Demand Stricter Guidelines for Age Appropriate Conduct at Child Beauty Pageants
- by: Krista Ford
- recipient: The Learning Channel (TLC); Congress
Imagine this: A beautiful blonde steps out on stage, and she is dressed to impress. She has her hair done up with hair extensions added in to give it length. Her acrylic nails are French manicured and her lipstick is in the shade of passion pink. She removes her black overcoat to reveal her little blue outfit. The glitter on her hot pants sparkles against her freshly sprayed on tan. The heels of her boots click across the floor as she prepares to entertain an eager audience. No, I’m not talking about an exotic dancer. I have just described a 7-year-old little girl named Morghan and her performance at a beauty pageant as seen on TLC’s Toddlers and Tiaras.
I’m sure that we will all agree that it is wrong for an adult to participate in the sexualization and objectification of a child, right? Well, then, I ask you, why are we, as a society, allowing this? From TLC’s show Toddlers and Tiaras to the recent controversy over a group of 7-9 year old girls dancing in lingerie at the World of Dance competition, it has become quite apparent that the definition of child abuse needs to be more clearly defined and that stricter guidelines for age appropriate conduct need to be mandated by the organizations that host these shows and events.
Protecting Children from Exploitation is one of the most important issues in the USA! Let me ask you something, how many children have to be legally exploited before the people decide to say something? This petition is created with the intent to have Child Beauty Pageants more thoroughly regulated in the United States. We, the people, are demanding stricter guidelines for age appropriate conduct by the organizations that host these shows and events. TLC is just as responsible for the emotional and psychological abuse of these children as the Beauty Pageants and parents are. Toddlers and Tiaras is promoting this abusive behavior and televising erotically dressed little girls directly into the livingroom of thousands of pedophiles! This show is dangerous and its removal should be the first step toward protecting these children from further exploitation.
I%u2019m sure that we will all agree that it is wrong for an adult to participate in the sexualization and objectification of a child, right? Well, then, I ask you, why are we, as a society, allowing this? From TLC%u2019s show Toddlers and Tiaras to the recent controversy over a group of 7-9 year old girls dancing in lingerie at the World of Dance competition, it has become quite apparent that the definition of child abuse needs to be more clearly defined and that stricter guidelines for age appropriate conduct need to be mandated by the organizations that host these shows and events.
Protecting Children from Exploitation is one of the most important issues in the USA! Let me ask you something, how many children have to be legally exploited before the people decide to say something? This petition is created with the intent to have Child Beauty Pageants more thoroughly regulated in the United States. We, the people, are demanding stricter guidelines for age appropriate conduct by the organizations that host these shows and events.
TLC is just as responsible as the Beauty Pageants and parents for the abuse inflicted on these children. Toddlers and Tiaras is promoting this abusive behavior and televising erotically dressed little girls directly into the livingroom of thousands of pedophiles! This show is dangerous and its removal should be the first step toward protecting these children from further exploitation.
We ask that TLC remove the show until age appropriate guidelines are enforced. We ask congress to support us and mandate stricter guidelines for ANY show or event that is capitalizing on the sexualization of children, e.g., TLC's Toddlers and Tiaras , the beauty pageant circuit, etc.
Thank you
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