Teen Girls Fight To Take “Toddlers And Tiaras” Off The Air
Posted by Hannah Tennant-Moore at 7:15 AM on March 4, 2009
A couple of smart, engaged teenage girls from Canada have gotten some media attention through their efforts to ban the a reality TV show, Toddlers and Tiaras—better known to some as, “Scarring Your Children for Life on National TV.”
The high school seniors started a Facebook campaign to ban the show, arguing that it sexualises children as young as two and encourages paedophilia. The group quickly attracted close to 5,000 members.
TLC has defended the show, saying they are simply depicting—“from an objective and unfiltered perspective”—something that 100,000 kids take place in each year. For someone like me, who watches the show knowing that toddler beauty pageants are disgusting, the show may appear objective in that it succeeds only in making me even more disturbed by the
But any time a trend gets major press, there are bound to be people who jump on the bandwagon—plus, the young people whom we’re watching being tortured with hair curlers, fake tans, and fake teeth are real
children. Tuning in to watch them paraded around like fashion accessories is implicitly supporting their treatment. As long as there is money to be gained by exploiting young kids in this fashion, it will continue to happen.
If I sound melodramatic in my depiction of what these poor children are made to go through, you probably haven’t had the joy watching the show. So, in a paradoxical effort to support the Niagara girls’ Facebook campaign to ban the show, I present you with a short clip of two-year-old Marleigh (pictured), which you can watch here via Jezebel. On the off chance that you then want to add your voice to the call to take the toddler torture off the air, go here.
Photo: Jezebel
I love the show and my duaghter participates in beauty pagents. 5 every month!
i disagree, i watched the show, and i find it very disturbing. One of the girls on the show had to compete with her twim sister and she didn’t want to, but ofcourse her mother made her. The mother also favored over one of the twins (the one who wanted to do the show) and said that she looked just like her and that she was the prettiest of the four girls that she had. How do you think the girls felt about that? I mean honestly, that isn’t right.
I can see maybe if the kid wanted to I can kind of understand, but the mothers push them so hard itno doing for their own sake. That is cleary messed up. The mothers are making these little girls curl their hair, put on fake nails, fake tans and all this crap.
My little sister loves to get her pictures taken and my mom doesn’t quite love it, my mom let her do this one thing for JC Penneys, but thats it until she gets older and can really make up her mind, and my sister is fine with it.
I’m sorry to say but i belive that these girls have been basically brain washed by their mothers to do what their mothers want and feel like they are forced to do these pagents.
my 2 daughters destiny and daylee ellis were on toddlers and tiaras . they love doing pageants . they both started at the age of 2 years destiny first pageant she won queen in her age group daylee first pageant she won 1st runner up . they love it they absolutly love it
Ew, this show is seriously fucked. What kind of message are we sending to girls, let alone girls under TEN?! This is ridiculous. No mother should enter their child in this pageant.. it shows how UNFIT alot of parents are.
I love watching this and most children you can see that they just love doing this.
I can’t believe why people would make such fuss about it.
SHUT UP ALL OF YOU! if you dont like the show, dont watch it and insult it. Shows are for entertainment. NOT so you can trash them. Leave the poor girls alone and let them participate in pageants!
Notice how the people defending the show use their children’s “accomplishments” as persuasion. If your child stared at age 2 that’s a good sign it wasn’t at their own volition. All you are doing is perpetuating the idea that women are objects. You are toying with sexuality to mask your own insecurities and you are putting your children in harms way in the process. There are other good, diverse ways for helping children accomplish things. The only person a girl really needs to hear say she is beautiful is her father (and,to a certain extent, her mother). These girls are beautiful little beings, it has nothing to do with a $2,000 dress. I have never met a truly happy girl who’s only confidence lies in her looks. These mothers’ blindness and denial is astounding.
This is so stupied. They are just little girls. Nothing more special about them than anyother girl. So why do this to them, In the real world they wont servive, Beauty doesnt do it. Show me a little girl competing with her brains and true talents. Not being taught to flaunt herself. Everyone has a form of beauty, so this show has nothing but stupied on it.
It’s very disturbing for little children to attend these sort pageants.
Children need to be children and not be the version of what their moms wanted to look like when they where much younger.
I’ve what some episodes so I could have an opinion and after that I’m totally supporting Niagara girls’ Facebook campaign!
Mothers like the ones from Tootie, Destiny, Karmen and many more need to get their head check because there’s definitely something wrong with them.
How can you put your kid through something like this and say with a straight face that it’s good for them?
No, the only person that this is good for is the mothers.
So I hope these things get banned forever!
Parents, let you’re child be a child and quit trying to correct your shortcomings/mistakes through them. You’re putting them in stressful situations that they aren’t ready for yet. It amazes me to see the moms belittle and ridicule their kids by distorting their perception of self while at the same time it’s the parents need it the most. Your child is not a meal ticket. Get over it.
I think that it really isnt the best thing to put make up on little kids but as long as they are doing what they love for themselves and not for their mothers then they are fine on their own. Because doing pagents isn’t all about outer beauty for some girls it helps them find their inner beauty too
i agree take this garbage off Tv and stop parents from allowing there babies to be in pagents its just wrong there babies for crying out loud not dress up dolls shame on you parents who do that do there little girls shame on you all for treating em like dress up dolls when you should be mothering em thay should be doin kids stuff not this beauti pagent stuff its just wrong and makes me sick that mothers and fathers do this to there babies shame on you
I TOLTALY AGREE TO BAN THE SHOW….NOW!!!!!!!IT TS SO …DEPRIVING FOR LITTLE GIRLS and BOYS!!!!!!AND WHAT ABOUT THE 1S WHO DON`T WIN AT ALL ,YAH BTW TLC…BAN IT NOW!!!!!!! AND I BET THAT THE PARENTS TAKE THE MONEY!!!!!AND IF THEIR KIDS DON`T WIN …THEY SLAP THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BAN IT NOW!!!AND DIN`T ABERHAM LINCOLN SAY A MEN ARE CREATED =?!?!PLUS THE NEXT BEUTY PANGENT THEIR IS IN MY TOWN i might enter !!!but ,when they ask me what is the worst thing in the usa.i will say crudy pagents like this one!!!
its up to the kids if they want to do it or not parents just trying to make they kids do pageants because they didnt get to do it when they were kids let kids be kids i love the show it should be ban its alright if some kids are interested in doing pageants
I have never seen it turned it on tonight and was disgusted.
What the hell is this show trying to prove? That we can sexualise young girls into looking 15 years older than they actually are? That fake tanning, fake teeth wearing and heavy makeup is acceptable at 4 years old?
As a mother of a three year old kid I am shocked and horrified of these white trash mothers that insist on dragging their child up on stage.
There are PLENTY of other ways to get your child to enjoy performance rather than this idiocy. Ballet classes or dance classes in general are good for child who are naturally talented. As are kinder art classes.
I turned the TV to a different station when I saw a mother (I believe her last name was Stirling) competing her 4 little girls against one another and acting as though it was a good thing. And then blatently favouring one daughter over the other (Briann was the favourite daughter). She got cross at the child for tearing a dress! She is 5 year old you air headed twit! What do you expect?
If you watch this show and enjoy it, or if worse, you submit your daughter to this kind of blantent over exposure… you are just adding to the drugged addled Lindsay Lohans, crotch exposing Hiltons and general lay about waste we have being famous on the cover of magazines today.
I’ve only watched the show once and, while I was utterly disgusted, I interpretted it more as a send up of the ridiculous behaviour of the parents. I certainly didn’t think it was overly encouraging of beauty pagents, more a bit of social commentry on the adults involved subjecting their kids to such ridiculous activities.
The mothers standing in the audience showing their kids how to pout, twirl and fake smile on stage looked even more ridiculous than the poor kids dressed up in all that frou frou and make up.
Parents putting their kids on show and teaching them that beauty is an externalised, competitive thing and something to be judged and compared by, well I just feel sorry for them and sad for their kids who are being raised to think that this is what life is about.
And fancy being disappointed that your two year old didn’t win a place at a pageant. Or even that your two year old did win. What a ridiculous thing to be concerned about.