There are no words. Absolutely no words. On Wednesday's episode of "Toddlers and Tiaras", a very little girl walked out on stage wearing the above "Pretty Woman" prostitute-inspired costume. While much of the crowd broke out into laughter, what you couldn't hear are the parents (and non-parents) at home watching.
I don't watch the show. I think I've watched it once, when there was nothing else on, just to see what it was about. I couldn't believe the amount of money being spent on these pageants! It's ridiculous! I know that it's dress to impress the judges... but who is this impressing? It's not really sexual - it's not short, the boots don't have a heel, there's little skin showing - but it's a little girl... a THREE year old!
The little girl went on to win the highest award for her age group, "Grand Supreme". Well good for her mom, because I bet this little girl doesn't even care or understand that her mom just walked away with money and prizes.
What do you think?Why is this show even on the air?!
Do you let your child participate in pageants? Why or why not?
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Comments (12)
That's disgusting. And no, I wouldn't do that to my child. I am not so insecure that I would feel the need to objectify my child on a stage in order to make myself feel accomplished or "pretty".
Who am I to judge how these people spend their time and money?
I hope some of these pageant moms known that stuff like this is what pedophiles love watching. This is just really sad.
WOW!!!
As a dad to two not-so-little girls (22 and 16), there is NO WAY I'd ever allow them to wear crap like that. Wake up, there are pedophiles out there! Why must a 3-year-old be dressed like a hooker? What happened to ankle-length dresses? Loose-fitting pants? Why must we sexualize children? It is NOT cute and I'm glad my girls never wanted to be models, because I would have strangled somebody -- ANYBODY -- who felt my kids should flit around in outfits like this. And yes, I still supervise what my "babies" wear.
Why don't people ever bitch about the males that enter these competitions?
How come people bitch and complain about pageants but don't complain about other competitions? I don't see people bitching about soccer games.
That outfit shows little skin. Who cares if she is dressed like a prostitute? People would not be complaining if she was dressed like a vampire even though you can argue that an undead creature that rips someone's throat out is probably just as bad if not worse than a prostitute.
Also, please don't make it seem like the mother is using her for prize money. No one EVER makes more money than they put it to pageants when you factor all the money that is spent on it.
One final thing is that if you actually went to these shows in person you do not see random strangers hiding in the back checking out little girls. It is pretty much female family members and a few random fathers or brothers standing together in a group looking miserable and bored.
@snarkius@xanga - Not sure why boys aren't targeted as much as girls, and I never knew there were pageants for boys. Maybe because girls are often dolled up and made to look older than they are, whereas boys would just don suits or whatever, but either way it's still sick to think someone is viewing either gender as somehow appealing.
I saw it. I laughed out of surprise. No, I wouldn't dress my daughter up in that outfit, but that wasn't my daughter, so none of my business.
None of my children have been involved in pageants. It just isn't something I personally think is worth the time or money. However, if others do, more power to them.
If they HAVE to have pageants for three-year-olds, can't the have them be about showing off how cute and innocent the kids are, rather than trying to make them into miniature adults?
And even if the dress isn't as sexual as it could be, it's still the idea of modeling a three-year-old after a character who's a prostitute. What happened to fairies and princesses and other age-appropriate characters?
I don't think pageants in and of themselves are necessarily horrible, but when the kids are that young, it should just be about having fun. They'll have their entire adulthood to deal with the competition and all the other unpleasantries of grown-up show business if they go that route.
I have been watching this show for a while now and yes...I did see this episode. Although when I have children I would never dress them like that...That outfit is not what concerned me the most about this particular episode.
There was a little girl on there, I forget her name. Her parents let her stay up until 1:00am and woke her up at 6:00am to get ready for the pageant. She was actually falling asleep sitting up while they were doing her hair and makeup. What did they do? They made a mixture of apple juice, cola, and energy drink and gave it to her.
Then this other girl..I think her name was Brystol, hit her head really hard off a door while her mom was holding her. She was about to go on stage. It looked painful and she had a big bruise/bump on her head. They were more concerned with how the bump affected her look then how the little girl felt and she was crying hysterically. They made her go on stage crying from hitting her head and after she went off stage they told her how horrible she did.
I don't feel that the problem is whether or not the dress is revealing. It's the fact that she's wearing the outfit of a very well known (movie) prostitute. A mom dressed her 3 yr. old daughter up as a prostitute to win a competition. And she won, she freaking won. How is that okay??? Just because the little girl didn't look sexual, her clothes did represent something sexual and that's not okay.
Toddlers & Tiaras is not only bad because it imposes adult themes (like the swimsuit competition) on children but that it promotes the one thing that should be boo'ed: judging girls on the way they look.