{"id":1478695,"date":"2022-05-17T19:14:50","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T23:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1478695"},"modified":"2022-05-17T19:14:54","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T23:14:54","slug":"the-sordid-and-tragic-legacy-of-toddlers-tiaras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-sordid-and-tragic-legacy-of-toddlers-tiaras\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sordid And Tragic Legacy Of \u2018Toddlers &#038; Tiaras\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-sordid-and-tragic-legacy-of-toddlers-tiaras%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1478695&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/05\/Toddlers.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>In a 2011 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WvCfkejRGbY\"><span>interview<\/span><\/a><span>, Fox11 Los Angeles anchor Jeff Michael grilled Marcy Posey Gatterman, a pageant mom, as she sat next to her daughter, <\/span><span>Kailia Posey. \u201cDo you see poise, or do you see sex-ploitation?\u201d Kailia, who couldn\u2019t stop making faces at the camera, is shown dolled up and wearing all pink. Her brunette hair is heaped atop her head with at least half a can of hairspray and her face is full of makeup: blush, mascara, eye shadow, the works. She has the confidence of a seasoned performer, one who has been playing a part \u2014 as she had been for two years at the time. Of course Kailia couldn\u2019t stop looking at the camera. She was only five.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Marcy became defensive in response to <\/span><span>Michael<\/span><span>\u2019s question. \u201cI put her in age-appropriate things,\u201d she said. Would she dress her daughter up as Julia Roberts\u2019 prostitute character from \u201cPretty Woman,\u201d as another mom had<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/tv\/toddlers-tiaras-controversy-are-they-growing-up-too-fast\/\"> <span>infamously done<\/span><\/a><span> with her daughter? Of course not. (But Kailia did<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sg4mf2mB2uQ\"> <span>take the pageant stage<\/span><\/a><span> dressed as a sexy nurse.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Kailia didn\u2019t have much to say during the interview \u2014 she was too busy being a five-year-old and making faces at the camera. But her mother staunchly defended her decision to let Kailia participate in child beauty pageants and star in the TLC show \u201cToddlers &#038; Tiaras.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Painting a toddler\u2019s face with makeup, spray tanning her whole body and pushing her up on stage to be judged by a bunch of adults isn\u2019t exactly a typical way to inspire confidence and poise in your child. Many girls on stage may exude self-assurance, but what happens when the stage lights turn off? In the interview, Michael warned: \u201cWhen that attention finally goes away, she won\u2019t know what to do. The depression follows that. There are a lot of disorders that follow that\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>More than a decade later, Kailia was still participating in pageants. <\/span><span>In February of this year, she competed in Miss Teen Washington. Her bio<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.misswashingtonusa.com\/2022-miss-washington-teen-usa-contestants\/\"> <span>read<\/span><\/a><span>, in part, \u201cKailia hopes to show members of her generation that they can positively impact the world if they are patient and work hard.\u201d Her Instagram is full of smiling photos, many so airbrushed that she looks more like the subject in a painting than a picture. Just last month, she attended her high school prom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Days later, she committed suicide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAlthough she was an accomplished teenager with a bright future ahead of her, unfortunately in one impetuous moment, she made the rash decision to end her earthly life,\u201d Kailia\u2019s family<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2022\/05\/03\/toddlers-and-tiaras-star-kailia-posey-died-by-suicide-family-says\/\"> <span>told<\/span><\/a> <span>TMZ. \u201cShe won countless crowns &#038; trophies after competing on the pageant circuit her entire life \u2026 Her highly acclaimed talent as a contortionist had already led to professional touring job offers, and she had recently been selected to be a cheerleader at her high school next fall.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Kailia\u2019s story is tragic, and we can\u2019t know exactly what circumstances led to a 16-year-old making such a fatal decision. But it is worth wondering: Had she not been put through the child beauty pageant circuit, would her life have turned out differently?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cToddlers &#038; Tiaras\u201d first aired in 2009. It ran off and on for seven seasons, finally ending in 2016 but spawning three spin-offs and launching Alana Thompson, better known as \u201cHoney Boo Boo,\u201d into fame. <\/span><span>After Kailia appeared on the show, she became a<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/gamerant.com\/kailia-posey-grinning-girl-meme-died\/\"> <span>meme<\/span><\/a><span>. <\/span><span>As much as viewers and critics condemned the show for exploiting children, it aired so long for a reason: During its height, it attracted over<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelist.com\/317217\/what-the-most-memorable-toddlers-tiaras-stars-are-doing-now\/#:~:text=Despite%20its%20drama%2C%20people%20loved,episode%20during%20the%20show&#039;s%20heyday.\"> <span>2 million viewers<\/span><\/a> <span>per episode.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And what were these viewers seeing? A mother<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/maddy-verst-dolly-parton-custody-toddlers-tiaras_n_1812317\"> <span>dressing up<\/span><\/a> <span>her four-year-old daughter as Dolly Parton, complete with fake boobs and butt; another four-year-old<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.today.com\/popculture\/four-year-old-hits-stage-cigarette-toddlers-tiaras-972251\"> <span>smoking<\/span><\/a> <span>a fake cigarette; scores of young girls sporting fake tans, hair and even teeth; and, of course, the \u201cPretty Woman\u201d incident. Parents argued that they were inspiring confidence in their young girls. In the end, it just looks like hundreds of girls, starting at three and four years old, were constantly told they weren\u2019t good enough.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In one episode, a mother asks her daughter, \u201cAre you pretty?\u201d instead of saying, \u201cYou are pretty,\u201d and this sends the little girl into a spiral. \u201cMommy, she\u2019s thinking I\u2019m not beautiful,\u201d she<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=F4KOuknaQyQ\"> <span>cries<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><span> \u201cAnd I am always beautiful.\u201d This, she clearly doesn\u2019t believe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If the children of beauty pageants struggle with self-esteem, battle depression and find it difficult not to see themselves as sexual objects, we shouldn\u2019t be surprised. The girls of \u201cToddlers &#038; Tiaras,\u201d and the many beauty pageant contestants who never made it on the show, are constantly being judged, ostensibly for their talents, but always for their looks. They get their looks by dressing two decades older than they are. And no, these aren\u2019t just Halloween costumes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cChild beauty pageants gain legitimacy within what might be called the myth of innocence in which children are often portrayed as inhabiting a world that is untainted, magical and utterly protected from the harshness of adult life,\u201d writes cultural critic Henry A. Giroux in \u201cChildhood and Celebrity.\u201d \u201cInnocence in this scenario \u2026 offers an excuse for adults to evade responsibility for how children are firmly connected to and shaped by the social, economic and cultural institutions run largely by adults.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In other words, you can\u2019t argue that children in sexy nurse costumes aren\u2019t affected by them because they don\u2019t realize what they\u2019re wearing. The adults, who should know better, know exactly what is going on. And the girls internalize a certain message: They\u2019re only valuable as long as they\u2019re pretty and sexy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to the American Psychological Association, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.apa.org\/news\/press\/releases\/2007\/02\/sexualization#:~:text=Mental%20and%20Physical%20Health%3A%20Research,and%20depression%20or%20depressed%20mood\"><span>research<\/span><\/a><span> links sexualization with depression, low self-esteem and anxiety. And the $5 billion child pageant industry is<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/heinonline.org\/HOL\/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals\/tresl13&#038;div=7&#038;id=&#038;page=\"> <span>profiting<\/span><\/a><span> from all of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cToddlers &#038; Tiaras\u201d may be off air, but that doesn\u2019t mean the exploitation it revealed is any less prevalent. Thousands of child beauty pageants still take place each year. The problem, however, runs deeper than the pageant world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Unfortunately, young girls don\u2019t need to participate in beauty pageants to be exposed to hypersexualiztion. All they have to do is look at the magazines in the grocery store check-out lines, turn on the TV or open their phones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The racy film \u201cCuties,\u201d supposedly meant to criticize the sexualization of young girls, is still streaming on Netflix. Any teenageer with an Instagram account will tell you that social media and its ubiquitous face-altering filters are certainly not helping their self-esteem. A Wall Street Journal investigative<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/facebook-knows-instagram-is-toxic-for-teen-girls-company-documents-show-11631620739\"> <span>report<\/span><\/a> <span>last year revealed that Instagram knows exactly what it\u2019s doing. \u201cThirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse,\u201d a team of internal researchers said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That said, Kailia Posey\u2019s heartbreaking story doesn\u2019t have to be the story of her peers. When it seems like the whole world is telling girls that their bodies give them value, they need adults telling them they\u2019re worth so much more than the parts that win points at beauty pageants. They need adults to let them be kids.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Madeline Fry Schultz is the assistant contributors editor at the Washington Examiner. Before that, she was the culture commentary writer at the Washington Examiner. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a 2011 interview, Fox11 Los Angeles anchor Jeff Michael grilled Marcy Posey Gatterman, a pageant mom, as she sat next to her daughter, Kailia Posey. \u201cDo you see poise,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":798,"featured_media":1483483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1478695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/798"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1478695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1478695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1483483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1478695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1478695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1478695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}