I was fourteen, almost fifteen, when I started to wear make-up. It was in August, the summer before freshman year started. I was so confused about the world of lipstick, eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow and all those other alien words like “applicator”. I grew up a tomboy with a girly side, but I never tired on make-up until then. The reasons for me waiting weren’t just because I wasn’t allowed to, but, I didn’t need to either. I let my natural beauty show, and even now at sixteen and a half I more often go without the messy, time consuming, and unnecessary task of applying make-up before I leave the house. I prefer it that way. At sixteen I barely need make-up. I see girls with their faces plastered like cakes with neon colors and foundation too orange for even Snooki to endure. So, hear me out when I say I can’t understand why there are children participating in Beauty Pageants, looking like a cake face.

One night while I lazily finished some math problems and an English essay, I stopped on TLC and became engrossed in a show which should be called a “freak” show for what I witnessed. The show’s title, “Toddlers and Tiaras” is a little bit of a misnomer, considering that some of the ages are around six months. Parent’s thrust two, three, four year olds on stage like a monkey, doing the dancing or routine behind the judges since the children are too young to really remember anyway. Some parents yelled and swore when their kids messed up or froze on stage. Do they forget that they are kids? Forget kids, they are mostly toddlers!

I put down my pencil and absorbed the show some more. The show wasn’t addicting to me, but it had a quality that made me want to watch it and find out more about the toddlers competing to be the most “beautiful”. It hooked me in a sad way. Their beauty consisted of fake eyelashes, heavy make-up, hair extensions, and the worst of the bunch, spray tanning. Two year olds are getting spray-tanned by their mothers, often times coaches as well, so their skin looks sun kissed and perfect in their skimpy swimsuits or glitzy costumes. What a horror it was to witness children stuck in an outfit inappropriate for a teen to adorn. They were short outfits, revealing tops, skin tight material. What madness it is! These kids should be running outside and playing with friends. Instead, they are shoved into a world where material possessions, money, and superficial and shallow looks trumps all. It isn’t just a skin deep problem, at such a young age it will affect them psychologically as well.

They’ll grow up thinking that they must be the most beautiful, must be flawless or they are rejects, the losers. They are taught that looks will get them money and notoriety. These morals go against the backbone of what people stand for, against the morals that parents want to instill in their children especially at such crucial ages. But besides the fake sense of superiority and vain qualities of the show the absolute worst part is the parents.

I pushed my work aside and sat agape at the circus on the T.V. Tears streamed down the unnaturally tanned faces of the children as the parents brushed their hair and put it into perfect place, attaching fake pieces for added volume. Some kids pleaded for them to stop and asked to go home, but the parents continued the ruthless charade, promising it would pay off. They stuck their kids into outfits that looked about as comfortable as a bed of spikes and ushered them into the spotlight. I have to wonder if they even asked the children if they wanted to do it. I don’t think they do. I think it is parents trying to live through their kids and it’s disgusting. Sometimes it gets downright abusive.

When tantrums ensues in the chaos of the glitter, which can be expected from the tired and bored toddlers, the parents through a fit themselves and yell at their kids. Parents yank their kids around and parade them on stage, promising it will be okay. Am I the only one to see this abuse? Then, like I said earlier, they mimic the routine so the kids know what to do. If they mess up, some parents get angered.

I shut the show off appalled and shocked at what I had seen. A superficial world, that most high school students don’t exhibit or even witness, was happing to mere toddlers. Whenever I see commercials with the Barbie doll kids, showing off skin and make-up I gag.

What’s happen to the world?