How can a pageant enrich the lives in our Community?
It’s a fact that 6 out of 10 girls will quit participating in activities they love because they feel bad about themselves. Selfesteem has become a crisis in this country. The majority of girls feel they do not measure up in some way including their
looks, performance in school and relationships. Most disturbing is that girls with low self-esteem are three times more
likely than girls with high self-esteem to engage in harmful and destructive behavior that can leave a lasting imprint on
their lives.
75% of girls with low self-esteem report engaging in negative activities such as eating disorders, cutting, smoking,
drinking when feeling bad about themselves.
25% of teen girls with low self-esteem purposefully injure or cut themselves
25% of teen girls with low self-esteem have eating disorders (starving, refusing to eat, overeating, throwing up, and
bulimia)
You might be asking “So how could participating in a pageant help these girls?”
Participating in a beauty pageant will build self-esteem and self-image if used as a tool to polish the complete healthy
person that you already are. Pageants can open career doors, offer an opportunity for community service, develop
confidence and communication skills, and are just plain fun. Pageants are like just about everything else - there's good and
bad. What we are proposing is a pageant that will celebrate a girl’s personality and inner beauty, as well as, every girl’s
natural beauty. There will be no fake hair, make-up, ridiculous dresses or costumes. The majority of the girl’s score is best
on interview skills and community involvement. The girls, along with their parents will determine what the girl wears on
stage, providing that it be age appropriate.
Your next question might be “Why have the other areas of competition at all?”
The answer to that would be so that the young ladies get accustomed to being in front of crowds. This can carry over into
a multitude of other activities, like dance, drama, music recitals, and future public speaking. A pageant girl usually learns
to be comfortable in front of strangers, giving her self-confidence a big boost. A shy child may open up and feel better
about themselves while onstage and getting so much positive attention. It can make children outgoing and give them the
independence to do better later life. Girls who enjoy competing in pageants usually love dressing up and feeling special.
Many state that they feel like princesses when they're in their pageant attire and are at the center of attention.
Finally, “What are some of the other benefits to a girl?”
Pageants can help prepare young girls for real life, they can give them skills that are being forgotten and may never be
taught to them otherwise. These girls learn manners, etiquette and grace during the pageant. Poise and grace are things
that were important to young women a hundred years ago, but have been all but forgotten now.
Kids also enjoy the one-on-one time they spend with their moms, working together as a team and the built in sense of
camaraderie with the girls who share in the same interests.
It’s a wonderful country that we live in that girls today have so many choices and opportunities to succeed. A pageant is
just another opportunity for a girl who might not enjoy sports, but prefers more girly interests to have their chance to
participate in an activity that they choose. And that is really what the Miss Whitewater Enrichment Pageant is all about; A
Choice, an Opportunity for girls to succeed. Won’t you please partner with us in providing enrichment scholarships for
our young ladies to help them continue to pursue the activities that they love, whether it is art, music, athletics or
education?