Toddlers and Tiaras
Don't even bother asking how I wound up seeing this show - I think I was watching something else, it ended and the channel just never got changed.
It's a really weird thing - you listen to the mothers talk, saying things like, "Well every girl wants to be a princess," and you kind of can understand that. But then you think, "But actually ... no, not every girl wants to." If every girl wanted to be a princess, then there would be no such thing as a tomboy.
Then you keep listening some more, and hear things that make you feel like it's all about the mothers who are entering their kids. "I want the crown." I swear that is an actual quote by an adult whose kid was in a contest.
That mom who said that? She's black. And a lesbian. In the South. Just tossing that out there. Breaks the mold a bit. Interesting. Know what else was interesting? The little girl who wanted to win money because she wanted to buy a cow. A cow. A moo cow. (She won, by the way, and when she got off the stage, asked her mother, 'Mama, can I buy a cow now?' and her mother said yes.)
Every girl I saw on the show looked unhappy and uncomfortable (or completely dazed). Maybe a lot of little girls like the idea of being a princess, but I can't imagine they like all the preparation the mothers and grandmothers have decided it takes in order to be a princess. They all looked either disinterested or outrightly sad while their hair and makeup were being done.
Apparently you can be like zero years old and compete in these things - one baby was not only brought on the stage carried by her parent, but brought on stage to accept an award while she was asleep.
These people buy their kids dresses that cost over a thousand dollars. My bat mitzvah dress didn't even cost that much! Just to review, there's a several-hundred dollar pageant entry fee, there's the money for the multiple outfits, the cost of the various coaches, and then travel and hotel costs.
You know what this show reminded me off? The shock I felt when Trixie and I watched Jesus Camp.
This whole thing blows my mind. I can't imagine having a kid, but if I could, I wouldn't be able to imagine carting it around to contests where they are judged on their looks. I could imagine carting it around to see and do all sorts of things, but they wouldn't be based on looks. And yes, I know that they compete in talent and personality and shit, but let's be honest - it's mostly looks. And that looks pretty shallow to me.
It's a really weird thing - you listen to the mothers talk, saying things like, "Well every girl wants to be a princess," and you kind of can understand that. But then you think, "But actually ... no, not every girl wants to." If every girl wanted to be a princess, then there would be no such thing as a tomboy.
Then you keep listening some more, and hear things that make you feel like it's all about the mothers who are entering their kids. "I want the crown." I swear that is an actual quote by an adult whose kid was in a contest.
That mom who said that? She's black. And a lesbian. In the South. Just tossing that out there. Breaks the mold a bit. Interesting. Know what else was interesting? The little girl who wanted to win money because she wanted to buy a cow. A cow. A moo cow. (She won, by the way, and when she got off the stage, asked her mother, 'Mama, can I buy a cow now?' and her mother said yes.)
Every girl I saw on the show looked unhappy and uncomfortable (or completely dazed). Maybe a lot of little girls like the idea of being a princess, but I can't imagine they like all the preparation the mothers and grandmothers have decided it takes in order to be a princess. They all looked either disinterested or outrightly sad while their hair and makeup were being done.
Apparently you can be like zero years old and compete in these things - one baby was not only brought on the stage carried by her parent, but brought on stage to accept an award while she was asleep.
These people buy their kids dresses that cost over a thousand dollars. My bat mitzvah dress didn't even cost that much! Just to review, there's a several-hundred dollar pageant entry fee, there's the money for the multiple outfits, the cost of the various coaches, and then travel and hotel costs.
You know what this show reminded me off? The shock I felt when Trixie and I watched Jesus Camp.
This whole thing blows my mind. I can't imagine having a kid, but if I could, I wouldn't be able to imagine carting it around to contests where they are judged on their looks. I could imagine carting it around to see and do all sorts of things, but they wouldn't be based on looks. And yes, I know that they compete in talent and personality and shit, but let's be honest - it's mostly looks. And that looks pretty shallow to me.
Labels: Personally, Tube-Watching
posted by Green at 9/07/2008 10:41:00 PM
4 Comments:
I once watched something similar - I think it was also on one of those learning channels...
Those pageants moms scare the bejesus out of me. There's NOTHING in their vapid minds, this HUGE spacesuck betweent their ears, and they were somehow fulfilling their own dreams of being the pretty girl by smearing globs of chemical-infested cosmetics on their little children's faces... it's surreal and I think they should all be reported for child abuse.
Hmm... so why don't I tell you how I REALLY feel...?
I saw this too - and I want my hour back!
These girls were Stepford Wives in training - same plasticized hair, same robotic smiling faces - freaky!
There's another documentary (posted somewhere on YouTube I believe) called "Living Dolls." It's one of the scariest things I've ever seen.
Don't even get me started on how these women parade their daughters like pieces of meat in dresses and pounds of make up that make them look like, pardon the comparison, little prostitutes. I feel a deep disgust at the controlling mothers and at the psychological damage they are inflicting on the child, and if social services would arrest these women for child abuse I'd report them in a second.
Simply disgusting.
Do you want to know what I think? Does the name "Jon Benet" mean anything?
Rule #1 when having kids (especially when they turn out to be adorable blonde girls): Never torture the baby. ie., examine why you are doing everything you do. Is it for the kid or for yourself? The kid doesn't care about presents at christmas or halloween costumes when they are 6 mos old, they don't care whether their clothes are from BabyGap when they are 3 yrs old. They might care a lot whether mommy and daddy have just blown their bank account on crap and now can't afford braces, summer camp - or college.
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