Greedily, nearly all the pageant directors want is to earn money as quickly and easily as possible. Consequently, they have no regard for the children's welfare. Pageant directors should be required to acquire a license to work with children, just like every other profession dealing with children (Nussbaum). Unquestionably the pageant world is in dire need of guidelines to regulate how many the hours competitors spend practicing, competing, and traveling. Child beauty pageants are excused from child labor laws. It is time for the government to step in and regulate such an extensive enterprise to provide safety for the young children involved (Nussbaum). Despite there being not a single pageant law, there are laws prohibiting children from smoking and drinking. Are not pageants a marketing tool against adolescents? According to the Attorney General of the Department of Justice in California, "There are no laws that prescribe how a pageant must be managed, the rules are set by each individual contestant promoter, to fit his or her desires, and it is extremely dangerous." Inside the private surreal world of pageants young girls are being forced into an unhealthy atmosphere. (Nussbaum).
Charles Dunn, publisher of Pageantry Magazine decreed, "Every year beauty pageants show off 100,000 girls and boys under the age of twelve" (Nussbaum). These exploited performers are critiqued on their writing skills, interviews, personality, looks, confidence, talent, capability, poise, and perfection. The competitions consist of modeling sportswear, evening-wear, swimsuits, performing a dancing act, and demonstrating a talent. Prizes differ according to the size of the competition, ranging from bikes, radios, and grants to cash awards, trophies, and tiaras. All participants should receive some sort of award for partaking in the competition, in order to lessen the disappointment factor (Nussbaum).