Summary Of Toddlers And Tiaras By Skip Hollandsworth

The article, Toddlers and Tiaras written by Skip Hollandsworth first came about in the August 2011 issue of Good Housekeeping. The article tells us about the world of child pageantry and attempts to convince the readers that the girls participating are being exploited and hypersexualized on stage. He also suggests that some parents are to blame referring to the American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls quoting “...parents who put their daughters in pageants can contribute “in very direct and concrete ways” to “the precocious sexualization” of their daughters (Hollandsworth 493). The author uses imagery, professional references, and shadowing the pageant world to put this article together and give the readers

He begins with her normal routine of a beauty pageant by her stylist starting with her lipstick, the way her hair is teased with hair extensions. “Then she turns to Eden’s hair-except it’s not Eden’s hair. A long blond fall, full of curly ringlets, is attached to the back if the little girls head…” (Hollandsworth 490) He gives the reader a general feeling of what he is seeing while this six-year-old is made into a grown woman. The way he describes the makeup being put on gives the reader an image of a toddler with a grown woman’s face. He then goes onto describe the dress she is put in; like what the other contestants wear. “Eden jumps off the stool and steps into a $3,000 hand-sewn bubble gum-pink dress covered with sequins and edged with lace that billows out, tutu-like, just below her waist.” (Hollandsworth 490). The author also describes Eden home and where she stays; a small country town in Arkansas. “… A town of 566 people…North of the Arkansas-Louisiana. She lives in a small brown brick house...” (Hollandsworth 495-96). The imagery used in the text helps the audience see who and where they are reading

Some people view these young pageants as “kiddie porn” because of how the girls are being sexualized on stage, “CSB Evening News anchor Dan Rather compared the video footage of JonBenet at pageants to “kiddie porn”. Hollandsworth refers to former detective Stacy Dittrich who specialized in sex crimes. Dittrich states that pedophiles stalked these young girls’ videos, even lurking around at pageants. She believes that videos of these pageants are things they would watch; pageants even give out the names of these girls making it easier to find putting them in danger. (Dittrich 492). Hollandsworth is not the only one who sees these girls as being hypersexualized. Psychotherapist Nancy Irwin says,” These little girls are being trained to look and act like sexual bait.” (Irwin 493). She also says that the parents are putting their young girls in pageants to gain fame and fortune, mainly blaming them. Using the quotes help show the reader that he has done research on this topic and it’s not only his