I must make a confession, I love Toddlers & Tiaras. Every Wednesday evening I find myself drawn into TLC’s reality show following beauty pageants. Most find the big fake hair and the big fake teeth appalling. Not to mention the make-up, loads and loads of make-up (ohhh the make-up) couple that with a spray tan that would make the cast of The Jersey Shore jealous and don't forget the glitzy dresses. All this on toddlers and tweens. What made it okay to me was this was their costumes, minus the make-up; fake hair and teeth the outfits and showmanship (and crazy moms) weren’t too far off from a beloved Canadian sport, one I fondly took part in as a child and into my teens, figure skating. Even the eye brow waxing, though disturbing and going too far in my opinion, still part of the costume and sadly, what you had to do to win.
There are a lot of arguments you can make against pageants. One I heard many times is it attracts pedophiles. I’m not sure what kind of logic this one is based on; I think the sensationalized Jon-Benet Ramsey murder case in the 90’s, I’m not sure and frankly I think it is flawed logic so I’m not even going to get into it. The other more valid point is it teaches young girls that beauty is all that matters and you should be judged on looks alone. Sadly, that’s what pageants are. So although I don’t agree with it, I never really drew issue with it either, until last night’s episode.
Within the first five minutes of last night’s episode, which focused on the “Glitzy Divas” pageant in Arkansas, the pageant director Bonnie came on explaining what it would take for contestants to win the whole competition. “If contestants are a little chubby, that’s not gonna cut it. You don’t want to see a chubby child on stage.” As she’s saying this, an array of not-so-skinny-but-also-not-too-big girls is showcased in the background, as if for us to laugh at or to get her point that no one wants to see a chubby child. Thanks for that Bonnie, who by the way is not a thin woman herself (not that that should make a difference), regardless thanks for defining beauty as thin and pushing that in the minds of little girls. No eating disorders or low self-esteem will come of that.
Forward onto two of the girls profiled on the show and their mothers, who have decided to put their 6 and 10 year olds on diets and managed to get them to drop 3 and 10 pounds respectively in time for pageant day. Keep in mind, 3 and 10 pounds may not sound like much but that is about a fourth of their body weight. Imagine dropping a fourth of your body weight in a month. The kicker, neither of these girls was overweight, especially with the weight loss they were just forced into dropping. No 6 or 10 year old should be on a diet, should they get exercise and play some physical sports, sure. Should their parents make sure they are eating healthy and well-rounded meals, yes. But should two little girls who at most have a little bit of baby fat be put on diet and made to count calories? No. Yep, the 10 year old has to count her calories and she’s only allowed 1300 a day. Her family throws her a “good luck” party and her mom looks on in horror as the girl eats a slice of the cake that was given to her as a good luck token, talk about a mixed message. Her mom is even shouting “remember, this is a treat” and then turns to a friend and explains “we’ve been working so hard”. There was also a shot of the girl eating pizza and background music that suggested something sinister was taking place.
Not that I think these children needed to lose weight, even if they were 3 and 10 pounds heavier before, but perhaps if your children were in a sport where walking in a triangle on stage with a smile, while holding perfectly still wasn’t the main objective and perhaps some more demanding physical activity was incorporated into their lives, like say… soccer then you wouldn’t have this problem. Or maybe, if the moms’ did their job in the first place and taught their children proper nutrition and made sure they feed their kids healthy meals they wouldn’t need to make weight for a competition. And if you are feeding your child properly and the kid is getting enough physical activity and that kid is still above what you find an acceptable weight then maybe you’re the one with the problem and you should be seeking help for your warped sense of beauty, not your kid.
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