Two words: reality TV. We’ve all been there before watching endless hours of personal drama and documentary shows that never cease to be jaw dropping hilarious to downright shocking. But did you ever think that a reality TV show would display all the horrors behind all the glitz and glamor? Toddlers and Tiaras a child pageant reality TV show, displayed to the world what families will do to get the title of “Ultimate Grand Supreme”. Vernon R. Wiehe in the article “Nothing Pretty In Child Pageants” argues about the damage that child pageants could do to the kid that is participating in them. I agree with Wiehe that there is really nothing beautiful about child pageant’s in the way that nothing in pageant’s seems age appropriate for a young child, …show more content…
which could damage a kid’s self-esteem, self-confidence and emotional development, along with teaching them wrong development skills in a critical time of their youth. In the article “Nothing Pretty In Child Pageants”, Wiehe brings to the front some important topics over the self-confidence and self-esteem of children in child pageants, the glaring fact that child pageants could be encouraging bad development skills, and rushing children into adulthood even before they could be a kid. Competition is important but what if it is at the cost of your child’s self-confidence and self- esteem?
According to Wiehe, “Parents certainly have a right to spend their money on children as they wish, but if this expenditure of money and effort is for the ultimate goal of the child winning the contest and the child fails to do so, what is the emotional cost to the child? What happens to the child’s self-esteem?” (493) In reality a lot of pageant parents don’t think about the emotional damage that might happen. In pageants children get told all the time that receiving a tiara means that out of all the kids there the judges saw something pretty or talented about them, and if you don’t get a tiara then that means the opposite. For a child their minds will sum that up to the fact that they are not pretty enough. In Toddlers and Tiaras there was a scene in which the cameraperson asked the little girl if she felt gorgeous and right away the toddler started crying saying that she’s always gorgeous and yelling to her mother that the cameraperson thought she was not …show more content…
gorgeous. Sexualizing young girls or innocent dress up?
Most young girls like to play dress up in they’re mother’s clothing and messily put on old makeup at least once when they are young. This is all in good nature for the child to express them self’s and have fun with it; after all they are just curious. But pageants are not harmless fun, they take innocent dressing up to a whole new level with fake hair, professional caked on makeup, fake eyelashes, spray tans, fake teeth, and tons of embellished outfits that are sometimes vary improper. With all of this the kids also have to learn routines and poses that are also sometime not appropriate for young girls. According to Wiehe, “to the child, a message is given that sexuality- expressed in clothing, makeup, and certain postures- is appropriate and even something to exploit.” (493) I’m sure not all young girls will come up with this message, but for some that have been doing pageants for years that might think that their only self worth is their body
image. There are many people that would voice that there is no difference between putting your child in a beauty pageants and putting them in an activity or athletic program, but there is. For instance In the article Wiehe explains that “ Children’s athletic programs and music education programs teach skills appropriate to the development stage of the child upon which the child can build later in life rather than emphasizing the beauty of the human body that can change significantly with time.” (493) Sports in particular will teach children about working together as a team, learn healthy competiveness, the significance of winning will not make you happy but the effort you put in that will, and that each kid is recognized for there effort. So as a whole pageant’s are decently not as pretty and glamorous as some people love to make them out to be. Along with the fact that they’re could be some severe negative consequences to being part of pageants. I would encourage anyone think about putting their kid or niece in pageants to think about the danger and damage in doing so and to also remember that while children may show interest and enjoyment in an activity, a child is always eager to please adults.
“A small study published in Eating Disorders the journal of treatment and prevention, that involved 22 women” (Hollandsworth). Girls are choosing unhealthy ways to stay fit and what they call the perfect size just to have a big appeal to the audience when at pageants. The encouragement of this behavior can lead to many body complications and disorders for these girls as they develop, only because they are not truly developing as an average young lady. “A 2007 report issued by the American Psychological Association Task force on the Sexualization of girls claims that parents who put their daughters in beauty pageants can contribute in very direct concrete ways to the precocious sexualization of the daughters” ( Hollandsworth). There has been research to prove that the actions of the young ladies is not all on their own, they have assistance with getting prepared for competitions and what to perform in competitions. Parents add more than what is necessary and can have a negative impact and not even know they are making matters worst than what they have to be. “Kiddie pageants are flourishing. Fueled by a reality TV show, an estimated 250,000 American girls participate in more than 5,000 beauty pageants every year” (Hollandsworth). Exploitation of these young girls is the “NEW BIG THING” to see and enjoy. Adults would rather watch little girls flaunt themselves
In 2009, TLC aired a reality television show entitled Toddlers and Tiaras. It was instantly a hit with home viewers and also brought major controversy over child beauty pageants. The show focused mainly on glitz pageants; which requires all contestant, however young, to compete with make-up, spray tans, acrylic nails and revealing costumes. Many, such as I were entertained at first with the pint size Barbie dolls; however after watching a couple episodes, controlling stage moms and toddler melt downs reveal that glitz beauty pageants are nothing less than objectification and exploitation of young girls. Beauty pageants not only exploit children but are detrimental to the child’s physical, emotional and psychological health.
Have you ever watched the show "Toddlers and Tiaras" before? To sum up "Toddlers and Tiaras" it's a TV show that gives us a view on how child beauty pageants really are. The author of the article "Toddlers and Tiaras" Skip Hollandsworth is an award winning journalist who is currently the executive editor in Texas Monthly Magazine. Hollandsworth uses a lot of ethos, pathos and logos throughout the article to prove his point, which is how child beauty pageants are affecting little girls (around the age of six years old) mentally. Ethos means credibility, Pathos means to produce emotion and finally Logos means logic or facts. Throughout the article Hollandsworth explains and describes how these "beauty pageants" are affecting little girls (around the age of six) mentally and how they become insecure of themselves.
Many mothers who allow their children to participate in beauty pageants would argue that performing in the pageants isn’t as stressful and serious as the television shows portray them. In fact, “the pageant industry promotes this idea by advertising pageants as family affairs that are great for a child’s self-esteem and poise” (Wolfe 445). Also, in an article written by Lise Hilbodt-Stolley, a mother of a pageant princess stated “that while pageants may be ‘politically incorrect’ they are drug, alcohol and gang free” (3). However, many parents push their children to win because they are either greedy for the money and fame that accompanies a win, or are living through their young children because of their own feelings of inadequacy. These same parents who are blinded by the possibility of their baby...
It’s pathetic how these parents live through their children. Every parent says they allow their child to decide if they want to compete. But these are the same parents who say their daughter has been in pageants since she was in diapers! So how did she voice her opinion then? I have been watching clips of the “Toddlers And Tiaras” and just about every mother says, “Yes I am very competitive I want to do good at everything I do!” Why is this when they aren’t the ones competing. Jordan’s (a child on Toddlers and Tiara’s) mother said “Yes I’m very competitive, when my daughters on stage she represents a product of me.” Or the one parent who said they see pageants as a great investment. How disgusting. Not only are these little girls exploited, but also it’s usually for the parents benefit. Ther...
In one episode of the now discontinued tv show that had 103 episodes (IMDb, 2013), Toddlers and Tiaras, a 3 year old girl dressed up in an outfit modeled after Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman. This 3 year old, dressed as a prostitute flounced along the stage waving to the judges with hands on her hips. (Canning, 2011). Another example of celebrity mimicry for these pageants which sexualize these children that has been aired on Toddlers and Tiaras is when a 6 year old was stuffed into a padded bra in order to dress up as a busty Dolly Parton (Adams, 2012). These pageants then become a breeding ground for dangerous predators, Kidscape, an organization which attempts to prevent the bullying of children, CEO Claude Knights tells the Guardian Magazine ‘"We do know that predators or paedophiles continually tend to justify their interest in children by saying children are sexual beings. That children are now given a channel to become little Lolitas, to be portrayed as older, to almost become mini adults – these are all trends that give legitimacy to that kind of thinking."’ (Day, 2010). The phenomenon of sexual predators making child pageants unsafe has even infiltrated pop culture and has been spoken about in TV shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and in many documentaries such as America the Beautiful: Sexualizing our Youth. These young girls are put on stage and are given things like fake teeth, fake eyelashes and spray tans in order to look older, this is a thinly veiled opportunity to make children look sexy in the same way that 25 year olds looks sexy. Ignoring the looming threat of abuse, dressing and giving a child other beauty enhancements in order to make them look attractive in a way that America traditionally sees adults as attractive robs the children of childhood and will cause them to
Child beauty pageants have been a part of American society since the 1960’s. These pageants consist of modeling swimwear, evening attire, dance and talent. The young children entered in the pageants are judged on perfection, confidence, capability and looks. Judges would call this “the complete package.” Children are divided into different age groups to make the pageants fair. They are guided by there parents who spend well over 200 dollars for the pageants. Money is spent on fake nails, hair extensions, makeup, clothing, eyebrow waxing, and anything else their parents are willing to do to make their child the best looking. Keep in mind that these little girls range from ages 1-12. The issues with these pageants are that these extremely young girls are beginning to compare themselves to other “prettier” girls, which leads to negative effects in the future.
The thought of raising a child and having the child ripped away, especially murdered, is a very hard thought to take in. Having the weight of a guilty conscience on top of the pain is an even worse thing to think about. Its hard to imagine that being a reality, but it was exactly what John Ramsey and his family had to face in 1996 when their six-year-old daughter JonBenet was murdered after being displayed in the pageant world. Being on that stage was the very thing that brought Ramsey to her killers’ attention. The world of pageants is a dangerous place, not only in respect to safety, but also in respect to negatively affecting the children’s futures by teaching them damaging qualities. There are benefits to children being involved in pageants, but the bad seems to outweigh the good. In today’s society, some see sexualizing children at such young ages are beneficial for them because they gain confidence and poise, but they indeed are impacting their futures in harmful ways by teaching them to be disobedient and have bad attitudes, inviting predators and phedophiles in, and exploiting their young bodies.
Villines, Zawn. "The Effects of Beauty Pageants and Cutest Baby Contests on Children."GoodTherapy.org, Therapy Blog, Beauty Pageants and Children: It’s Not Always Pretty. Good Therapy, 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
Lights, camera, pouty lips welcome to the four dimensional world of children 's beauty pageants. Over the years, child pageants have become a hot topic gaining a great deal of delight from numerous people around the world. From having a strong standing, ongoing fan base that keeps the hit TLC TV show Toddlers and Tiaras; on air to having some of Americans ' favorite beauty queens making guest appearances on shows such as the Ellen Show. Regretfully, the idea of putting an end to child pageants has become somewhat of a hotter topic than the pageants themselves. People often put down what they do not understand why dress a child like that? Why all the make-up? What some do not seem to understand is that there are advantages to being a beauty
This isn’t the way we should be raising our children. The average parent doesn’t let their young daughter wear makeup till their older, at least my mom didn’t let me unit I was at least in middle school. Writers have called pageants “ bizarre contests in which children are painted and pompadoured to look like mini hookers” (Child Beauty Pageants). In other words, the average 6 year old girl should be outside playing with her friends, not walking up and down a stage in little dresses. May I add, a girl at the age of 6 thinks this is all fun and games. She little, she doesn’t know better. She doesn’t know right and wrong. All parents are doing is making them believe life is all about shiny
When the girls are young it is the parents’ idea to enter them in competitions as well as make sure their daughters costumes and dresses are in order and applying makeup, hair, nails, and fake tan. I wonder if some of these mothers feel as though their young daughters are like dolls for them to dress up and play with. It appears that many of these pageant moms are looking to live vicariously through their little girls. Perhaps this is because they didn’t feel pretty when they were younger, and this is their way to give their daughters the life they never had and by doing this they will be fulfilled. Shows such as “Toddlers in Tiaras” have gotten a lot of backlash because of some mothers’ actions; there some who believe these actions could be classified as exploiting children.
Many young girls are forced to wear preposterous outfits and enormous amounts of makeup that deny them of their innocence at a young age. Beauty contests are meant more for adult women who are mature enough to understand all that’s going on and can handle losing competitions to the other contestants. Children should not be able to compete in pageants because of the harmful effects on self-confidence and character. Some people think they are good and some do not agree that they are good. (Leo, 2014)
" Money, ratings and attention fuel the pageant/dance media machine, with parents and adults reaping the benefits. Purpose of Child Beauty Pageants For these young pageant girls, brains before beauty is not the case. Real-world priorities such as schooling, family, and friends are trumped by tiaras, makeup, and evening gowns. More value is often placed on being beautiful in the eyes of the judges, than on each girl’s individuality.
Pageants have a way of exploiting children by changing their looks and attitudes to make them more adult like and entertaining; dressing children in bikinis or provocative costumes just to be judged by how well they wear it and how pretty they are is demeaning and cruel. Children should not be taught that looks are everything and you get everything you want in life because when they're older it will be harder for them to accept reality. Imitating the fashion and looks of an adult is not how a child should grow up. A parent should want their child to grow up knowing that they are naturally beautiful and their personality and smarts can get them far in life rather than beauty beats brains, correct?