Toddlers and Tiaras Essay
Toddlers and Tiaras Essay
Every once in a while when I am channel surfing I run across a show called Toddlers and Tiaras. This show is a TLC hit reality show that follows children who are beauty contestants to beauty pageants. What I feel the show is really about are beauty pageant moms who put their daughters on this very harmful and destructive show that caters to mom’s and sometimes dad’s who are hungering for perceived excitement missing from their own lives. I feel that these children sometimes are physical abused and the children suffer psychological abuse because they are deprived the joys of childhood.
I believe that these mothers are living vicariously through their daughters, hoping their girls will receive the attention and praise they do not get in their own lives. The moms try to cure their poor self-esteem and hunger for admiration by making up and dressing their young girls in inappropriately scanty clothes. They put make-up on their daughters, without realizing that they are, in effect, pimping out their own child. To be a contender in these beauty pageants these children are getting spray on tans, wearing "flippers"—fake teeth to hide the gaps that normal girls have from losing their baby teeth, fake fat hair, and loads of make makeup. One four year old contestant was dressed by her mom donning fake breasts and a padded bottom to follow her idol Dolly Parton.
What I find terrible and I have to admit sometimes hilarious are the moms and sometimes the dad’s who are standing on the sidelines swinging their hips precociously, pursing their lips seductively and screwing pretend dimples into their cheeks as their prancing daughters in sparkly lacy dresses or belly outfits follow along. To me it’s an amazing illustration of how negative socialization works. These mothers were clearly brought up to believe that their primary value is in their physical appearance and beauty. They fiercely push their daughters down the same path, focusing on their
Every once in a while when I am channel surfing I run across a show called Toddlers and Tiaras. This show is a TLC hit reality show that follows children who are beauty contestants to beauty pageants. What I feel the show is really about are beauty pageant moms who put their daughters on this very harmful and destructive show that caters to mom’s and sometimes dad’s who are hungering for perceived excitement missing from their own lives. I feel that these children sometimes are physical abused and the children suffer psychological abuse because they are deprived the joys of childhood.
I believe that these mothers are living vicariously through their daughters, hoping their girls will receive the attention and praise they do not get in their own lives. The moms try to cure their poor self-esteem and hunger for admiration by making up and dressing their young girls in inappropriately scanty clothes. They put make-up on their daughters, without realizing that they are, in effect, pimping out their own child. To be a contender in these beauty pageants these children are getting spray on tans, wearing "flippers"—fake teeth to hide the gaps that normal girls have from losing their baby teeth, fake fat hair, and loads of make makeup. One four year old contestant was dressed by her mom donning fake breasts and a padded bottom to follow her idol Dolly Parton.
What I find terrible and I have to admit sometimes hilarious are the moms and sometimes the dad’s who are standing on the sidelines swinging their hips precociously, pursing their lips seductively and screwing pretend dimples into their cheeks as their prancing daughters in sparkly lacy dresses or belly outfits follow along. To me it’s an amazing illustration of how negative socialization works. These mothers were clearly brought up to believe that their primary value is in their physical appearance and beauty. They fiercely push their daughters down the same path, focusing on their
References: Shamus, K. (2010). Ugly Truth: TLC Show is Abomination. Victoria Advocate.com. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2010/jan/26/bc-tv-tiaras-commentaryde-_-entertainment/