Video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AENPUFvaNzg&feature=related
The television show Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC explores the shocking and disturbing world of child beauty pageants, where girls as young as a few months old to ten compete to win cash prizes and crowns for their beauty. To many the world of child beauty pageants has gone to far, it sexualizes young girls, instills corrupt values within them and some have even gone as far as calling child abuse.
Melissa Henson, director of communications and public education for the Parents Television Council has been outraged by the controversial show and was quoted in People Magazine for saying it was "the most blatant example of sexualization of a child" she has ever seen. In these competitions young girls are turned into minature women through a three hour transformation in which they spray tan, wear fake teeth, hair and eye lashes and cake on about three pounds of make up onto their once innocent faces. They also put on provocative costumes and sashay across a stage to have their eyes, hair and legs judged by aging adults. (Staceyann Chin, Beauty and the Boob Tube) Some of the most controversial costumes featured in the People Magazine article were Dolly Parton in which a four year old wore a padded bra, Pretty Woman where a three year old dressed as a prostitute and lastly when a two year old wore Madonna's infamous cone-shaped bustier. One father featured on the show said he considered the pageant costumes as PG-13,yet he allowed his seven year old daughter to wear a net bikini top with hot pants to compete in the pageant. Not only are the costumes controversial but so are the routines that the young girls do, where they shake their hips and dance in a sexual manner.
The competition also instills corrupt values in the young girls heads. It makes them believe that they are only valued for their outward appearance. Dr. Martina Cartwright warns in People Magazine that the young girls may become obsessed with their appearance and this puts them at a high risk for eating disorders. "There are unrealistic expectations to be perfect. They strive to be flawless and they can take that too far." Why set these girls up for failure in the future, when they will a dissatisfaction with their looks and face insecurities? Why not give them constructive values and teach them that you can't get by in life on just looks alone? We should be teaching young girls to be smart and independent.
Lastly many view this pageant world as a form of child abuse. It's wrong to force these young girls to shave their legs, wax their eyebrows, dye their hair and spray tan. During many of the shows episode viewers watch these young girls go through the ordeal with tears and screams. Not only that but they are being manipulated by adults. "A three year old doesn't have the understanding of what it takes to do this and the decisions they are making." said psychiatrist Lee S. Cohen in the People magazine article. Staceyann Chin, feminist writer said the pageant reminded her of little show dogs- tiny, powerless competitors trained to do as they are told, with trainers who exploit their charges to fain fame and fortune and live out some archaic dream they once had for themselves. (Beauty and the Boob Tube) This statement could not be more true as the show features washed-up moms pushing their crying daughters on stage and acting the routines themselves in the audience. Click here to watch the shows most controversial parents!
These little girls are being pushed into a very adult world, with makeup and costumes and routines that should be reserved for them at a later time when they can understand what they are doing. "There will be time enough for them to be women. For now, let's just allow them to be little girls." (Stacyann Chin Beauty and the Boob Tube)
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