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How I Lost the Junior Miss Pageant

Cindy Bosley, in this narration, uses her own experience to portray how the society has become materialistic and shallow. The author, with insistence from her mother, tried her hand in the Junior Miss Pageant which opened her eyes to how cruel, petty and judgmental the world can be even at her tender age. She goes on to show that the beauty pageants are nothing short of platforms of brainwashing and instilling stereotypes to young girls on the true definition of beauty. It is a race to be the best dressed, skinniest, prettiest and the richest. These elements are engraved in the psyches of the young by their parents, teachers, leaders, and the media.
The shallowness was well exhibited in the manner the judges were unenthusiastic about her confession that she would do anything to change her mother’s situation. The judges expected her to dwell on world issues that in a realistic sense were beyond a 17-year old. As for materialism, her concern about “borrowed shoes, out-of-date dress, K-mart leg warmers and a bargain photograph” illustrated how beauty was pegged on material things. It is sad that color coordination, dress choice and other superficial elements were given much priority rather than the internal attributes of the young girl. The society, as portrayed is cruel enough to overlook the beauty that lies in uniqueness and character. The ultimate beauty as understood in the narration is based on a lie that the author was quick to note early unlike her own mother.