Toddlers And Tiaras

In the eight years, seven seasons, and 108 episodes of Toddlers and Tiaras there have been many toddlers and tantrums. The popular yet controversial show Toddlers and Tiaras aired on January 27, 2009 on the station TLC (The Learning Channel). This show has many viewers and many critics (imbd.com). Child beauty pageants started when a man named John Rinskin honored young girls by holding festivals called May Queen Festivals. In these festivals the girl that was the most beautiful was named queen. The first May Queen Festival was held in England in 1881. These pageants eventually became very popular in America (Friedman). Young girls compete in glitz and natural pageants. Glitz pageants are contests in which contestants wear many different things

Parents might make children eat less and go on a diet to fit into small costumes. This can often lead to eating disorders. Pageants are a chance for girls to introduce themselves and show their talents to others, but this leads to a risk that sex offenders might stalk them. Young girls that are on Toddlers and Tiaras are also very competitive and will sabotage their fellow competitors to win. Pageants can teach girls to have good communication skills, but on almost every episode of Toddlers and Tiaras young girls have meltdowns and throw tantrums. Many parents and girls on this show put pageants before school and athletic activities. Children that compete in pageants are usually outgoing and vocal, but doing pageants can slow a young girl’s ability to mature because they will most likely not be able to do pageants as adults and they are putting all of their time and effort into pageants (Villines). Pageants give girls a chance to spend quality time with their families, but glitz pageants are very expensive. Glitz pageants usually cost around four hundred to five hundred dollars to enter and the cost of a dress, makeup, a flipper, etc. also contribute to the price. Parents spend thousands of dollars to go to a pageant and many people go to glitz pageants every weekend (Sandberg). Child psychotherapist, Collett Smart, states, “Body image is the number one problem of young girls. So these children [in pageants] are absolutely being put in harm’s way, and we can’t just watch a train wreck about to happen. And it’s cruel to judge a little girl’s appearance. To say to a young girl, no, you’re not pretty enough. So we’re setting them up for plastic surgery and Botox injections and as a society, we must not sit by and let that happen,”