Dressed in thigh high hooker boots paired with a white cut off mini skirt and revealing shirt, portraying the role of Julia Roberts’ prostitute outfit in the movie Pretty Women,  3 year old Paisley Dickey strutted her stuff across the pageant stage in a recent episode of Toddlers and Tiaras. If seeing a toddler pounce around in a prostitute costume is not demoralizing enough, 4 year old Maddy Jackson was dressed in a hot pink cat suit, padded to produce a littler version of the curvy country singer Dolly Parton, in an earlier episode. The mother tried to defend her daughters Dolly Parton costume “enhancements” but she had no argument over what the public had to say.

3 year old Paisley Dickens dressed to represent
Julia Roberts' prostitute character.

Viewers were outraged by the drastic measures mothers on the show are taking to ensure that their daughters receive the title to the crown. On the shows Facebook page, followers had nothing more to say except negative comments asking the same questions, “When will enough be enough,  Where will the line be drawn for these mothers, and Do these “mothers” see nothing wrong with dressing their daughters up in such provocative ways?” These mothers are priming their daughters futures by making life, in toddlers eyes’ , to appear as materialistic. The question now is, “When will someone speak out?“ Sure, people have complained about the episodes produced and criticized its morality, but no one is taken preliminary actions as to stopping these episodes from happening.
Unsurprisingly, TLC has had no comment on the provocative episodes they have been showing, but why should they? A spokeswomen against the TV show stated, “There’s no question, TV executives are complicit in robbing these small kids of their childhood”. Why would the company want to pull episodes from time slots when it is bringing in media attention and more revenue to their company? They could care less if the girls grow up to be nothing more than the characters they portray themselves to be. As long as they can pay the bills at home, they will allow toddlers to run across the stage naked if they wanted to. That’s when the question is asked, “What is America becoming?” Where has America’s morals gone? When has it become socially acceptable for a toddler to promote herself in such a negative way? Better yet, why are the mothers allowing this? Do the mothers not think of all the child sex offenders who watch this show due to the lack of clothing and sexual actions the girls are forced to make? Why aren’t the mothers realizing that what they are doing is wrong?  Thankfully, The PTC  (Parents Television Council) has had no problem finding words to express this controversy.
“We have a serious problem when the learning channel features a toddler, who probably hasn’t even learned to read, dresses as a prostitute showing off her sexy strut” PTC spokeswomen told Entertainment Magazine. The PTC is outraged by the controversy of these episodes and is pulling all its cards to try and limit the choices mothers can make. They argue that not only are the clothing choices ridiculously inappropriate, but so are the decisions of the mothers who put their daughters though hour long make-up and tanning session. These young girls are being transformed from little girls to young women. When these girls get older, they are going to depend on make-up and beauty products because they were taught that only those things can make you beautiful. These girls will never feel comfortable in their own skin because they were raised to wear pounds of make-up, false nails, false teeth, and self tanners.
So the question lies, “Will the show start bowdlerizing its episodes to ensure the safety of  these young girls, or will they continue to degrade them until something horrific happens”. The viewers and critics will have to keep arguing their sides until something is done.