A kiddie pageant mother who padded her four year old daughter’s chest and bottom to simulate Dolly Parton is now in a custody dispute with the child’s father.
It is difficult to say whether kiddie pageants are more disturbing or the so called “reality” shows based around them. To many of us, the pageants are a short step away from kiddie porn. Clearly, children should not be sexualized so early.
The adults operating and parents participating in such pageants take the view that the activity is harmless — even positive — for the children taking part.
Young children are not, of course, aware why they are being encouraged to gyrate and smile on cue. They simply do or attempt to do what their parents ask of them. These primped and padded little girls quickly, however, learn the meaning of “failure” and all too soon learn to associate failure and success with their looks.
Watching little egos alternately inflated and battered is painful. Which is why many of us turn the pageants off.
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ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse 