Toddlers and Tiaras

When I heard that there was going to be a new TV show out that involved toddler beauty pageants, at first, I was excited. I love kids. It has always been a dream of mine to have a child with the man that I love. An actual object that was made out of our love for each other (My friends know me to me a little too excited when it comes to babies). So, of course, a show with kids was something that I planned on watching. But, when I watched the first episode of Toddlers and Tiaras, I felt like the moms were more interested in the pageant then their daughters. It was not cute.

An example of this is in the video. How would a toddler know what the movie Pretty Women is? She wouldn’t (I didn’t even understand what the movie was about until I watched it again when I was older). The mother dressed her daughter up as a prostitute to try and gain shock value from the judges, hoping it might help her score. Not only is this outfit inappropriate, but it is also introducing the young girl to sex. I know when I was a toddler I would always ask questions about everything. This 3-year-old had to have asked her mother what she was supposed to be portraying. There is no appropriate way to describe what a prostitute is to a young child. The whole situation is just unacceptable, in my book.

Not every toddler beauty pageant involves the fake teeth, fake tan, extensions, and make up. It’s the “glitz” pageants that involve the sexualization of young girls. No three year old child should look like they are in their teens. (Like the girl in the image on the right). Toddlers and Tiaras just help confirm to me that when I have children I am going to let them be children. They shouldn't have to worry about not running around because they could mess up their extensions. Kids should be allowed to just be kids. The idea that the pageants are putting into the kids heads that you have to be perfect is just something that needs to be examined. I’m just afraid that later in life the children develop body image issues or other mental disorders (like depression or anorexia).