Toddlers & Tiaras Justice

[Megan Cranston]

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/08/toddlers_tiaras_custody_battle_should_maddy_verst_s_pageant_mom_be_punished_.single.html

Main Point:"What is the long-term impact of participation in child pageants that may sexualize girls at such a young age, and certainly do focus on physical appearance? We all suspect negative impacts on self-esteem, an increase in eating disorders, and an obsession with perfection."

Main Point: Girls in child pageants wear what some see as sexual costumes. Girls are trying to be perfect in these pageants and that is normal. They grow up and still strive for perfection which can be harmful to the body.

I don't think pageants are the right things for kids. Most children who are part of pageants are there because of their parents. Their parents begin them on this journey and give their kids high expectations to be perfect. Maddy has been in thousands of pageants, all dressed up to look "perfect," when in the real world perfect doesn't exist. Parents are setting their kids up for heartbreak when they get older because life isn't perfect. I think being in a few pageants in your life is not harmful, you are not wrapped up in this whole idea of perfection, you accept that it simply doesnt exist. But these parents are starting their kids off in pageants before they are even a year old. They are not knowledgable of what they are doing and therefore have no way to go against it. They know no different than perfection. These kids dress up like they are adults and flaunt their bodies when they are just kids. They are just kids. Costumes do come off as sexual and therfore the children think it is okay to dress this way off of the stage. I do think pageants are wrong and that parents take it too far, but i don't think that it is bad enough to lose custody over your child. If your child is happy and safe then that should be the end of it. There are some family problems but is that enough to lose custody? The judge will decide that.

[Alex Shannon]

Response: 

I agree with Megan, pageants are definitely creating high expectations for young girls, when in today's society it is already increasingly difficult for women to be “perfect”. I think that pageants can have mixed messages, for instant the Miss America pageant. These adult women are not solely being judged upon how they look, but also upon their personality. In addition they are mature young women who have made the decision to participate in the pageant. On the contrary Toddlers and Tiaras, hence the name Toddlers, involves young children who most certainly are not mature enough to make the entire decision that they want to participate. These pageants are almost entirely based on how cute the young girl may be, etc. What will happen as the girls get older? They will believe that the only way to be successful is to be pretty, to be perfect. Is the type of message that we should be sending to young children? By continuously attempting to win these pageants, earn another medal, it will create a mind set, that having everything the judges want is how you will win in life.  Although the child may be happy doing these pageants, their parents should at least acknowledge, and possibly reevaluate the type of message that they are sending to their daughters about body images, and every aspect that goes along with these "toddler" pageants. 

 

[Grace Dineen]

I agree with Megan, if the child is happy let them be. But I think that some families make pageants a sort of tradition. Its not a bad thing. I've seen the show before, and I agree it sheds a bad light on the pageant world, but not all pageants are bad. I personally wouldn't want to do one, and I would probably not want young children I know to do them either. But for some its fun. I don't think it was right that the mother dressed her daughter up in such clothing, but it is definitely normal for these kinds of mothers. It wouldn't be right to take the daughter away, or to make her stop doing pageants. I believe the family should settel this themselves, out of the public eye.