It is no secret that I am not a fan of the TV program Toddlers and Tiaras. I often wonder if it is strictly for the love of money, the desire to live their life through their daughter or both that is making egotistical mothers sexualize their little girls and parade them as mini-vamps before the public. Talk about pushing the envelope, one T&T mother recently dressed her four-year-old daughter as Dolly Parton complete with fake boobs and butt.
Currently, there is a controversy brewing over a tee shirt sold on-line by JC Penney. Designed for girls 7 to 16, the shirt reads, “I’m too pretty to do homework. So my brother has to do it for me.” Curious to know if an equal number of women who are expressing outrage over a tee shirt that they claim is sexist, are voicing their objection to programs that exploit little girls, I did my own reseach and was pleased to discover that there are nearly as many people who dislike T&T as there are those upset over that tee shirt.
I found quite a few people on Twitter voicing their objection to the tee shirt. I also found a significant number who also think that T&T and similar programs are much more degrading to little girls than the tee shirt in question. I entirely agree with one tweeter who wrote “If there is a more cringe-inducing show than Toddlers and Tiaras on TV, I don’t want to know what it is.”
JC Penney bowed to the pressure and pulled the shirt off the market, and a spokesperson issued a statement agreeing with the objectors that the shirt delivered an inappropriate message.
T&T and copy cat programs are apparently popular with some viewers which raises the question, what’s next? Is there a TV reality series similar to Real Housewives in the making called “Real Toddler Couples” where the basic concept is to show little children in “Tom Thumb” marriages? Don’t gasp – it is a sad reality that a program about little children simulating married couples playing house could be closer than you think.