Should the United States Ban Child Pageants?
If you’ve ever watched an episode of Toddlers & Tiaras, you know there is something seriously wrong with the child beauty pageant culture.
(Maybe its existence entirely?)
Sprays tans, makeup, hair weaves and ridiculously adult costumes that seem closer to clothing you would find in the role-playing aisle of a sex fetish shop than a 4-year-old girl’s closet, all seem de rigor if you would like your daughter to win the title of Little Miss Glitzy Toddler USA.
In an effort to prove once again that the French take better care of their children, a new French government report seeks to ban child beauty pageants, padded bras and heels for young girls. (I guess Suri won’t be moving to Paris any time soon.)
It’s hard to argue with their line of reasoning.
Chantal Jouanno, the senator who authored the report, said that the sexualization of young women was “contrary to the dignity of the human being” and a step backward for gender equality (as reported by Time Magazine).
Well, yes! Thank you French government for putting what seems so obvious into an official document!
After watching a Toddlers & Tiaras clip of a mother waxing her daughter’s eyebrows as she screamed and cried for her to stop, I don’t know why we aren’t trying to get child pageants banned in the United States too.
Or at the very least, get TLC to stop airing the show. I know the network doesn’t always paint the prettiest picture of the contestants and their mothers, but I still think it has legitimized child pageants as part of popular culture as opposed to the weird depraved circus side show that it deserves to be.
Not only is the child pageant industry worth over a billion dollars and quickly growing, they are currently largely unregulated — child contestants are not considered “working,” so pageants are exempt from federal child labor laws. Plus, since all pageants have different rules, it is hard to set laws that will govern all of them.
I don’t know about that. It doesn’t seem that hard to say that beauty pageants can only exist for girls 13 and older. Or that all use of artificial enhancements such as fake eye lashes, spray tan, hair weaves, flippers, etc. will be cause for disqualification.
If the government can’t enforce pageant regulations, then I would say either these mini-beauty queens are “working” or their parents are subjecting them to some form of abuse. Judging from the clips and videos I’ve seen — these kids are not happy and rarely have a choice.
Even if pageant mothers claim that their daughters enjoy it, I bet they’ve been coached to enjoy it just like they’ve been coached to smile through the hair spray and the spray tan.
What do you think? Should child pageants be banned in the United States? Should laws change to govern the process? Does TLC bear any responsibility?
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If sporting events, including international events such as the Olympics, can be limited to children over an arbitrary age (such as 15), why shouldn’t beauty pageants?
I guess, like you said, the problem is private organizations vs. government. I lean libertarian in terms of forms of “entertainment” that I disapprove of [Since nobody is forcing me -- or my child--- to watch it], but in this case, the participants are UNDERAGE. Can we outlaw it on the basis that children are not mature enough to consent to what is essentially an adult activity/behavior?
Just to counter Violina’s argument, if a 15 year old is good enough to compete in the Olympics, you better believe they’ve been spending HOURS training each day, having their childhood (if not their modesty) taken away far more than most pageant kids. The big pageants like Miss America are age-limited. The others you could see as training for the big ones, just like how kids who are seriously into ice skating will have competitions in childhood. So I don’t think your comparison is valid.
I don’t think pageants will be banned. Let parents waste their money how the like, and much of that money is being spent locally, which is good. But I would love to see retailers banned from creating sexualized clothes for kids!
They need to be strongly regulated with age limits and the focus should be on talent not fake tans, hair and lashes. It needs to be about the girls having fun and not about the mothers being a bunch of freaks. It truly is a disgrace, I feel so sorry for those children.
I think Kel is spot on. Just as kids train for sports, racing, etc while they are kids in order to compete in those areas as adults, little beauty contestants are being groomed (no pun intended) to compete as adults. I personally find these pageants distasteful, but see nothing illegal about it and in no way would encourage more government involvement in people’s lives. What I *do* support is citizen pressure on businesses and groups that support these things. If enough people stopped watching the show or supporting the sponsors, it would go away.
Saying that retailers should be “banned” from creating sexualized clothes for kids might be having the right intent… but who sets the standard? Who decides what is appropriate and what isn’t? My standard may be very different from yours. It’s such a subjective thing… do we really want the government to oversee something like that?
I think Carly is on the spot there. I think the pageants should be about talent and knowledge not about looking more mature than their age. Pretty dresses, yeah sure, but age appropriate. Get rid of the mature makeup and hair as well as the spray tans and let’s see the children dance, sing, play instruments. If they’re really “training” for future pageants how about a speech on what it means to win the pageant and what they want to do with their lives?
I was thinking of getting my 2 year old into pageants, but only “natural” pageants. No make up what-so-ever. I think it’s gross the lengths some parents go to. It really should be illegal to wax your 5 year olds eyebrows. These poor kids are going to grow up into monsters. I ended up deciding against doing even a natural pageant for 1. the costs and 2. pageant moms. haha.
I am no prude and tend to be a live and let live type of person but that show horrifies me. My daughter is only 3 and I tell her everyday, multiple times a day, how beautiful she is whether she is freshly groomed in a pretty dress or with bed head and mis-matched clothes. I want her to feel beautiful in her own skin no matter what she’s got going on on the outside and these pageants seem to teach the exact opposite. Perfection, especially fake perfection, is the only beauty there and I can’t help but wonder what damage that is doing to their developing self esteems. It makes me sad.
I believe that pageants should go back to being little kids getting to ENJOY showing of cute, poofy, frilly, LITTLE GIRL dresses, not psycho-moms trying to live their own dreams vicariously through their daughters…
babble should have like and dislike buttons on the comments. Some of the comments are really awesome
I think there should be regulations. However, as Carly said earlier do we want the government controlling those standards? I am not sure how much government involvement there should be. I have only watched the show once. I have seen previews, and in every preview there seems to be a child throwing a fit because they don’t want to do it. That can’t be good. The kids take bribes to do the work, I saw an article about a woman feeding her child mountain dew and excess sugar to keep her perky? That is definitely not good. Ultimately and sadly, it is up to the parents how they handle the pageants with their own children. All I can say is most of them are living through their toddlers. Unreachable dreams forced through their kids, isn’t it the American way? ( sarcasm )
I thinks its cruel to spray tan, put fake eyelashes, and have kids wear heels… Maybe that should be outlawed… But to ban pageants? No. I don’t want my gov’t in my choices.
Just like I don’t want them to make my reproductive choices, they shouldn’t make my parenting choices unless I am endangering my child such as with spray tans,heels etc.
I have had my daughter in one of these types of pagents to see what all the fuss was about. the one we had is local and open to the public. I agree that the Judges and the Contest sponsers are to blame for much of how the show is run. How the girls and their parents act are just as much the parents fault for making their child or forcing them to be perfect and look older than what they are. One lady I overheared mention how short my daughter was who was 11 at the time and that she would be counted down for it. I was irate to say the least I am only 5ft tall thank you ! If the kids and I mean down to the 8year olds; ours has a age limit don’t look like they are at least 15 or 16 forget it. They also choose the kids that are older to be the “princess” even if in my opinion if the 8 or nine year olds did better; which some of them did. I think it shouldn’t be banned but should have better trained judges and rules( dress code) that everyone can agree on. Parents should also be made to understand that even though these pagents are bilking you for your money to dress your kid up and parade around. Forcing your child to be perfect to win doesn’t teach them how to live or act if they don’t and I don’t mean the kids either some parents are sore losers and then take it out on their child for their efforts. I only let my daughter be in the pagent on the condition that it was something that she wanted to do and no matter if she won or not that she had fun doing it. She won first runner up by the way two years ago and nothing the next year. She wanted to go again this year but because of the birth of her new baby brother I told her no because we did not have the extra cash to waste but that she could try something else this year such as soccer or softball. She chose softball with her cousin on the juniors team this year.
I would never subject my precious 1 year old princess to ANY of the crap that the moms on that show do. That whole series makes me sick to my stomach. I also wanted to enter my daughter in pageants, but STRICTLY Natural Beauty Pageants only. My baby girl can wear all the make-up she wants…………on her wedding day
i think that all beauty pageants should be natural beauty pageants. my daughter will not wear makeup or dress the way some of these girls do until she is an adult. i don’t really wear makeup and nobody she will be around(family wise) really does either. nautral beauty is the best beauty.
I dont mind the pageants but hate the adult type clothing and makeup. I dont mind the hairdos and dislike the fake teeth. Those crown are so stupidly big and ridiculous, If a kid does not want to do it dont make them. I see them having meltdowns and that is not good for the kid. It does teach them poise and not to be afraid to dance or sing in public. some of them are cute and would like to see them stick to cute little girl dresses such as the ones i wore as a little girl.
This is pathetic. You are basing your judgements on one, single reality tv show. In case u havent heard, reality tv is usually based on very outrageous and mostly questionable entertainment. Do u really think they are going to show anything on that show other than the extremes cases to the public? I PROUDLY competed in local and state natural pageants and my two daughters do now. Did you make any mention of natural pageants and explain the difference or are you really so closed minded to lead people to believe that toddlers and tiaras is the only pageants that exist? This just disgusts me that articles like this give all mothers involved in pageant systems a bad reputation. And your only credibility is a reality tv show. Go to a natural pageant, or simply turn off the tv and make some decisions for yourself before you feed the public more nonsense on how horrible us mother are to let our daughters participate in such events. And while your at it, research the good the Miss America program does for women and the world. THAt is the pageant that should get the attention and recognition.
@ Kelli My daughter does natural pageants. They are all about age appropriate things. I mean I got my daughters dress off amazon for $40 and did her hair in pigtails with bows. She got overall. They all dock points if the child is dressed overaged. Look into The Cinderella pageant in ur state. Most have them I believe. they aren’t expensive and the girls win savings bonds not cash like toddlers in tiaras.
some natural pageants are ok, not ones with makeup and spray tans and fake hair some even have fake teeth! crazy
My three year old loves pageants, BUT…. she does NOT wear make-up no matter how much she begs because she sees the other kids wearing it, she does NOT wear wiglets or flippers, I REFUSE to let her get spray tanned no matter how many times other pageant moms have pushed me to let her, her outfits do NOT leave too much exposed skin.
She likes them and asks to be in them and to control her outfits I make them myself. Yes, some of her dresses are glitzed but they are NOT over the top, they cover everything that should be covered. And when she is telling me she doesn’t want to get on that stage, GUESS WHAT? SHE DOESN’T HAVE TO GO ON THE STAGE!
I don’t believe in banning the pageants, but I do believe that dressing up your toddler or small child like a twenty year-old is awful. It is like telling her she isn’t pretty unless she wears all of that make up and skimpy outfits.
I mean, I have seen toddler dressed in outfits I wouldn’t wear and I am twenty-seven!
My child will not dress like that. And she will be in them as long as I can afford it and as long as she WANTS to be in them. But the moment she starts sneaking around (when she is older) backstage and making her outfits look like hooker outfits (sorry pageant moms but you know that is exactly what some of those outfits look like), I will be the mom that embarrasses her child by pulling her off of the stage in front of God and everybody.
Unfortunately, I don’t think that child pageants should be banned by law because then we might have to extend that to children in commercials, and movies, and even blogs that make money (?!?!?). I’m not a supporter of this by any means and the show is creepy, but to each their own. As long as no children are being physically harmed (and we can argue about that), I’m ok with whatever lady next door wants to do. TLC, as well as other networks, air controversial shows for whatever reason and I can just choose to not watch and “vote” elsewhere. Thanks for sharing your thoughts tho! Those Parisians are just scoring against us left and right!
pedophiles loves this show. damaging these little girls. while they grow they will always think there better than some other little girl . an with pedophiles there gross sick hurting children don”t make away for them . There always waiting for the chance to grab a little girl or boy. It should stop showing off those kids there to young to make a noble decision to be in a pageant or play cars or dolls.The show creeps me out those kids thinks there playing dress up in front of bright lights while there mother is yelling at them in the background to smile turnaround. It needs to be shut down. You will regret this decision wait until your child grows up you reep what you sow.
Yes, Toddlers and tiaras should be banned. This movement is totally wrong. It would be different if the girls contestants would not wear make up and those ridiculous outfits, if the natural beauty was judged, you know, without the make up, without fancy/freaky costumes that often send the wrong message to the wrong people. In addition, I think the child beauty pageants overall teach our children wrong ideas about life, about the sole purpose of our life.
yes i do think they should be banned. Did we not learn anything from the bonnet Ramsey case. Im so tired of people wanting to forget we have alot of sick people out in the world & in the homes with inncent children who are unable to protect themselves from their own sick family members etc. we act like we dont have all these sickos hanging out by schools, malls, & parks. so were gonna make it that much easier for them to fantasize by putting these beautifull little faces all makeup & costume right on the tv for explpotation. I think the parents who allow this especially on tv are sick sick sick also.
Another step by our govt. to controll what we can do and when, how, & where. This should be entirely a parents responsibilty
Talk about robbing a child of her self-esteem from the gate gate. Kids have a hard enough time thinking they’re not beautiful and they need to make up a new face because their face isn’t beautiful.
Come on now let’s be truthful isn’t that why it’s called makeup! I guess all I can say is look it up in the dictionary for yourself. What ever happened to the simple truth black and white. It’s like everybody talking about how beautiful their little girls are and then you have this one little girl who’s all made up. The corners make up industries think this is the best thing since gold was discovered, as these little girls will be there future consumers. Personally I think it makes God cry.
If you want to see exploitation of children,this is a prime example….not only that…these parents aren’t focusing on the talents that their children already have….the moral aspect is overshadowed by people telling these children that their OWN sense of beauty is not enough…and we wonder why we have a generation of children in therapy…..playing dress up is normal…I did it as a little girl….come on folks….let the kids be kids for goodness sake,do not force them to ‘compete ‘in a shallow,narcississtic activity….I’d hate to see how they would treat someone else,who was comfortable enough that they do not need to question the beauty God gave them….I say definitely ban this….or put all the kids in DCF care under allegations of child endangerment,and exploitation!!!
well i think sometimes being in a pageant can be okay for the kids. it gives them self confidence. they won’t believe bullies as easily. they’ll think, hey if i’m good enough to win a beauty pageant i’m not going to believe the kids who make fun of me. idk. i think if my mom would’ve put me in pageants, maybe i wouldn’t have the confidence issues i have today. and before anyone calls me a bad parent, i’m not a parent. so maybe that’s why i feel this way. my mom told me to just wait til i have my own kids, there’s no way in hell i’d subject them to that.
and as for the french, it was a french company who made the lingerie for toddlers. so idk why they suddenly are singing a different tune.