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I don't know if this is called a guilty pleasure or simply so odd that it is fascinating, but Anabeth and I religiously sit down on Wednesday evenings and watch the train wreck of a reality show known as Toddlers and Tiaras. Hideous....yes! Yet I cannot look away! What in world possesses these mothers to subject their small toddler daughters (and sons) to the subjective viewing of people judging them on outward beauty alone?
Like all reality shows there is very little real about it. Most of the content is heavily edited, if not scripted, to deliver the views of the network producing the show. The producers obviously wish to portray the southern ritual of well-meaning(?) mothers entering small babies through preteens into pageants that promote subject their children to a form of judging whose results matter much more to the mothers than to the contestants.
The amount of money spent on chasing the crowns, sashes and Grand Supreme titles would certainly qualify as an economy all of its own. We are talking entry fees, hotel, food, spray tanning, dresses, costumes, hair and makeup. My goodness,wouldn't anyone be consider beautiful after all of this? You may not be able to buy happiness, but it looks like you CAN buy beauty. I would like a rundown on the amount spent on these pageants versus money won on these pageants. I certainly hope families budget these contests as entertainment. Because I am sure that they cannot come close to paying for themselves or even hope to bring a profit.
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Some of the little girls featured really do seem to be having a good time wearing the pretty dresses, hair pieces and false eyelashes. And while I do believe in giving a child a passion, something to work toward, and public speaking being beneficial in developing a self confidence..........this whole thing just seems wrong.
That being said, I will continue to watch with Anabeth and hope for a better outcome for these little girls. But I seem to think that once a pageant brat, always a pageant brat. Which ain't pretty or cute on older girls.
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I tend to agree with you about the amount of money spent on the pageants and the amount of money earned in prize money. No where near equal....yet can't we say that about just about every endeavor we place our child in while trying to give them a well-rounded view of possiblities. Athletic "select" teams are highly competitive and highly expensive. Tournament entry fees and weekend hotel stays are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the expenses incurred in channeling our childrens' "talent". Not to mention private lessons, expensive state-of-the-art equipment and matching hair ribbons. Talk about pushy mothers, I have personally witnessed mothers at little league games gripping the chain link fence between their fingers literally screaming at their own child for not swinging at a good pitch. This is played out all over America in academics, cultural pursuits, and yes even social activities. Competitiveness is profoundly American, and whether it is on the little league field, the SAT prep classes, or the pageant auditorium certain parents are destined to be a little too pushy. All for the love of their "gifted" child.
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