And the Crown Goes to... The Parents or the Kids?

First things first, the basis of my argument lies within the video above. The question my argument looks to answer is this, Who's desire for pageants drives families to the competitions, is it truly that of a toddler or is it the parent's trying to live through their child's success. The first things I noticed about TLC's documentary Toddler's and Tiaras was the parents, well mothers to be exact. Long gone were the days of their prime, these women,to put it lightly were in need of a workout and a makeover themselves, yet they put the money, the time and the effort into their toddlers. Hence my belief that they are only doing this to live through their children, because they themselves we incapable of finding happiness within their own lives. 


Said parents try to justify their means by saying things like it's what she loves to do. Really? Is it what she wants to do. Ma'm your child is two years old she barely has the vocab to describe her desires, let alone know the concept of desire. In fact "their wants pale beside the interests of parents and a multimillion-dollar industry of grooming and showcasing." (de Witt 1997) As seen in the video Marleigh's Mom said she was going to be in pageants before she was even born, sounds like Marliegh has some choice in the matter there. Also Amy, used to be in pageants herself, as the video plays she shows off some of her accomplishments, notice the fact that she only shows one crown. She also goes on to say that her daughter Marleigh loves pageants, followed by clips of her screaming and being forced into doing routines. 


Clips like this are not foreign to the documentary, they are seen throughout many episodes. With all of the seen force of parents making their daughter participate in such competitions makes me wonder is society really the only factor to blame in the issues of young girls. When the parents themselves are reinforcing the stereotypes that women are only valued beauty and that girls should aspire to look like the images shown in the media. It's also the mom's who preach about being thin and sharing negative self-talk with their daughters that damage girls self-esteem. Instead mother's should be teaching their daughters to be above the influence of media and society. Instead of trying to fit the mold.