Dressed in a blue mini-skirt and a white belly-shirt, Paisley walked onto the pageant stage with confidence.
Complete with a blonde wig and black thigh-high boots, she did justice to the lady she was dressed up as: the prostitute Julia Roberts played in “Pretty Woman.”
This seems like a harmless, yet bold choice in fashion, right? Not when you consider the fact that Paisley is three.
The show “Toddlers & Tiaras,” which airs on TLC on Wednesdays, chronicles the life of young kids who compete in beauty pageants.
Bleached teeth, fake teeth, spray tans, eyebrow waxing and costumes with padded breasts are normal for these unfortunate toddlers.
Of course, these toddlers are not acting like this of their own accord. They are guided by their coaches and managers disguised as their mothers.
Everyone has heard of the chronically involved soccer mom who would rather go a day without eating than miss a PTA meeting, but even these super-mothers don’t hold a candle to the pageant moms on the show.
Obsessive, misguided and dangerous aren’t beyond the realm of words that could be used to describe the attitudes that these mothers convey.
Unfortunately, dressing your children up as 21-year-olds when they are three might turn out to have negative consequences.
Kids are already growing up faster and faster with each new generation. It is ridiculous to speed up the process by caking on foundation and mascara at the fresh age of two.
While it is understandable that some moms want their children to find something they are excited about and are good at, it is important to keep in mind the difference between what the child is passionate about and what the parent is passionate about.
It seems to be a relatively far stretch to say that a two year old has the wherewithal to choose extreme pageantry as their hobby of choice.
Yes, many of the children on the show do appear happy to be in pageants, but when mothers are forcing their kids to have their teeth bleached and their eyebrows waxed it sounds ludicrous to say that a child would choose such a lifestyle for herself.
Whether the moms are living vicariously through their children, are ultra-competitive, or are simply captivated by the idea of pageantry, they are doing an extreme disservice to their children by bringing them up in such a superficial world.
What happened to playing dress up with dresses instead of mini-skirts and parading around the house instead of on a stage?
One thing is for certain; it will be interesting to see how these kids grow up. Whether it is at home or at a salon, it’s safe to say that it’s scary to imagine them as teenagers.
Reach the columnist at lweinick@asu.edu
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