Toddlers and Tiaras

[BlondeAgent007]

I searched all the threads and haven't come along one on this show. I think so far I have felt the most moved by the one little girl Alaska. She has a half brother, younger, who was born very handsome. She is a pretty girl too, but he really is adorable. However, that gives her mother no excuse to blatantly show her children that she has a favorite. I think the worst part is her mother and step-dad gang up on her to let her know how sub-par she is. Going into the pageant, her mom has zero confidence she will win over her little brother, since he wins all the pageants. Alaska even says her biggest supporter is... nobody.

Much to everyone's surprise, she wins.

Flash forward a year later. She has turned into the most shallow, self centered little brat ever. Nothing like the sweet little girl she used to be. She's also super snobby towards her parents and treats them both like garbage. Normally I'd despise this girl, but it was really kind of fun in a way watching her act that way towards them when they totally deserve it for all the shit they gave her before. I just hope she comes back down to earth before she loses that sweet little girl in her forever.

This whole show is hard to watch, and hard to look away from at the same time. Sure, every few epi's you come across a few kids that really, really seem like they want this for themselves. But all too often, it's the moms that really wants this. All it does, from what I've seen, is turn perfectly lovely little girls into self centered, spoiled brats.

[Kitty]

I wonder if the little kids on the show develop that brattiness because that's the only way they can deal with the shit they get from their parents. On the other hand, they probably picked it up from their parents :o and think that's an acceptable way to act. Either way, I don't really blame them.

Also: "honey boo-boo chile." I don't watch TV so I haven't seen all of T&T, but that's one show I really can't watch more than 2 minutes of at a time.

[Deleted06]

I wonder if the kids they feature on T & T are what most pageant kids are like. Or do they ramp it up for the show?

[BlondeAgent007]

i think like all reality tv shows, there is a little creative editing going on. Such as, a parent saying how well behaved their child is and then they cut to a temper tantrum. I think a two year old being filmed for several days is going to eventually have a tantrum, so I give those a pass, if its really one instance.

A few of the girls I have seen, this really seems to be something they love and that they want to do. Some of them are even pushing their moms into it when they're not interested. These kids are mostly 4-5 when they start. These girls usually do well because it's something they really, really want. There are also moms that do pageants, but don't do the glitz side at all - aka nothing fake. Unfortunately, these girls usually don't do as well as the other girls.

Then there are some parents where it is completely a dream they're living through their child. I don't think there is any reason to spray tan a 15 month old. I've seen a flipper (false teeth) on a two year old. Alaska's mother dyed her eyelashes because she didn't want her mascara to run. That can blind someone if you're not really careful! The girls are judged most critically on the things that they don't even have control over, such as hair (color, size, style), dress (fit, appropriate for their coloring), and makeup. Of course, the child has to perform, but costuming and such is usually what makes or breaks a child.

I particularly like the moms that give their kids pixi sticks (one just straight up sugar packets) and cans of energy drinks, and then say, "I don't know whats wrong with _____, she's not being herself today...." Well no shit. You just gave her the equivalent of speed for children and wonder why she's acting funny?

What I see are moms forcing their very young children to compete in these pageants. They force them to practice and whatnot by either being very nasty or using bribes. I think the girls that hate it and get bribed begin to realize that the brattier and more diva like they act, the more their parents coddle to their desires. I think eventually they get used to and come to expect all the attention that is put on them for competing. After all, this is thousands, tens of thousands being spent on these pageants. It takes a lot of parental commitment.

[nomoxian]

I recall seeing an episode where a mother who didn't have a lot of money sacrificed to put her daughter through a pagent, in part with hopes that it would boost her self esteem. The girl was polite and saw it as a privilige to be a princess for a day. She didn't win, but ended up getting callbacks with some agency for something (I think it was a TV spot) which will probably get her further both monetairly and socially than some beauty show in a hotel.

And that is the only good thing I can say about that show! Well, I guess it provides good snark too :lol:

[crawfishgirl]

I've seen episodes where the mothers maxed out the credit cards to pay for dresses that cost over $1,000, and sometimes they pass on house repairs to pay for the pageant costs. Whenever I watch this show, I just think about how much they could save for their child's college tuition if they instead invested that money and let it grow for 10 years.... I also sometimes wonder what those kids are like in school (for the ones that are old enough to be in school) - I wonder if their egos are so inflated that they become the bullies of the classrooms. So many of the kids like to tell the camera that they are the prettiest and the best in their state, etc. - I believe in trying to teach self confidence to a child, but this is soooooo overboard.

[ophelia]

I came across the whole beauty pageant thing for kids when I watched Little Miss Sunshine for the first time. Then we went to the USA last summer and I saw the show on TV and thought: "wow.. the movie didn't exagerate." It actually makes me sick to my stomach how the parents of those poor girls exploit their childrens life. I find it absolutely sexist and not child-appropriate at all.

[jokersshh]

I like this show, but it is sad for some of the kids

[lizziesmom]

My first introduction to this whole business was in a 1999 documentary entitled Living Dolls: The Making of a Child Beauty Queen, which featured five-year-old beauty contestant Swan Brooner and her mother, Robin Browne. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it. Not much has changed in the almost 15 years since then in the world of beauty pageants -- parents still live vicariously through their daughters and spend money they don't have to get titles. Little girls are encouraged to focus on looks and permitted to behave like spoiled brats. It's sad, sad, sad.

[doggie]

I think these pageants are just a industry created to make money off of fool parents and never really provide anything in return. The profits from entry fees are huge and all it costs is a bunch of cheap trophies. The whole industry had grown to make large profits on foolish parents and provide nothing in return.

[Arete]

This show disturbs me on a visceral level. I watched a few of them about 2 years ago. It really pinged some alarm for.....I don't know if this is the right phrase, but I'm going to put it out there anyway.....kiddie porn. The mothers' motivations are sad, and I get they are a money scam as doggie mentioned, but there is something inherently creepy about tarting your little girl up and then allowing strangers to judge them like meat. Especially since there didn't seem to be a lack of male judges in the shows I watched. These little girls are being sexualized, taught to behave suggestively on stage, and are cosmetically enhanced. There doesn't even seem to be token boundaries.

[mpheels]

I watch T&T on Netflix as background noise when I'm cleaning... And also sometimes when I'm visiting my parents and taking over their cable/xfinity. To me, one of the saddest episodes was the one with fraternal twins, one sweet/shy and one amazingly mean for such a young child. The mean one always won pageants, or at least beat her sister. During the T&T filming, the nicer twin won (!), but during the interview scenes after the pageant, the mean twin basically shut her down and told her she didn't win. You could see in the nice twins face just how upset she was my her sister's disrespect and rudeness, but she was too nice to fight back.

[ShadowyOne]

This show disturbs me on a visceral level. I watched a few of them about 2 years ago. It really pinged some alarm for.....I don't know if this is the right phrase, but I'm going to put it out there anyway.....kiddie porn. The mothers' motivations are sad, and I get they are a money scam as doggie mentioned, but there is something inherently creepy about tarting your little girl up and then allowing strangers to judge them like meat. Especially since there didn't seem to be a lack of male judges in the shows I watched. These little girls are being sexualized, taught to behave suggestively on stage, and are cosmetically enhanced. There doesn't even seem to be token boundaries.

Did you catch the controversy last year involving the mom who dressed her daughter in a replica of the hooker outfit from Pretty Woman? She tried to justify it somehow, I think she said Julia Roberts was her favorite actress...

Just looked it up, OMG, I can't believe she said the following:

In an interview with TMZ, Dickey said: "I'm raising my child just as well as any mother does. 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."

Hahahaha!

[mkitten]

Did you catch the controversy last year involving the mom who dressed her daughter in a replica of the hooker outfit from Pretty Woman? She tried to justify it somehow, I think she said Julia Roberts was her favorite actress...

Just looked it up, OMG, I can't believe she said the following:

Hahahaha!

:angry-banghead: I cannot believe the nerve of comparing intentional sexualization of children to sports. Sports are healthy, team building activities that actively promote real self-esteem (that is not based on how you look.) These pageants (IMHO) are the pathetic attempts of tha parents attempting to live vicariously through their kids.

Tom Hank did a good parody on Jimmy Kimmel Live:

Edited 2 times to re-establish link, edit for clarity, and add that I'm apparently a dumb-ass this am... (? for the mods, the Jimmy Kimmel show uploaded this to YouTube, so can the link be here, unbroken? since I mentioned the name? If not, I'll rebreak... Today, I haz "the dumb.")

[Guest Anonymous]

I remember the one with the twins. The mean one was all "Mommy said I really won" Didn't she try to take her sisters trophy too? I felt so sorry for that girl.

[Megan]

T&T fascinates me (in a bad way, sort of the way fundiedom fascinates me). I get sucked in whenever it's on TV.

The Alaska episodes were horrifying. I remember being smugly satisfied when Alaska won the first episode, but now the parents have completely flip-flopped favorites and treat the little boy poorly :( Both of those kids are going to end up needing counseling from this.

The whole kiddy pageant thing is definitely a scam. The parents pay tons of money to enter the pageant PLUS extra fees to enter some of the subcategories (most photogenic! best dress!). The sad thing is that several of the parents seem to think they're going to walk away with more than they spend. Several parents mention saving the winnings on episodes. Add to that the cost of outfits and "coaching". Insane.

The pedophilia thing is definitely a concern. I remember some of the news articles about the Pretty Woman and Lady Gaga outfits mentioning that the cops/FBI sometimes find the photos on pedo hard drives :( The Pretty Woman outfit did make it seem like there's some sort of moral "line" to be crossed in pageants, though. I think there were talking heads from several other parents criticizing the outfit - it's pretty bad when people who force their kids to strut and pout while wearing a bikini for strangers think your outfit is scandalous.

[BlondeAgent007]

Oh its a scam for sure. The parents are convinced these things prepare their kids for modeling or acting. Well, maybe to some degree, but a catwalk is hardly like a beauty walk. The kids dance, but most of them have no formal dance education and just learn some key "wow' moves to impress judges. Very few of them have real technique. Besides confidence on a stage, these girls dont seem to be learning any useful skills.

For the most part, its for the parents, not the kids. Like i said, the parts of the competition that are scored heavily all have to do with the work the moms did, like hair makeup, and outfits....not the girls stage presnece or her talents. That becomes painfully clear when girls with great personality and charisma on stage get 4th bc the judges thought her dress was tacky or her hairpiecye too large. I wish these parents would own up to the fact that they do this for themselves not the girls

[Megan]

The kids dance, but most of them have no formal dance education and just learn some key "wow' moves to impress judges. Very few of them have real technique. Besides confidence on a stage, these girls dont seem to be learning any useful skills.

Yes, the "dancing"! I always end up laughing when girls attempt to do a heel stretch and end up hopping around on one leg. I'm unsure why this is considered a "wow" move in the pageant world, but there seems to be at least one shown every episode. I also love watching the 6 month old "talent" sections, in which the poor fathers, who look miserable, end up wiggling the child around.

[BlondeAgent007]

Yes, the "dancing"! I always end up laughing when girls attempt to do a heel stretch and end up hopping around on one leg. I'm unsure why this is considered a "wow" move in the pageant world, but there seems to be at least one shown every episode. I also love watching the 6 month old "talent" sections, in which the poor fathers, who look miserable, end up wiggling the child around.

I'm sure this move started as an accident, trying to keep their balance. Somehow, it has become the "WOW" move in every single wow wear routine. I have seen girls force it into their routines when they couldn't even hold a proper heel stretch. I'm surprised there hasn't been any word of any girls seriously injuring themselves doing that move without having the technique to do it. They could seriously injure themselves doing that stupid jumpy thing, and their moms don't even know it. There is a reason that children are taught acro and gymnastics from a coach... the potential to get hurt by having an inadequate trainer is so high.

[mpheels]

Oh its a scam for sure. The parents are convinced these things prepare their kids for modeling or acting. Well, maybe to some degree, but a catwalk is hardly like a beauty walk. The kids dance, but most of them have no formal dance education and just learn some key "wow' moves to impress judges. Very few of them have real technique. Besides confidence on a stage, these girls dont seem to be learning any useful skills.

For the most part, its for the parents, not the kids. Like i said, the parts of the competition that are scored heavily all have to do with the work the moms did, like hair makeup, and outfits....not the girls stage presnece or her talents. That becomes painfully clear when girls with great personality and charisma on stage get 4th bc the judges thought her dress was tacky or her hairpiecye too large. I wish these parents would own up to the fact that they do this for themselves not the girls

And then there are the moms who think their princess will be Miss America someday. I hate to break it to them, but Miss America usually doesn't get her start at glitz pageants. I actually know the Miss America runner up from a few years ago. She did not start doing pageants until she was a teen, and it was never with the glitz type pageant scams, always with teen/junior pageants within the Miss America organization. She was a viable Miss America contestant because she is really smart, does a lot of work to help others, has near professional level dance training, and is just generally pleasant to be around.

[ADoyle90815]

And then there are the moms who think their princess will be Miss America someday. I hate to break it to them, but Miss America usually doesn't get her start at glitz pageants. I actually know the Miss America runner up from a few years ago. She did not start doing pageants until she was a teen, and it was never with the glitz type pageant scams, always with teen/junior pageants within the Miss America organization. She was a viable Miss America contestant because she is really smart, does a lot of work to help others, has near professional level dance training, and is just generally pleasant to be around.

This.

Another thing about Miss America is that the contestants have a variety of talents, not just dancing, and they spent years working on that talent to near professional level. The first time I heard about those pageants was when Jon Bennet Ramsey was murdered.

[blatantlyeggplant]

i've been having a bit of a Toddlers and Tiaras binge on youtube the last few nights. I thought nothing these parents could do would shock me anymore, and then I watched an episode where a mother admitted she had only had her children so she could enter them in pageants. :shock: So now I'm just going to assume they're all paid actors reading a script, so that my head doesn't explode.

[jokersshh]

I also think it's scripted

[mkitten]

i've been having a bit of a Toddlers and Tiaras binge on youtube the last few nights. I thought nothing these parents could do would shock me anymore, and then I watched an episode where a mother admitted she had only had her children so she could enter them in pageants. :shock: So now I'm just going to assume they're all paid actors reading a script, so that my head doesn't explode.

The Internet is forever and she actually said that!? :shock: Her poor kids...

[anneli]

This show scares the everliving shit out of me. I'm not going to lie, I have watched it. I also have to agree that I think it is somewhat scripted. Some of the things that I've heard on that show from the kids can't just pop into their own heads. They are beyond coached.