Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I salute Senator Jillian van Turnhout for her brilliance in introducing this all-party motion. I thank the Minister, Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell and all the previous speakers for their contributions to the debate. I could not agree more with them. The objectification of children is a disturbing subject and child beauty pageants objectify children. Childhood is the most precious time in life. I am not certain if the legislation to which Senator Eamonn Coghlan referred was passed in France. The Minister stated she was not prepared to go as far as France as gone. I ask her to consider the introduction of legislation on this issue.

I do not agree with the comment that parents have freedom of choice in his matter. The job of parents is to protect the innocence of their children and help them grow from childhood to adulthood. It is not their job to bring them to pageants. I also disagree with Senator Hayden's comment that pageants are similar to dog shows. While I hate dog and puppy shows, dogs do not return from a show with low self-esteem or body image issues or wondering whether they are good enough, nor do dogs acquire eating disorders. Unlike dogs, children are conscious human beings with incredible intelligence. It is wrong to make them wear padded bras and high heels or apply fake tan and dreadful make-up.

I have here a paper from Professor Martina Cartright who has done a thesis on child beauty pageants in the United States. She make the interesting point that adults are driven primarily by the social or financial gains earned by their children's accomplishment, regardless of the risk involved for the child. She estimates that the industry is worth €5 billion in the United States alone. Professor Cartright refers to "achievement by proxy distortion", a new concept to me, which occurs when parents struggle to differentiate between their need and their child's need in order to make themselves feel good and successful. They may engage in risky behaviours, objectification or activities that may harm their child, all of which the researcher witnessed at the pageants she attended. Professor Cartright believes that the emphasis on physical perfection may put young girls at risk of adult body dissatisfaction and potential eating disorders. She also expresses concern that beauty competitions sexualise young girls by encouraging them to look like grown-ups. She recalled, in particular, a young contestant wearing a Playboy bunny costume being carried on to the stage by her father dressed as Hugh Hefner. I find it difficult to say that in the Chamber. Children who win competitions are frequently fed high energy drinks and sweets with a high sugar content, known as "pageant crack", to keep them awake for the crowning ceremony. Need I say more? Professor Cartright has produced a very interesting paper.

On the wider issue of the sexualisation of children, some of the children's clothes being sold by retailers are getting worse every year as stores make more and more money from them. Parents are faced with pester power where children demand certain clothes because their school friends have them. While I do not know what is the solution to this problem, we must start to address it by educating parents.

With International Women's Day approaching, people are discussing the issue of gender. I had coffee earlier in the House with a young, single solicitor. She expressed concern that her younger sisters are beginning to dress more and more inappropriately to feel attractive and good about themselves. We must be careful because we are taking a backward step.

Senator van Turnhout and I feel the same way about a particular matter, namely, educating parents about giving their children smartphones or tablets. Again, it is a case that children must have these devices and essentially we are handing them toys which are lethal weapons. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, is running a consultation process on appropriate Internet content at present. The report relating to that process will be published in May and I am of the view that we should engage in a debate on it at that point. That is another problem outside of pageants. We need to find a way to control the amount of inappropriate information that is available on the Internet. Children have easy access to such information.