Beauty contests have a negative impact both on those who participate in them and on women in general. Some might argue that women in beauty pageants can feel good about themselves. However, the overwhelming evidence against this claim shows that beauty pageants also reduce the self-esteem of those who participate in beauty pageants and those who watch. This can have important consequences in society regarding the status of women. There are some positive aspects of beauty pageants. For example, a positive message can reach competitors. One person notes that she gained independence and self-confidence from beauty pageants (Sutton). Another, named Britney Leather, focused on changes in children regarding the topic that contestants in that particular pageant had to choose (“Beauty”). Yet another, Melanie Britton, promoted herself through her donations to the arts (Block). There are also competitions specific to the Vietnamese, which promote beauty in all races (Lieu). Furthermore, beauty pageants can promote the individual's future. Some pageants offer career modeling opportunities to the winner of the pageants ("Beauty"). Also, a person still puts the fact that they won a beauty pageant on their resume. They remember the days when they participated in competitions and learned life skills (Trujillo). Despite these positive aspects of beauty pageants, many negatives remain. One of these, a negative message, belittles women in general. For example, the winners of these beauty pageants get a lot of media exposure. As mentioned above, winners of some contests have the opportunity to pursue a modeling career ("Beauty"). Contrary to this, many contestants want to become journalists or politicians, such as S...... middle of paper ....... Print.Lieu, Nhi T. “Beauty Queens Behaving Badly: Gender, Global Competition, and the creation of post-refugee neoliberal Vietnamese subjects.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies. 34.1 (2013). Academic OneFile. Network. May 5, 2014. “More Time on Facebook Linked to Lower Self-Esteem Among Young Women.” News tonight. 11 April 2014. Infotrac newsstand. Network. May 10, 2014.Pipher, Maria. Reviving Ophelia: Saving the self of adolescent girls. Penguin Group: New York, 1994. Print.Sutton, Jessica. "Glitz, glam and self-esteem are the prize." Manawatu Standard. 10 July 2010. Points of view reference centre. Network. May 12, 2014.Trujillo, Jennifer. “I was a teenage beauty queen.” Newsweek. 26 November 2007. Points of View Reference Centre. Network. May 12, 2014.Woolf, Nicky. “High hopes, high heels.” New statesman. 7 March 2014. Reference points of the Centre. Network. May 12 2014.