Are Television Shows Like the Hit T.V Reality Series Toddler’s and Tiara’s A Bad Influence?
Reality television is quickly becoming a big part of pop culture in America today and researchers say that the amount of viewers watching reality TV has sky rocketed in the last decade. However, despite how addicting it can be to watch, hit reality TV shows such as the show Toddlers and Tiaras are a negative influence for girls of all ages. These shows are encouraging sexuality at a young age, influencing negative behavior and bad manners, prioritizing looks and beauty and emphasizing the wrong meaning of accomplishment.
To begin, girl-oriented television shows are encouraging sexuality through the skanky and provocative attire that the young stars of shows such as Toddlers and Tiaras are expected to wear. For instance, in one episode of the show, a young three year old girl named Paisley was dressed to match the vicarious scenes of Pretty Woman, as Julia Roberts. Her mother dressed her in clothing showing more than a regular swim suit or gymnastics leotard would, and she strutted the stage in knee high black boots and a midriff-bearing top. However this was not the most controversial episode from Toddlers and Tiaras. The episode that seemed to get the most attention, with a custody battle had people talking. A four year old girl was dressed as a Dolly Parton for a role in her beauty pageant with a costume full of fake breasts and a padded butt. Many viewers and parents began to comment via Twitter and other online sources expressing there disgust saying things like, "Hope for the future... fading” (“Pedophiles”). Diane Levin, an author of a recent book called, So Sexy So Soon: The Next Sexualized Childhood and How Parents Can Protect Their Kids said that, “this behavior has an effect on what it means for the child herself, and what it means for other people including other children who see it. The girl clearly sees being pretty as being pretty in sexy way, like a...