Designer dresses, spray tans, high heels, false eyelashes, lipstick, waxing, bleached hair, wigs… does this sound like child’s play to you?
It’s the controversial world of beauty pageants.
There is no doubt that there is great division surrounding the issue of child beauty pageants. With currently over 25,000 different pageants across America, Child beauty pageants make a billion-dollar industry. But again, what kind of example is this form of ‘entertainment’ setting for both the young girls involved in the show as well as children everywhere?
The US cable show Toddlers & Tiaras has sparked debate regarding the way in which young girls are forced to parade around in sparkling costumes for the sake of ‘beauty’. Are hours of hair and makeup, false eyelashes, spray tans, body waxing, sexualised body movements, dance routines and swimwear contests really suited to six year olds?
The ideas presented in the show are yet another example of presenting children with harmful messages and forcing them into sexualised activities.
A 4-year-old featured on Toddlers & Tiaras as Dolly Parton – complete with breast and butt enhancements – photo from http://is.gd/q6V9dF
One episode of the show featured a three-year-old dressed as the prostitute Julia Roberts plays in the film Pretty Woman – prancing around in a tight dress with cut-out sides and long over-the-knee boots. The judges and audience members on the show hail the outfit and sexy strut as “adorable”. Is it just innocent fun or could this be damaging to the minds of such young girls?
Author and teacher Maggie Hamilton expressed to me she sees these messages as harmful. “Girls are very vulnerable to marketing right now, feeling they have to come across as sexy, ‘out there’, having the perfect body and possessions,” explains Hamilton. She believes this creates the issue that girls are being taught how they should look – “what they should possess, aspire to and worry about, taking away their creativity and individuality. It robs the world of a lot of potential, joy and a genuine sense of fulfilment.”
Perhaps we need to reconsider next time we laugh along at the cute girls dressed in glitzy dresses prancing around like Barbie dolls. Is this really our society’s view of ‘entertainment’?
REFERENCES:
“Pretty Woman” Toddler | Toddlers & Tiaras 2011, online video, TLC, viewed 28/10/12, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAxEt5YL8w4>
‘Toddlers & Tiaras’ Shocker: Girl Dresses as Hooker Julia Roberts! 2011, online media release, published 9 July 2011, EHM Productions, London, UK, accessed 28/10/12,
What's Happening to Our Girls? 