Toddlers in Tiaras. DISGUSTING.

The reality show "Toddlers in Tiaras" on TLC is the creepiest, saddest, most disgusting reality show I've seen on TV. Most reality shows make me sad and disgusted, but at least the participants in those shows are stupid adults who volunteer. In this show, the participants are young children volunteered by their stupid parents.

It's a reality show about little girls in beauty pageants, showing every ounce of drama and commentary from the crazy pageant moms. One of them said, after her daughter lost, "I've learned not to expect much from her."

@_@

That is just horrible. I think the entire concept of pageants is horrible. Mothers actually sign up their children to spend long days in far-away places getting pounds of make-up caked on their faces, wear uncomfortable outfits, parade around on stage for judges who then rate them on their eyes, their smile, their walk, their appearance, and no matter who wins or who loses, all kids walk out of there learning the wrong lesson about life. What kind of person would subject their five year old to that?

The losers get kicked in the self-esteem, being told they aren't as pretty as the other girls, and I can imagine over time they lose their feeling of self worth. The winners leave on a huge ego trip because they won money for being pretty. These kids should be outside in shorts and T-shirts playing with other kids, not inside in dresses and make-up being judged and compared to other kids on a stage in front of a room full of people and cameras that will air this humiliation on TV.

I would NEVER put my child through that. It's child exploitation. Some of these parents say "Oh, my daughter loves attention, she loves to model and dress up" but you can tell the parents are much more into it than the kids. If my little girl expressed genuine interest in the spotlight, I would put her in an acting or dance class at the rec center. If I couldn't afford that, I would take the camera and let her dress up and make movies or encourage her to put on little plays. There are a million ways you can encourage your kid to be a little drama queen without putting her through pageants to make money off of it. I hope those parents are putting the pageant money away for their kid's college or something, because there's a whole other ethics issue right there.

This show makes me sick.



I almost cried watching that. Seriously. Tanning your child, false eye lashes and fake teeth to fill their gaps...I think this should be illegal under a certain age. I really do. It's a civil rights violation, and these children shouldn't pay the price of a life of warped reality because they had parents who didn't look out for their best interests.



Doesn't that creep you out? Thank you San Francisco Chronicle for the picture. Follow the link and read the article and the comments under it. Some of the comments are so funny. "It's like a parade for pedophiles" and "I could just imagine if we ever went to court against the Muslim world, this would be exhibit A of why they have a right to hate us." Totally.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/detail?entry_id=43981#ixzz0Pd20z0Pe


I have to stop talking about it now. If you have an older child who knows everything a beauty pageant entails and still really wants to be in one, that's completely different from throwing your toddler into this life. If you even consider spray tanning your baby to be judged in a contest, you really need to evaluate what's important in your life and what you want to be important in your child's.

Love,
Juliana