You've seen the four-year-old dressed up as Dolly Parton (complete with "enhancements"), right? And, of course, you've seen the images of the three-year-old dressed up as Julia Roberts' prostitute character from Pretty Woman, haven't you?
Judging by the ratings for TLC's fourth season of Toddlers & Tiaras, it seems you have. Each week over two million people tune in to watch the series. The show, which premiered almost three years ago in January 2009, has always been talked about. But over the past month it has shot into the stratosphere of pop culture. Not since the death of JonBenét Ramsey have child beauty pageants received so much media coverage. This week, for example, the cover of People features five-year-old Madisyn (aka Maddy) Verst -- little "Dolly Parton" dolled up in her cupcake beauty pageant dress -- and asks, "Gone Too Far?"
I've been studying child beauty pageants for over a decade and I do believe that shows like Toddlers & Tiaras have gone too far. Such young pageant contestants should not be featured on television.
As Wednesday night's season finale of Toddlers & Tiaras made clear, pageant moms are acutely aware of the television cameras. One mother harshly whispered into her five-year-old daughter's ear during an at-home practice session: "We are on camera. Don't you dare tell me 'no' one more time. Do you hear me? We are on national TV. Everybody's going to see this. Do you hear me?" After her daughter, Carley, said, "Yeah," her mom immediately pasted a smile on her face and declared in a kinder tone, "Ok. We're doing the Cruella de Vil run through. I want this..." But Carley cut her off declaring, "You are driving me crazy!"
Mommie Dearest-like scenes are decidedly uncomfortable to watch, though that doesn't mean we should go to the extreme of banning child beauty pageants outright. Activists recently tried this approach in Australia after the introduction of "American-style" child beauty pageants in July. But they were unsuccessful and the pageant show went on.
Outlawing child beauty pageants in the United States is also not a serious option. As legal scholars, like Barbara Bennett Woodhouse, and historians, like Holly Brewer, have detailed, American families have long been free to pursue any activities in their own home that they deem suitable for their own children. The state is not likely to interfere with day-to-day parenting decisions, unless the child is placed in an environment that is clearly unsafe and abusive. The bar is set pretty high -- physical abuse, neglect, and abandonment. While some may feel that spray-tanning a child, for example, is a form of abuse, it is not like hitting or binding a child. In general the government takes a hands-off approach to children's activities. Even children's boxing, deemed physically unsafe for thousands of young children by the American Association of Pediatrics earlier this month because of the risk of chronic and acute brain injuries, is legal in the United States.
Instead of pushing for a general ban on child beauty pageants, opponents push for an airwaves ban. The Parents Television Council, for example, released a statement demanding that TLC cancel its hit show: "Such brazen and wanton material should qualify as child exploitation or abuse."
The critics are right. Shows featuring young pageant girls -- especially those who have not yet even started school -- are becoming more and more inappropriate. With competition for limited airtime on reality televisions shows, participants resort to outrageous antics to get on the air (see: Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi of Jersey Shore). Whatever you may think of the ridiculous, self-serving behavior of willing adults, it is wrong for parents to use their children to advance themselves.
Images of these children are more permanent than ever thanks to the Internet. Memories live on in concrete form that future classmates will be able to access. We don't have hard data on specific long-term effects of children's appearances on reality television, but it's hard to imagine that there won't be serious consequences when it comes to friendships, romantic relationships, and assessments of self-worth.
Because of outrageous antics staged to augment fifteen minutes of fame, real accomplishments are overshadowed. In the past week a sixteen-year-old girl became the youngest women to win an LPGA tournament, a fifteen-year-old girl was named to the gymnastics team that will represent the United States at the World Championships in Tokyo next month, and another fifteen-year-old girl won a math tournament at MIT. I'd rather see any of these girls, who have worked hard to develop a talent, on the cover of People, or featured in a reality television show.
I'm sure pageant queen Carley spoke for millions of concerned adults during the season finale of Toddlers & Tiaras. Let's hope she and her child pageant friends won't be driven crazy on camera for much longer.
Hilary Levey Friedman, PhD is a Harvard sociologist and writer who studies American childhood, particularly competitive afterschool activities -- including child beauty pageants.
Follow Hilary Levey Friedman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hleveyfriedman
Vivian Diller, Ph.D.: Narcissistic Parents: Will Their Kids Be All Right?
A future sociologist may study your work to find examples of trivialization of scholarship or the elevation of gossip into purported social science.
These pageants are not actually run BY the producers of Toddlers and Tiaras. It's a reality show; what the producers do is document and put these pageants on cameras, like a documentary.
So the real nightmare isn't that there's a show like this on...but that there are so many REAL LIFE beauty pageants to provide this show with material!
Pleasant dreams, everyone (I'm being sarcastic).
It's like in the UK where tabloid sales soared as people read the hacked phone reports of Princess Di and celebrities but were shocked, SHOCKED, to find out the same papers were illegally hacking cell phones.
And, http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG5850510/Baby-Beauty-Queens-Mini-Miss-UK-the-UKs-first-US-style-child-beauty-pageant.html
After all, marketers just give the people what they want when they sell products. Ultimately, the people choose whether or not to buy the product.
I'm not as concerned about the fact that someone created this show as I am concerned about the fact that so many television audiences demanded such a show to begin with.
The marketers always have the first move: they put out a show, promote the living hell out of it, curiosity compels early audiences to watch, enough that competitors decide they need a similar show, and so on. People, audiences, consumers are led to products, they don't come up with them.
But you're right that, once the product is on the shelf, THAT'S when a consumer has the power. But one would have to be very optimistic to think general TV audiences will avoid "circus freak" shows like this. These shows tap into that perverse curiosity that made actual circus freak shows such a phenomenon back in the day...people love to be horrified! And unfortunately, much like watching a car accident, the more salacious a show is - the more controversial, sensational, "horrifying" - the bigger the audience. Networks are counting on that.
But DON'T WATCH.
Shows like "Toddlers & Tiaras" are soul cancer. They seem benign and have a certain perverse entertainment value, but any human who cares about kids and their appalling exploitation, or simply wants TV to quit polluting our airwaves with noxious product, should NOT watch this show. Control your curiosity and skip right by it.
Enough viewers do that, it WILL disappear. It's just how the market works.
I'm not sure I get the mothers motivation, they seem one step away from selling their daughters to a pimp and probably should never have had children.
- TLC used to be just that - a learning channel and I enjoyed it very much. Unfortunately, they have become just trash tv and should probably change their name to something else. TLC has become a crude joke.
- The moms on the show seem to be living their lives through their daughters. The way they push the children to perform and the harsh language they use to get the child's cooperation is horrible to me.
- Many of the children behave as if they wish they were anywhere else. And yet - they have been well trained to flash that beautiful smile for the judges so they can take home a trophy - or mom, grandma and auntie witll be very disappointed with them.
- The costumes and make-up are way over the top - such as hooker outfits. Give me a break - they are children. And - as CAMBEL pointed out - the thought has occured to me several times at how easy their performances could be downloaded by pedophiles. TLC and the moms are actually exposing the children to those dangers. I thought of that especially when the little girl did the hooker skit from "Pretty Woman". I could not help but wonder how many men now have a copy of
Maybe those women's own lives are pathetic and battered, in ways they themselves can't even see, so that's how they cope with it. So maybe it's not completely their fault, there's probably a "cycle of abuse" situation happening here.
Or for another analogy, think of the Jane Eyre novel. There's a great quote in it that, to paraphrase, says that usually when someone is kicked by a tyrant, instead of fighting back he just kicks the guy even lower than himself.
This also happens a lot in schools that have corporal punishment. The bad kid who gets smacked with a cane or paddle gets frustrated at his pain, so he takes it out on the littler ones by giving THEM beatings vis a vis bullying.
Are you starting to see what I'm getting at?
so, i suspect future self esteem issues, possible eating disorders, and probably a terrible relationship with their awful mothers.
and so agree that the TLC name should be changed. it really gives a bad name to 'learning'.
Everything runs down hill.
Don't forget this; fathers are involved. My daughter told me that she read an article about a father who sews every costume for his 5 year old. One man said he was happy to give up golf, etc. to keep his daughter happy and in the most expensive costumes.