*Story development and research* Initial idea research- child beauty pageants

Initial idea: Look at child beauty pageants and how they either; sexualise young girls or harm the mental health of young girls. Either look at it from the view of the parents or the children.

History of child beauty pageants:
Child pageants were started by a man called John Ruskin (an english art critic in the Victorian era) the first one was held in England in 1881, with the idea to honour the young girls innocence. 1.((HilaryLeveyFriedman'TheEvolutionOfAmerican-StyleChildBeautyPageants'20/09)) 
The baby pageants that later became popularised from the original pageants became an American sensation in 1893and drew in 30,000 spectators. The idea of these 'better baby contests' was to measure the health of the babies, it had the primary aim to educate parents on new ways to raise and protect their children.
"Scorecards included analysis of such physical characteristics as height; weight; symmetry; quality of skin, fat and bones; length of head; and shape and size of ears, lips, forehead, and nose, psychological measurements included disposition, energy, facial and ocular expression, and attention"
These better baby contests ended in the 1950s from fears that polio would spread in larger groups of children.
2.((GabrielleMoss'What'sTheHistoryOfChildPageants'14/09))
'Historians of eugenics also use these competitions to illustrate the supposedly benign side of a movement whose other activities are now largely regarded as abhorrent'-'...attractive but toothless face of 'positive' eugenics, the effort to increase the production and survival of healthy babies as distinguished from such 'negative' eugenic measures as sterilisation, intended to prevent the reproduction of those who were judged hereditarily inferior'-'...reward middle class rural whites for successful reproduction'
Eugenicists were often angry with the government had social welfare systems to help treat sick people as it allowed them to reproduce, passing on their 'defects'.
3.(( MartinPernick'TakingBetterBabyContestsSeriously'05/02))

Modern day beauty pageants 
Opinions of mothers:
Generally there is mixed opinions from mothers online, they range from people calling it child abuse to others saying it is their daughter's choice and they enjoy doing it.

Thread on 'mumsnet' from 'Child beauty pagents-right or wrong?'

They're more common in America then England but they are slowly making a big appearance such as; 'Miss Diamond United Kingdom', 'Junior Miss Galaxy UK' and 'Junior Miss British Isles' to name a few.

For my idea I would look into local beauty pageants in and around Maidstone, as it's now September and there aren't many that are currently running I would have to take a new angle. I'll either look into the parents of the kids entering the competitions with an ideal audience of middle aged parents with children, therefore it'll be relatable for them. If that didn't work I'd look at winners of the competitions, this would be more difficult to gain access but would give a 1st hand view of the competitions too.


Examples of pageants:
www.missengland.info/regionals/kent
pamspageants.com/pageants.html
www.crownglorypageantsuk.co.uk/

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1.www.huffingtonpost.com/hilary-levey/the-evolution-of-american_b_860261.html
2.www.bustle.com/articles/183975-whats-the-history-of-child-pageants
3.ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.92.5.707