Toddlers & Tiaras

Recently, I watched the premiere episode of Toddlers & Tiaras on TLC. For those who don't know, Toddlers & Tiaras is a show about children in beauty pageants. And yes, I know that I'm late because the episode first aired in late July. However, I was completely appalled to see how Jamie Sterling treated her beautiful little girl, AshLynn Sterling. AshLynn is six years old, and is a fraternal twin. Her sister is named BreAnne. Jamie Sterling clearly favors BreAnne, saying that BreAnne is the prettiest out of her five girls and more outgoing, while AshLynn is timid and has a bigger nose. She says that BreAnne takes after her mother. At one point in the show, they learn that AshLynn ripped the bottom of her dress, and Jamie talks about how it will be a hassle for her to fix the dress, while BreAnne is getting a new dress. Jamie never expects AshLynn to win the pageant. Her pride and joy is BreAnne and it's obvious. Near the end of the show, BreAnne wins second place runner-up, but was sleeping because she had been acting up. AshLynn won third place runner-up and Director's Choice. AshLynn was so excited that she had won, but instead of gloating, she tried to give her sister the balloons she had won. At the end of the show, BreAnne says that she was the real winner and that their "mommy had said so." AshLynn looks crushed.

While watching the show, I just felt like crying. Both of the girls are pretty, but I can already tell that AshLynn is going to have a very low self-esteem when she gets older, and she already seems to have problems now. She said that she doesn't like competing in pageants because it's hard to win against her sister. BreAnne says that she likes competing in pageants because she wins. Talk about sibling rivalry -- pitting two little girls (who are twins) against each other at a young age... What also bothered me about the whole beauty pageant for children thing was that children are extremely impressionable. When they stand up there to get awards and another little girl gets "Most Beautiful" or another little boy gets "Most Handsome," think about what a blow that can be. Or when another child gets almost all of the awards, and you end up with nothing? People put their kids in these pageants starting from when they are newborns. And I'm not trying to bash pageants, because I've actually been in two of them myself. But the pageant that I was in was different. They didn't let young girls wear makeup, they didn't have "Most Beautiful." The pageants that I was in didn't do things that would completely crush us. I mean, sure. It sucked to not win. But I'm not going to spend years of my life in therapy because I didn't (And the second time, I placed 13 out of 89. Not too shabby, in my opinion).

After watching the show, all I really wanted was to hug AshLynn. And maybe to yell at Jamie a little bit. Parents have a huge impact on children, and they have to realize that. As for the pageant, it may be all fun and happiness for the children who win. But for kids like AshLynn, who don't even have full support from their parents? Why can't people be supportive of all of their kids? I mean, if you're going to have a favorite child, go ahead. But don't show that favoritism to the rest of your children... because you might end up harming them more than you think.