S. Ban Child Beauty Pageants?

Last week, various news organizations reported that Parliament in France made what is considered a surprise move, voting in favor of banning beauty pageants for girls under the age of 16. Since then, the question has come up about whether the United States should consider a similar ban.

The French Senate last week adopted a bill by 196 votes to 146 to ban child beauty pageants on the grounds that they promote the “hypersexualisation” of minors.

Under the proposed law, anyone found guilty of organizing or entering a child in a beauty pageant would face up to two years in prison and fines of up to $40,000.

The National Assembly must now pass the bill before becoming law.

Quebec, Belgium and Britain are also considering bans on the same grounds as the proposed French law: to prevent girls from being hypersexualized.

In the U.S., just discussing the topic of child beauty pageants can be controversial. Child beauty pageants in the U.S. are big business – to the tune of $5 billion. Just take the TV shows Toddlers & Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Both shows attempt to capitalize on American audiences’ fascination with the glitz pageant world.

But not all Americans are captivated with child beauty pageants, as shown in American actor Tom Hanks’ spoof of Toddlers & Tiaras in 2011.

Should the U.S. follow France’s lead and ban child beauty pageants? If not, should the U.S. place stricter regulations on child beauty pageants? Or should child beauty pageants carry on with business as usual?