Did you miss my recent appearance on ANDERSON?
Pageant moms seem to be pushing their kids too hard. Is there too much emphasis on physical appearance for little girls who compete in pageants?
Anderson says: “A couple of years ago, if you had told me that moms were spray painting their five year olds and making them wear hair extensions and false teeth, i wouldn’t have believed you. But after watching Toddlers and Tiaras, nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to child beauty pageants. The truth is, as you probably know, I would watch just about anything on tv. I have lost many of productive Saturday afternoon just shame base tv watching, Real Housewives marathons- I even watch Ice Loves Coco (and man, does she love him), but Toddler and Tiaras takes it to a whole new level. It is a huge hit for TLC. It’s made pageants an even bigger business than they were. I hear there’s more than five thousand child pageants every year; there are hundred of thousands of kids who participate in these pageants every year. And the reason why I wanted to do this show today is cause I’m not sure really what I think about these pageants. I mean… part of me thinks, well if the kids enjoy it and are getting something out of it, then who am I to judge, but then a lot of these parents seem to be pushing their kids really hard. I also have questions about how appropriate it is for kids to be dressing up and made up like adults- dancing around on stage sometimes in skimpy outfits. I think as society we sexualize kids- very young kids, and I’m worried that pageants may play apart in that.”
To see what happens during the show, including my commentary- which highly offended the parents on the show, and led to one shouting her disagreement, watch the video of the Anderson Cooper segment below. It gets a little fiery ….