T.T.S: Toddler, Tans. and Sex

Gianny Lozada
James Ross
Proposal Assignment
2 December 2011

From being spray tanned, putting on 20 pounds of makeup and having big hair, a lot of television shows have been introducing this to viewers everywhere—this is not jersey shore by the way. This show is called Toddlers and Tiaras; this is the biggest craze of 2011 from, viewers worldwide. In order to be in a toddler pageant you have to have the latest things: Fake tans, flippers (fake teeth), extensions, and padding’s. Toddlers and Tiaras goes behind the scenes of a beauty pageant contender, you can expect to see tantrums from the mother and daughter, twenty plus hours of practicing a dance, and lots of makeup. Not only will you see that, you can expect to see obscene clothing being worn by these 4 year old kids. How far can they go sexualizing their toddlers just to win some money and a crown? Children beauty pageants are a problem that should be brought to the attention of people worldwide. Ever since the eight year old beauty pageant queen Jon Benet Ramsey was found dead in her basement, Americans should be worried about what they’re putting their kids in. If this problem is not solved, we are threatening toddler’s safety. The solution for this problem is to ban these beauty pageants on and off the air.
Toddlers participating in these events should be a problem to everyone that thinks it’s not because of its after effects later on in their life. “The results of a study indicated that there are trend amount women who have participated in the pageant circuit regarding eating disorders. The women who had participated in childhood beauty pageants scored higher on body dissatisfaction, interpersonal distrust and impulse dysregulation that non-participant.” (Coker pg 1) Being in these kinds of competitions brings a lot of after-effects such as anorexia, and bulimia. These eating disorders are also tied in to something called The Princes Syndrome; it as fairy tale to these toddlers. “Unrealistic expectations to be thin, physically beautiful, and perfect are at the heart of some disorder eating behaviors and body dissatisfaction (Cartwright pg 1). A superficial charm is likely to occur in them and an unrealistic view on life as well; thinking that all they need to be successful is having a pretty face.
Similarly there are more after-effects that come with being a beauty queen. The way other people view these toddler as they age—especially men and boys is skewed. “ Boys and adult men are also learning to value women only for their sex appeal, which the report says can lead to increased incidents of sexual harassment and sexual violence, and increase demand for child pornography” (Henson pg 1). One contestant named Paisley definitely created controversy to viewers worldwide because of the prostitute outfit she wore to depict Julia Roberts in the film Pretty Women. These kinds of outfits can attract unwanted attention, pedophiles can be attracted to these toddler and they could be thinking inappropriate thoughts that no grown men should. The skimpy outfits they wear also ties in to the sex appeal they are presenting to others. “The extreme end point of such a perception is that women who choose to dress in a particular way must only be doing so to attract male attention, and that if this should leave a man unable to control his sexual urges, and then her clothing choice is to blame.” (Smith pg 1) Are all the money and the renown really worth it, giving all these consequence that come with it?
It is no doubt that people will have a problem with the problem itself, especially the mothers of these kids. One mother of the contestants named Paisley said this to TMZ: “I take my kid to church every week. …. At least I’m not forcing them into sports and getting my child injured like some parents.” (Conley pg 1) In the amendments, it states we have our rights, we can do whatever we want but there is a fine line between what we can do and if it is right. Watching these shows you can see mothers yelling at their daughter because they did not do the dance correct or they did not walk to the correct spot. This is emotional abuse; their kids could be emotionally hurt after this. They could probably think that they have to get everything right, they have to act this way in order to be successful, and it can definitely take a toll on their emotional development.
Secondly you can expect mothers to say that participating in these events boots their self-esteem, raises their confidence and makes them feel beautiful. Every girls dreams (well most) is to dress like princess and look like one, there is nothing wrong with that but there are other forms of doing it. A toddler does not have to enter these competitions to gain confidence or boots their self esteems. Joining sports or even just hanging out will kids their age can build confidence; they do not have to be in front of a stage to socially interact. “A lack of self-confidence is not necessarily related to a lack of ability. A lack of self-confidence is often the result of focusing too strongly on the unrealistic expectations of others, especially parents and friends.”(Densky pg 1) By focusing on they look, their “beauty” this can become an unrealistic expectation that they think others might want. By being themselves and being comfortable in their skin can build confidence, self esteem and make them feel beautiful.
Thirdly people and mothers might say that this can open up their future with a lot of benefits. “Pageants can be a wonderful experience for children. For one thing, they get comfortable being in front of crowds. This can carry over into a multitude of other activities, like dance, drama, music recitals, and future public speaking.” (Malmsio pg 1). Maybe joining beauty pageants opens doorways to scholarships or internships, but how far can a pretty face go? Can beauty pageants show that they deserve to get this scholarship because they have a pretty face? How can a pretty face be successful in what they do if they are not intelligent? Someone who deserves to get scholarship is someone who works hard, who went through adversity through their high school and college career. A pretty face in society is nothing unless they have an intelligent mind behind it.
Step one of these solutions is to prevent these competitions form going on anymore is to ban it on and off the air. In order for the solution to be successful many implementations have to take place. First off is to ban these competitions for toddlers all the way up to 15. The reason why 16 and over is an appropriate age to join beauty pageants because around that time, they are more aware of what is right and wrong and they are more comfortable with their selves. Once they are banned, petitions can be started in order for this ball to get rolling. In order for this to catch the attention of others, 1,000 and more petitions have to go through. As soon as there is enough, these petitions will be sent to court and further on the federal court. The opposition of this solution might say that there are more important things going on in the world, we should not be dealing with this. Yes there are a lot of things going on in the world, but the safety of toddlers and preteens should always be the top of the list of everything.
Step two of the solution is to fire anyone that participates in conducting these competitions such as judgers, producers etc. Many of these people will lose their job on the air also anybody else that does it off the air. An opposition of this might say that firing people will create chaos for them. Since we are in a recession right now, it is hard to find a job and these competitions helps pay bill and put food on the table. Although we are in a recession there are other ways to make money instead of judging little girls on if their pretty enough.
Last but not least, the third step to this make sure these competitions for toddlers do not happen off the air the government will have to censor it on TV and take precaution and hire extra police to be vigilant over this While censoring this on TV, you can prevent unnecessary attention from people, especially if this person happens to be a pedophile, this can protect these toddlers. It may seem unnecessary to others that do not find this a problem because there are probably other things on TV they should be censoring. Usually on TV or on cable, they censor things like nudity, foul language and violence. Toddlers and Tiaras do not seem like a show that should be censored, but it has to be. Censoring these things will control what someone should and should not see. Also it could be inappropriate for certain people; no one wants to see a child half naked on national television. Additionally the consequences that come with breaking this law are: 1. a warning, 2. there will fine of 500 dollars, 3. 1 year in prison. All these implementation are created for the safety of each toddler.
All in all the problem of having toddlers and even preteens is imperative to solve because this can affect their psyche for the rest of their lives. Not only will that be imperative we may even save the lives of toddlers. Just like the Jon Benet Ramsey case.” The first images of Jon Benet Ramsey that were broadcast to the world showed a pretty little girl in heavy make-up and flamboyant costumes parading across a stage. At the time, the media described her as "a painted baby, a sexualized toddler beauty queen."(Bardsley1) We don’t know what happened to this beauty queen, but we could hypothesize that her participating in beauty pageants could be a reason. The killer of Jon Benet Ramsey could have been anyone that has been watching her closely. Some may say that one cause cannot be the consequence of others, but yes it can. One toddler was lost maybe because of these competitions. That is why protecting your toddler’s physical image and their mind from these kinds of things is imperative for their future. This solution is probably the best and the most effective because once there is higher power involved such as the government, they will prevent these competitions from going on. The implementation procedure justify the solution because if the law or any type of government gets involved people will be afraid. Just like how people do not speed when a cop is around because they know there is a hefty consequence if they do. From all what was said the real problem of all this is basically about how children beauty pageants are teaching kids the wrong thing. They are instilling the wrong values in their minds. A pretty face can only go so far, but will education it can go farther. If they go on thinking that being pretty and having a superficial reality will help them get whatever they want—their wrong. Intelligence will lead the world, not a pretty face. Therefore this problem should be brought to the attention to everyone worldwide given all the side effects that comes with being a “beauty queen.”

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