Ban on child beauty pageants proposed in Russia

Russian lawmakers have introduced a bill to ban beauty pageants for children, saying participation can damage contestants' mental and physical well-being. The proposed law includes penalties of as much as 4,000 rubles ($114) for individuals and 1 million rubles ($28,500) for companies, RIA Novosti reported. The bill was written by State Duma deputies Alexei Zhuravlyov of the United Russia party and Sergei Zhigaryov of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. They say the Krasnodar Territory in southwest Russia has a similar ban in place and one has been proposed in France. The two deputies say studies have shown appearing in contests in which they are judged on their looks gives children a distorted idea of beauty and can harm them both physically and mentally.