Miss Georgia USA Emanii Davis, Miss Kentucky USA Kyle Hornback and Miss North Carolina USA Devin Gant competes in the swimsuit competition during the 2016 Miss USA pageant preliminary competition at T-Mobile Arena on June 1, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 2016 Miss USA will be crowned on June 5 in Las Vegas. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Guillermo Rodriguez and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model Kate Upton arrive at Club SI Swimsuit hosted by the Pure Nightclub at Caesars Palace at the Pure Nightclub at Caesars Palace on February 16, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated)

American actress and singer Emma Roberts in the second decade of April 2025 shows off her lush locks in a swimsuit. (Photo by emmaroberts/Instagram)

Emily Ratajkowski sizzled in a plunging black swimsuit. The model is holidaying in the Adriatic near the Mediterranean Sea in the second decade of July 2025. (Photo by Instagram)

Child beauty pageants are a billion-dollar industry in the U.S. While some critics see the pageants as an exploitation of innocents, others—particularly pageant parents—view the competitions as a way for a young talent to enter the entertainment industry.

People dressed in swimsuits participate in the BoogelWoogel alpine carnival at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort in Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi, Russia on April 1, 2017. (Photo by Artur Lebedev/TASS)

A competitor poses on the catwalk during the Miss Bumbum Brazil 2016 pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil on November 9, 2016. Fifteen candidates compete in the annual pageant to select Brazil' s sexiest female rear end. (Photo by Miguel Schincariol/AFP Photo)

Presentation run of beautiful candidates for the Miss France 2020 pageant and press conference of the MIss France 2020 election at the Hotel Inter Continental in Paris, France on November 15, 2019. The pageant will be the 90th edition of the Miss France, slated 14 December 2019 at the Le Dôme de Marseille in Marseille. (Photo by Romuald Meigneux/SIPA Press)