Earlier this morning I saw a story on MSNBC.com about the reality show “Dance Moms” on the Lifetime network. Apparently an upcoming episode of the show had the girls (yes, they are little girls) performing a “topless” fan dance. The dance instructor said that the girls weren’t really topless but just looked like they were. Lifetime decided to pull the plug on that episode. Thank. God.
But seriously, this bugs me. Why would anyone think this kind of routine would be appropriate for children? Is the dance instructor really clueless or is it something more smarmy, a ratings ploy? I think it has to be a ratings grabber and in that case, are we, as television viewers fueling this kind of exploitation of children? I think we are. Toddlers & Tiaras is another program that has been criticized (rightly so), for portraying children as sex objects with skimpy outfits and Tammy Faye Bakker-style make up. And yet, it’s a popular show. I think shows like Dance Moms and Toddlers & Tiaras are trying to shock us and the people who watch these shows are fascinated in a “it’s so horrible I can’t look away” kind of way. But is that part of the problem? I think so.
If people don’t watch these programs, the networks won’t show them. If there is no audience for exploitation, there won’t be any profit and television is all about profits. And I am pulling no punches when I say that yes, this is definitely exploitation. I feel terrible for the children on these shows who have parents naive fame-hungry enough to allow their children to be sexualized, degraded and objectified on national television.
As a society I think we have to say enough is enough with these kinds of reality shows. If a group of adults wants to go on television and be shocking, I can live with it. I don’t like it, but I just won’t watch it. But children have to be protected and if these Dance Moms and pageant moms won’t do it for their own children, we as a society have to do it and it starts by turning off those programs, writing advertisers and networks and telling them that THIS IS NOT OKAY.
What do you think? Am I overreacting? Not reacting enough? Enlighten me!
Mommy Manifesto 
I am almost speechless! I have never seen this Toddlers and Tiaras, but have seen the ads for it. It IS child exploitation–at the very least! And, we should stand up and express our disapproval–and disgust–for things like this…otherwise these trends assume a snowball effect and take more and more people along with them simply because “Everyone else thinks it’s OK, and I don’t want to be the only one who stands out in the crowd by disproving.”