Why would any parent who loves their child put so much effort into their child being judged on their looks? It is so superficial.

Watching just one episode of Toddlers and Tiaras told me that it was not worth it.  At all.

Let little girls be little children.  Later they might like to enter the glitter of pageants but parents should be aware of the Princess syndrome that has not only ruined the pockets of teenagers but also the hard earned cash of their parents.

Midwest Mom, those are some great alternative suggestions—love them! I do hope we hear from a few moms who have done pageants so that we can get an informed perspective. I feel like the reality tv shows are destined to show us the worst situations…

I would not allow this even if my daughter wanted to do it!  I had an eating disorder in high school myself & so am a little biased against activities that center around having a girl’s body stared at and judged.  No matter how much you might want to believe its about the clothes or the “whole person” or whatever… the fact remains that women have enough pressure to have a certain “style” of body (thin, curvy <—- although those don’t tend to go together, lol!)  Anyways, no, my daughter will not be doing this.  HOWEVER, we do have two female family members who have been doing these pagents since about age one.  One of the girls is now 18 & the other is about 5.  The 18 year old is not modeling the kind of values I want to see in my girls, although I would never go so far as to make the claim that it is “because” she was dolled up from birth onwards and put in fashion contests.  However, could all the focus on her body & style have assisted in leading her to be the type of “worldly” young woman she is today?  It seems likely to me.  Either way, though, to my way of thinking the fashion-contest mindset cannot possibly HELP me reach my parenting goals for my children… even if it does not HURT them (which, still, I think it really could hurt them).  So, I stay away without giving it a whole lot of deep thought.  I’d need to hear a lot of convincing in favor of pagents before I first believed them to be harmless & then second believed them to be helpful in the goal of guiding my daughter to become a well-integrated Catholic young woman who focuses more on the needs of others than on herself.  I’m all for the sparkly nail polish (which my toddler LOVES), and even let my daughter pretend to put on a little makeup with me in the morning… but nails and makeup are something we do together for fun & not something she gets judged on.  The most I give her by way of comments is, “Oooh, that shade of pink matches your favorite shirt with the hearts all over it!”  NO personal comments about it making her beautiful or anything like that.  It is a “game” for us & when she is much older I will teach her how to put make up on for “real”—just enough to bring out her natural color and her eyes.  No fuss.

The whole thing sickens me. I don’t understand the mentality of a woman that puts her child on display like this.

It’s an activity I certainly don’t understand. My little girls do dance class, actually my son does too because due to a heart condition they aren’t able to do sports. The studio we go to, however, is very conservative regarding dress and the actual dances so I feel secure with my kids participating. I just don’t see the merit in pageants, at all.

I honestly can’t see the reasoning behind child pagaents. Any pro such as being comfortable in front of an audience, public speaking, poise etc… Can be accomplished with activities that have some substance vs. The extreme shallowness of beauty pageants.
Drama. Readers Theater, toastmasters, ballet, singing/playing an instrument at a nursing home….the list is endless.
I truly believe it is about the mothers, not the children. It has to be! How can a 18 month old *want* to be in a pageant???

All I can think of is JonBenet Ramsey and it makes me sad.

I agree with you, Lisa, for same reasons. I have 2 sons. When they were little, I did not even enter them in sports that were demanding perfection or pushing them to be perfect. I mean football with practices every night 6 year olds? I wanted my kids to have a childhood and just be kids. There wasa city basketball league that had 10 games and practice once a week. Perfect. When my sons went into high school, one wasn’t interested and the other played football. He loved it. And he told me one of his teammates quit because he was burned out! Had been playing since he was 5!! Let the kids be kids.

I don’t have this type of experience.  All the girlie things just were part of my life.  However, our sons were interested in the sports of mom and dad.  We told them at what age they could join in competition, made sure they would be outscored so we could focus on the experience, and attended limited events (budget didn’t allow for more).  They turned out fine.  Love the activities.  Have self-esteem and are teaching their children that it’s about participating not winning.  {As a side-bar, I don’t believe all the stuff on the TV shows.  Take the 3 minutes you see and spread it out over a week and it’s not too bad.  But I don’t need the drama!}

Why not start up a Little Flowers Club instead:

http://www.eccehomopress.com/Little-Flowers-Home.html

One episode of Toddlers&Tiaras; was more than enough for me.  That show is a pedophile’s dream.

I have beautiful children and have seriously considered it.  But I agree with you. It would be unfair the to the children, even if they did win money.  I would like to watch the Toddlers & Tiaras some day.

think about the sickos who are judging those contests, and the creepers who go into those nearly-empty hotel meeting rooms to watch and you will realize there is NO MERIT in baby beauty pageants.

this is a parody by Tom Hanks entering his daughter in the “Miss Sexy Baby” contest (but if you didn’t know it was a parody, you might think it really was Toddlers and Tiaras) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPLWKBWkn3s

I have five daughters and have never thought about entering them in something that resembles Toddlers & Tiaras.  I don’t even think that I really “get” the Miss America pageant anymore.  I remember my mom telling me about how the photographer liked my year old photo and they wanted to use my photo as part of an advertisement and my mom practically running out of the studio because she didn’t want me “exploited.”  I think that is what offends so much about these pageants.  I know that some pageants advertise themselves as scholarship programs, but you know, there are other ways to earn scholarships.

The title of the post poses the question, “Are Tiny Pageant Queens Too Young To Dream?”  I wonder, is it the “tiny queens” doing the dreaming…or their parents?

Absolutely NOT. I was a child actress, and I would never, ever, EVER subject my child to that life or the pageant thing. I even scouted for dance teachers that insisted on modest, age-appropriate clothing and dance moves (none of that booty-shaking nonsense). If I had it my way, this would be banned. I even screen movies/tv programs with kids to find out how the children are treated on set before I will watch it. Hannah Montana is a big NO (along with all the other Disney programs because the company looks at the child stars as “brands”). Chronicles of Narnia movies were a YES because they were sensitive to the kids and didn’t expect them to behave like adults, nor were the child actors “brands” who were trotted out in the talk show circuit.

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