'Toddlers & Tiaras' Contestant Dons Padded Bra To Play Dolly Parton (VIDEO)

There's plenty of cringe-worthy television out there, but our uncomfortable show of choice is TLC's "Toddlers & Tiaras."

There was the one time a pageant mom forcibly waxed her screaming five-year-old daughter's eyebrows -- that was fun.

Today, we have the less physical painful but more ethically questionable instance of a mother stuffing her daughter Maddy's chest to play the role of Dolly Parton.

The chest (and butt) padding used to transform Maddy into a mini Dolly clearly make Maddy's hair-and-makeup artist uncomfortable, but Maddy loves her "enhancements" (her mother's word, not ours).

"I'm CUTE," she declares.

"I think you're cute but you would be just as cute without those, don't you?" asks her stylist.

"NO."

So there you have it. Check out the above ridiculousness and more (including a quite awkward montage of all the other contestants romping around in their slightly more age-appropriate outfits) in the clip below.

WATCH:

Comments

[ycr]

08:52 AM on 09/06/2011

Advertising and Hollywood constantly push the envelope in this country. The networks are just as sick as the parents. Is anyone really surprised?

[martykz]

06:25 PM on 09/05/2011

The Girls of the Tea Party.

[1highstepper]

11:23 AM on 09/05/2011

But wait! She did the butt too! Pathetic.

[Puzzlr]

11:30 PM on 09/04/2011

The kids are adorable as always. They don't know the broader context of what is happening. The little girl did look a bit embarrassed when the other girl poked her falsies and treated them as something illogical. The problem with this is and always will be the parents. What small child knows of Dolly or has seen Pretty Woman for that matter?

[Hatima Transport]

10:18 PM on 09/04/2011

wow

[kwright]

10:15 PM on 09/04/2011

Call me old fashioned, but, Shirley Temple was cute. These poor children are being objectified.

What is worse is the fact that these kids think this is perfectly normal behavior.

[Roberto Profuncto]

09:59 PM on 09/04/2011

Poor kids.
Sick parents.

[josephine12]

07:50 PM on 09/04/2011

In our society, we sexualize little girls, then demonize adults who see little girls as sexual.
Crazy world.
It's not CUTE - it's sick.

[see-ellen2001]

07:32 PM on 09/03/2011

Hope mummy doesn't complain when her little tarted up sweetie comes home pregnant at fourteen. Oh but that would be ok bcs she can be on another tv show! Sad that pedophiles only have to turn on the tv to get fed.

[axt113]

02:51 AM on 09/05/2011

Probably better they get their jollies from TV, might prevent them from actually doing anything in real life

[see-ellen2001]

08:37 AM on 09/05/2011

Axt113: I see your point. Maybe I watch too much Law & Order but I think that some predators get desensitized to the images and move on to the real thing. I have heard for rapist it can start with porn ,then peeping, then sexual assault. Anyway, it gets worse; another mum dressed her kid as the prostitute from Pretty Woman! What next? Pasties and a pole? These mothers are so caught up in this they cannot reason at all; I am sure they will continue pimping out their kids in other ways down the road.

[ignacio sanabria]

07:25 PM on 09/03/2011

Children are innocent. Parents`stupidity has no boundaries.

[Daisytoo]

05:29 PM on 09/03/2011

Is it some sort of rule that the mothers of these poor kids are all morbidly obese single moms?

Along w/the obvious offering up of these girls as sacrificial lambs by their pedophile mothers to other pedophiles, this is a training ground for a lifetime of abuse.

[SIMPLICIMUSS]

10:02 PM on 09/03/2011

Sick,Sick, Sick, unfortuantely know a few like this, but they are far from morbidly obese. Do not know what their problem is. Some maybe Husband induced, which makes it even sicker !

[Daisytoo]

01:48 PM on 09/04/2011

Ah! That's awful. How do you handle the issue w/people w/whom you're acquainted? I mean, 'live and let live' is more than just a decent policy -- but I would imagine it could be excruciating wondering if you should intervene or not. Or maybe you have. How'd that work?

It's my very decided professional and personal opinion that these mothers (and certainly fathers, as well -- possibly grandparents and other family members too) are themselves pedophiles.

People get sidetracked (understandably) thinking of the horror of these children being preyed upon by pedophiles via their public "beauty pageant" exposure. The more pertinent horror is that the parents themselves are pedophiles. They may or may not sexually act out directly w/their children, but acting out sexually through their children is devastating in and of itself.

[littlebrowngirl]

05:08 PM on 09/03/2011

There is something really wrong with these parents and the people who watch this show. How did sexualization and exploitation of children become entertainment?

[okaycorral]

09:45 AM on 09/03/2011

This is child abuse and child pornography. Why is are these sort of pageants even allowed, I cannot even fathom. Sexualization of toddlers or any children is rampant in the United States. This child should be taken away, these organizations should be closed that sponsor this sort of thing. I hope that Dolly Parton comes out and makes a statement against this.

[CoastOfMaine]

12:57 AM on 09/03/2011

I feel nauseous after watching that.

[jessicajuliette]

05:59 PM on 09/02/2011

Pedophile's dream...

[Draekia]

03:57 AM on 09/10/2011

Nah, pedos wouldn't be interested in someone who doesn't appear to have adult features. Sick, just the same.