Toddlers and Tiaras

Toddlers and Tiaras is a TLC Networks reality show that gives viewers a look behind the scenes of the sometimes-strange world of child beauty pageants. The show is not without its detractors – it has been a lightening rod for criticism – but it has also been a ratings winner for the network.

Young pageant contestants often look like models.

The idea behind Toddlers and Tiaras is simple. The show follows various families as they prepare for child beauty pageants. Viewers get to see what goes into getting a child ready for a pageant, from the coaching to the tanning to photos to the outfit selections, and they also hear from the families themselves about why they have such young children competing in these events. Each episode of the show focuses on a different pageant and viewers also see how the pageant competition comes together and who ultimately wins the prizes. Some of the pageants featured on the show include:

• Universal Royalty Pageant
• Miss Georgia Spirit
• Universal Royalty State Pageant
• Chitlin’ Strut
• Kentucky Southern Celebrity
• Southern Celebrity Wonderland Pageant
• Stars of Pennsylvania
• Texas Walk of Fame
• Darling Divas

Each pageant is essentially run the same way, and the girls compete in the same competitions at almost every event. Typically in each pageant there is:

• Talent
• Evening wear
• Casual wear
• Swimsuit events

Some of the pageants award prizes for each round with one overall winner, while other pageants hand out first, second, third and runner up prizes to overall winners with no event-specific awards given.

The prizes at the pageants can be significant. Winners can take home several thousands of dollars, school scholarship money and other prizes.

There are a few themes and basic storylines that run through all of the episodes of this program:

With large prize money at stake in these pageants, competition is stiff. Yet, the issue of the financial benefits of the pageants is frequently raised. Many, if not most, of the families involved in the pageants seem to be of relatively modest financial means, and the cost of competing in the pageants can be in the range of tens of thousands of dollars. The prize money seldom offsets the investment, unless a child wins repeatedly.

One of the major themes of the show is the physical preparation of the children for competition. Getting ready for an event often involves:

• Spray tans
• False eyelashes
• Fake nails
• Heavy make-up
• Hair pieces
• The ever-popular "flipper," which is a set of dentures of sorts for children who have small teeth or who are missing teeth. All of these treatments are done on children younger than two. The children are often shown crying or complaining when getting ready for a pageant, and the debate over these issues is frequently addressed on the show.

The parents are a major focus on the show, and viewers get to see them preparing their children for competition as well as their reactions when their children do not win an event. One of the most popular cast members on the show is the so-called "Pageant Dad." David, the father of two year old Ava, is involved in every step of her pageant prep from beading her gown to helping develop a talent routine for her. David also works as a pageant coach, helping other girls learn how to compete. He runs a blog on the TLC website answering viewer questions about pageants. You can see it here.

Toddlers and Tiaras has attracted the ire of many viewers. There is a Facebook group, started by a group of teenage girls, that is lobbying to have the show removed from the air on the grounds that it sexualizes girls as young as two. Blogs have addressed the show in droves, mostly charging that the pageant parents are oversexualizing their children, using them to earn cash and living vicariously through them. Controversy aside – or perhaps because of it – more seasons of the show are planned.

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