Response to "Toddlers and... Sexuality?"

This is a response to Chloe's "Toddlers and…Sexuality?"

Here is the original post: http://chloesmc305.blogspot.ca/2012/04/toddlers-and-sexuality.html

Chloe, I too find Toddlers and Tiaras pretty horrifying. I haven’t seen a full episode of it, but I have seen bits and pieces from commercials, and it breaks my heart whenever I see a little girl being forced to dress sexually. The worst part is when their mom applies false lashes on them (I can imagine how uncomfortable it is for such young girls to wear false lashes), they cry really hard but the mothers don’t really care, some even lecture them for not “behaving” well. I recently read an article (attached below) about a show very similar to “Toddlers and Tiaras” called “Dance Moms”, and the article talks about the little girls in the show being forced to wear bikinis that are two sizes too small for them, and the reason is to appear like they are naked (really grossed me out). One girl cries and yells that she didn’t want to be naked in front of a large group of audiences, but they make her do it anyways. If this happen to an adult, she has her every right to refuse and if someone forces her, she can even call for sexual harassment, if it is wrong to do such things to adult why would it be okay to do it to children? Because they are helpless? 

"Dance Moms" little girls' naked costume.

A little too much?Cyrus was underage when this was taken.

I think reason why these shows are getting more popular and more shows are coming up with idea of sexualizing children, because for some reasons there are demands for it. It is very difficult to fully understand if popular culture influences media, or if it’s the other way around, I believe is a combination of both. I think for this case, recent popular culture seems to promote pedophilia (making attraction to younger adults like a normal thing). I always wonder why Justin Bieber became such a huge icon, when he first got famous, he was only 15 or 16, and there were people out there who were twice or triple his age calling him “hot”. Disney stars like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez…etc, often have some sort of baby face, but they are presented as sexualized adults. Miley Cyrus is often criticized for her skimpy outfits, and Selena Gomez is often shown with a lot of make-up and very mature outfits. Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez’s relationship is highly publicized, there are tons of pictures of them public displaying their affection, though the two may not be underage anymore at this point, but due to their teenage-looking-image, those coverage still gross me out. Perhaps it is celebrities like this that promoted the trend of liking younger adults, like we discussed at the beginning of the course, celebrities are carefully crafted to look a certain way, however, the combination of baby-face looking teenagers and adulterous outfits or sexualized image certainly does not impress me.

Young-looking adults or sexualized teenagers?

A little young for Vanity Fair?

Personally I think the trend of making even younger children looking/acting like adults and sexualizing them seem to be a reinforcement of the culture of what I would refer to as pedophilia. Moreover, the discussion we had in lecture on how advertisers try to promote their products to children by sexualizing them was definitely shocking to hear. I hope that audience will one day be aware of these issues and recognize the effect it has on children, because it is only through them (not only criticizing but also by boycotting and saying no to sexualizing kids) that can stop the unhealthy trend this unethical business people are promoting (they wouldn’t promote the trend if they can’t make profit). Sometimes I wonder where the trend of liking and sexualizing younger adults came from, and of course, it is so complex that it’s almost impossible to see. 

Article about "Dance Moms" and the 'naked' little girls:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2112156/Dance-Moms-hits-new-low-Girls-young-EIGHT-wear-nude-bikinis-burlesque-routines.html