Toddlers and Tiarras?

[tryingtofindhim]

Any of you watch the show Toddlers and Tiarras? I watched the show a few times. In my opinion a lot of parents are treading on thin ice. I think beauty pageants for little kids are fine in moderation. I DO NOT agree with parents spray tanning their children and putting on fake eyelashes. I do like the fact that the parents do say if their children say they don't want to do it they will stop. Part of me says children should wait till they are teenagers to do that kind of stuff but part of me think its cute to a minimum. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Dread_Zeppelin]

I think it's fun for many children to play dress up and it can even build self esteem. I do not think that it's good to sexualize kids. Like everything, moderation and common sense are key... the problem with most parents and pagents is that they allow their children to look like 16 year olds in skimpy clothing or cross the line with spray tans, fake teeth, and routine coaches.

Another problem I've seen is kids have the "diva" attitude that so many people think is cute and acceptable. Rude children turn into rude adults. In the model and fashion industry people think you're supposed to act this way and it drives me insane.

 

[Matthew]

I don't know anything about the programme but I think beauty pageants for children are awful, they're really disturbing and there is not one single good reason to do them. The fact that so many adults are fine with it really leaves me at a loss, it's bad enough that adult women do them.

I cannot even begin to fathom the mind of a parent that puts their child in a beauty pageant.

 

[imoss]

Pictures depicting these beautiful little children looking like harlots are readily available to any freak who wants them. For this reason ALONE I would not dress up & parade my daughter. Not to mention the values it is supporting. It supports being materialistic and vain & is a total and complete waste of the families income. If it were a pagent where the little children do talent & werent all dressed up like that, it would be different. I think its a pedophiles dream but hey thats just my opinion.

 

[Harley_Angel]

There are so many other ways for you to help your child build confidence. They will get the same confidence boosts from music lessons, karate, vocal lessons, etc. There is NO reason to dress your child like an adult streetwalker and parade them around making them believe that they are only as good as their beauty. I think this is going to breed a lot more self consciousness than self confidence when they grow up and don't feel like they are pretty enough to win pageants.

 

[jimmydiggs]

As far as building confidence goes, it is very dependent upon which area you wish for the confidence to be built. It could be said, that fllaunting ones fleshly beuaty in the manner of a pageant, which seeks to solely rank contestants based on sex appeal, builds confidence, in that they must be sexualized to be accepted by society, and that beauty should be idolized. This causes a strong misguiding as well, in the long run, brains gets the average person further than stunning beauty.

To me, it's just like the homeschool vs. public school argument of, "kids that are homsechooled don't get much socialization or experience of the real world." The argument almost works against itself. The whole purpose of homeschooling, is to educate. So if they recieve less socialization, and more education, then goal 1 has been met. In addition, it is a better experience of the real world in my opinion, as in public school there is competetion of fashion, in homeschooling and the real world, it doesn't matter. Confidence also stays stronger in homeschooled girls, than public schooled girls. I do feel that public school better prepares you for the sociality of the real world, to the effect that you have to deal with turds all day long.


It all depends on what area of confidence you want to build, as to which activity is beneficial.

Personally, I wouldn't allow a child to do a beauty pageant, as I agree with Imoss, it's a perverts dream.

 

[zeroturbulence]

In my opinion they are really for the parents' egos, and the kids learn to like it, but its not natural. They are babies, not trophies.

 

[SaraJoRedlocks]

I think that the primary goal in pageants is to be the most charming and the most beautiful and the most talented, and even though that sounds nice the Lord has something very specific to say about that...

In Proverbs 31:30 the Bible says, "30Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised."

In the NIV 'favour' is translated 'charm' changing the wording to "Charm is deceitful".

Also in the new testament, in the parable of the talent (which were money and not skills, I know) the servant who didn't use his talent for the glory or benefit of his master was cast away with much the same verbage as is used when describing the way the unsaved are cast away at the judgement seat.

In all that I meant to say this, we are here to work to God's glory not for our own. If competing in pageants brought Him glory I think it would be okay, but let's be honest, those sorts of things really exalt us and not Christ.

Xo

 

[Dread_Zeppelin]

If you've ever seen a show, every girl gets a trophy who attends. And honestly a lot of girls enjoy the pagents because they get to dress up, that is why I said it can boost confidence. Women are taught to hate themselves if they dont look like Barbie, and this is repeated at a very young age and is thrown in womens faces constantly throughout their lives! By any average girl dressing up and being celebrated as beautiful it could be beneficial. As for other activities to boost confidence, sure, but only if your kid is into that sort of thing. I hated sports and physical activities as a child but I liked fashion. It's the interest that the Lord gave me and now I have a job because of it.

Now, just because I'm saying these things doesn't mean that I agree with what pagent and pagent parents do. They go too far with this idea into sexualizing children, its no longer "dress up and feel beautiful". If people had common sense and did things for fun rather than money and sexualizing children then I wouldn't have a problem with it. We are an immodest country that has forgotten how to blush.

 

[sweetnshy]

Yes, I watch the show, and I'll admit it's a bit of a guilty pleasure. My main problem with the type of pageants they feature on the show (the "full glitz" kind) is that these little girls are getting used to getting anything they want at a very young age. Parents are taking 4 year old's for manicures, pedicures, facials, massages...stuff that many adults have never even experienced! A lot of the girls on the show talk back to the parents and order them around, and the parents just say things like "Well so-and-so was a little bit cranky today..." As a teacher, I hate the thought of having one of those kids end up in my classroom someday, because I certainly wouldn't pamper or cater to her the way the parents seem to!

 

[Renewedlife]

heartbreaking...

 

[broken]

yup, a tv show about four-year-olds getting pedicures is one of the reasons why we got rid of cable tv in my home. Garbage in - garbage out I always say. Gotta watch (pun intended) what we feed on.

 

[imoss]

ha ha!!!......

 

[artistic_dreams]

well i can say from personal experience i tried it once and never did it again after that.....those women are vicious.....not only will they go to extremes...i mean some of them ladies have no qualms in making another child that is not theirs cry just so their child has a better chance of winning.....and i watch the show from time to time and ya its taking it too far w/ all the fake stuff they put on the lil girls....its too much

 

[zone]

I think it's fun for many children to play dress up and it can even build self esteem. I do not think that it's good to sexualize kids. Like everything, moderation and common sense are key... the problem with most parents and pagents is that they allow their children to look like 16 year olds in skimpy clothing or cross the line with spray tans, fake teeth, and routine coaches.

Another problem I've seen is kids have the "diva" attitude that so many people think is cute and acceptable. Rude children turn into rude adults. In the model and fashion industry people think you're supposed to act this way and it drives me insane.

yes....i've seen it.
it appears to be a form of mental illness driving them.