Toddlers, Tiaras, and Fame Seeking Moms
I saw a report on GMA this morning featuring young children competing in pageants. Within 2 minutes, I saw enough to make my skin crawl. Here were girls, barely out of diapers, parading around in costumes and makeup that were absurd. This has been a controversial issue for years, and yet it continues to grow in popularity. TLC highlights it in a show titled “Toddlers and Tiaras”. That alone doesn’t sound right. It isn’t the pageants itself that bothers me. It’s the extent to which they will dress up, make-up, and drill these young girls to prance, dance, and sing in a manner that is inappropriate and potentially harmful to their well-being.
The first thing most of the mothers of these girls say, is that the child enjoys doing the pageants. That if they didn’t like it, they would quit. I would like to know what kid likes sitting still for hours while having make-up applied. How many love to have their hair teased up, pulled, rolled, and sprayed. Then have to wait and not move so as to not mess up the whole ensemble. They wear more than one outfit in these shows, so the whole procedure gets repeated.
The mothers at these shows are delusional. For some reason they want to believe that pageants will benefit their daughters. The qualities of poise, speaking, and having a talent can all be experienced outside of this money generating world. Did they ever notice that the only people attending the event are parents and relatives of the contestants? There are no talent scouts looking for the next great child star in attendance. There are no college admission reps searching for a future scholarship winner. Most of these mothers want their child to become famous and will do so at any cost.
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