(My toddler and her tiara.)
Did you think my previous Toddlers and Tiaras post read like an endorsement for the TLC reality TV train wreck?
I don’t.
However, I just received a PM from a reader, who clearly felt that I wasn’t harsh enough on the show, which spotlights kiddie beauty pageants.
A show the PM-er classifies as a “step above kiddie porn.”
Alrighty then, let me take this opportunity to be crystal clear on a few points relating to Toddlers and Tiaras:
I’ve seen the show maybe a dozen times, and in each of those episodes I looked on in horror as little girls erupted in tears when it came time to attach false lashes to their delicate eyelids. From what I could tell the kiddie contestants feared the lash adhesive as much as the teased hairpieces, the dentures (I mean, “flippers”), the spray tans and the high heels.
Would I have my young daughter sashay across a stage in front of strangers dressed as a half-naked Vegas showgirl in feathers and caked-on cosmetics that would put an adult prostitute to shame?
Heck, no.
But, my daughter has no interest in doing so.
In fact, she has no interest in being a girl at all.
Thanks why I cherish these pictures all the more.
(Oh my, the cuteness!)
These shots document the one and only time the kid has ever displayed an interest in tiaras, glitter skirts, furry pumps, purses or blinged-out magic wands.
Does she look adorable in these photos? Of course, but she looks equally as cute dressed as a flesh-eating dinosaur.
In my previous post I included comments moms of the kiddie pageant queens made to major media outlets. Most swore that their daughters enjoyed participating in pageants and they’d stop whenever their child wanted to.
I have no idea if the moms were speaking the truth. The point I was trying to make in my last entry is that you cannot control what other parents do. As much as you may think kiddie beauty pageants should be illegal, the fact is, they’re not… at least not yet.
You may think Toddlers and Tiaras should be banned and kiddie beauty competitions shut down because they promote physical and emotional child abuse; however, for now, the pomp and pageantry goes on.
I tend not to concern myself with things that are out of my control. Rather, I prefer to spend my time concentrating on being the best parent I can be to my own child.
Because moments like these…
are fleeting.
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