Turning women into little girls and little girls into women
Here’s actress Jennifer Aniston in a photo shoot for Allure’s February issue :
She is posed childlike, with a childish fringe and in her pyjamas which are open at the top to reveal just a little breast but not too much because that would undermine the illusion of Aniston being young and sweet. In the first image, her nose appears to have been airbrushed to make it look more button-nose in appearance. The teddy bear is the final touch, further suggesting carefree innocence.
In the second image she is reclining with the teddy, possibly topless, looking even more pre-pubescent, her face doll-like. But notice the expression in the first – perhaps she knows more than we think? Borrowing from an increasing popular genre of pornography, which 
Gail Dines exposes in Pornland, the suggestion is that girls like this really aren’t so innocent. They can’t wait to ‘grow up’ and to be initiated into adult ways.
Thanks Jennifer. You could have said no. You could have said, actually can I appear as myself rather than as hybrid child-woman? How come Brad Pitt is never asked to pose as a little boy with a toy fire truck? Could I be represented as a professional actress and not as an infantalised woman and (radical idea) – could I also look like myself please? (extreme airbrushing has rendered her barely recognisable).
Beauty Pageant Child Abuse
And here’s a 5-year-old girl being tortured in preparation for a beauty pageant in which she will be made to look much older than she is. Watching this hideous clip, from the TV show Toddlers & Tiaras, I felt like a witness to child abuse (“don’t tear it!”, the little girl pleads). The child is powerless. She has no control, her desires over-ridden by powerful adults. The mother admits that on a previous occasion her daughter was burnt by the hot wax and that she holds her down.
Melissa Wardy at Pigtail Palls has written to the producers of the show and the station that runs it, asking them to pull it.
“Toddlers & Tiaras” is a petri dish of sexualization. Little girls are taught, often times forced by their domineering mothers, to act coquettishly, learn suggestive dance routines, wear sexualized costumes and bathing suits, endure hours of hair and make-up, and are even put on restrictive diets in order to lose weight for competition. This is perverse. While TLC continues to air “Toddlers & Tiaras”, the network becomes an agent of this sexualization.
The toxic culture of the pageant world, the judging of beauty, is confusing to young children who have not yet reached the emotional-intellectual milestones of understanding reality and competition. These little girls become infantilized women as their parents and coaches do whatever it takes to win that crown and of course, the money. The time alone spent prepping for pageants robs girls of their childhood, time that should be spent learning and playing and socializing with friends. Teaching young girls a very narrow version of beauty, transforming their bodies so that their beauty can be measured and judged, or to use their sexualized bodies to earn money for the family is disgusting…When you add to this the chemically dangerous spray tans, butt glue, nail glue, eyelash glue, hairspray, and cosmetics applied to these tiny, developing bodies, it is not a stretch to say these pageant programs are both emotionally and physically abusive.
Girlish Jennifer. Womanly child pageant entrants. Two sides of the one coin.
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January 20th, 2011 at 10:34 am
Great post! It just doesn’t stop. When will TV producers find other material to push on us that we might actually learn from? TLC=The Looser Channel.
January 20th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
As a mum to an almost 4.5 year old, it is beyond me how another mother could put her daughter through that. I do everything I can to keep my daughters innocence. Why do other mum want to take that away from their children?
I also wonder what sort of message is being sent with pictures like that of Jennifer Aniston, who exactly are we saying it ok for men that it’s ok to lust over by suggesting such a look is sexy?
January 20th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Wow – when I first opened up the page, actually wondered who it was in the top photo – it doesn’t look anything like JA normally does. What is she playing at? Although, I find many celebrity centred features in magazines quite ridiculous, and Aniston’s piece featured above only confirms for me that she is a bit of a waste of space.
Regarding Toddlers & Tiaras, I actually watch this show regularly on the Lifestyle You channel on pay tv – being Australian and not having ever been around anything like that pageant circut I sit there with my eyes popping out of my head at some of the things the parents get up to. It is like a horror reality show.
However, in defence of the producers of the show, they aren’t actually condoning what goes on. As is I see it, they show is taking away any pretence about what/why most of these mothers put their children through and clearly display that despite the parent saying “little kimmy jo loves it and wants to do this”, or “when kayleeehhh says no, then we won’t do this any more” they infact do make their kids perform like tarted up circus freaks. Now I say most, as they also portray (abiet a small number) of seemingly well adjusted familes whose children participate seem to have fun with it (ie the ones who don’t “fake up” thier children – referred to as the Natural look as opposed to the Glitz look in the show). However, there is no denying that some children appear traumatised by the experiences they go though in order to achieve “the look” that is required to participate in the competitions – the girl featured in the clip above is a prime example, seriously, the mother needed to be locked up, and I am surprised that the beautician simply didn’t refuse to wax the child.
That said though, I have also seen in real life, children harassed into paritipcating in traditional sports/activities where they are forced to do things by the parents that the child might not necessarily choose (ie being made to perform on stage in a recital, participate in a team sport etc), and also wearing clothing that might not be the childs choice (some sports uniforms leave a lot to be desired). Is it a case that people are more willing to harshly judge the pageant industry because of the “beauty” factor. I am not saying that i don’t find those pagents quite unsettling and disturbing because I do, but I am saying that many child-centered activities can also include elements raised.
Perhaps instead of the tv producers being targeted, it is the whole pageant industry itself that needs looking at, and realted to that associated services including age limits being enforced for things like fake tans (there was a baby being tanned in one episode – it was disgusting).
January 20th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Words fail me…on both stories. Pretty weird!!
January 20th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
In addition to the reasons you’ve highlighted, I find the Jennifer Aniston images disturbing for how… unhuman she looks. Particularly in the second image – I feel like I am looking at a photo of one of those Japanese sex robots or a Madame Tussaud’s waxwork designed to look like Jennifer Aniston. Or dare I say it… one of the stare-eyed dead girls in Kanye’s Monster clip. Little girls and unconscious women do seem to be so in right now.
January 20th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
What kind of sick person would do that to a little girl. Little girls do not need to be waxed, it should be illegal to wax anyone under 16.
And that first picture looks nothing like J.A. and that stupid pout in both pictures is ridiculous.
January 20th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
I am so angry at this girl’s mother for doing that! I am the mother of a 6 year old and I would never dream of doing that let alone putting her in a beauty pageant! That does border on child abuse and, really, that mother should know better but obviously doesn’t. It’s just plain wrong!
January 20th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
This is disgusting. Made me feel physically ill. I had to watch the video with my hands over my mouth in horror. I will be sharing this. People need to see how horrible it is for these poor girls.
January 20th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
Jennifer Aniston looks weirdly like a Stepford Wife in the second photo. Robotic, childlike, mindless and compliant. Wrong on so many levels.
I agree with Lee L’s comment upthread – toddler beauty pageants ARE appalling, but even so-called ‘healthy’ activities like sports and music can become decidedly unhealthy when children are forced into them, or when parents, coaches, teachers, whoever are the driving force behind the desire to win at all costs. That robs children of their childhoods too.
January 20th, 2011 at 4:07 pm
Jennifer Aniston is an actress for god’s sake, she is going to do what it takes to get fame and money. I personally don’t think there is anything wrong with these images except for the fact that Aniston would look way better with no photoshop.
Involving little girls into beauty contests and other crap like that just reveals the pitfalls of our society based on the monetary system where mothers are making money on their little daugthers and magazines together with TV propagand beauty “standards” which are dictated by big companies in order to get maximum profit. What I think we need is to educate our people that there are more serious things in the world to be concerned about. While these mothers with their daughters go to beauty contest to entertain themselves, somewhere in slums indian children are dying from shortage of clean water and desease. No doubt that beauty contests would be the last thing they would dream of.
January 20th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
I used to think that God’s world of innocence was beautiful & untouchable.
These days all I can say is ,” How mankind has tarnished the innocent image of God in children! How sad !
and I can say without a doubt that anyone who puts their child through this, does not have the fear of God in their hearts nor have God either……There’s just no conscience.
January 20th, 2011 at 5:28 pm
I can cope with the images of JA – she is an adult but sometimes doesn’t make the best choices. I saw the brow waxing of the 5 year old on a current affairs program the other night and was apalled. That mother held her daughter down – I almost cried when I had to hold my 6 year old down to have blood tests. Some parents really need a reality check
January 21st, 2011 at 12:28 am
In response to @Lee L -
Hi Lee, this is Melissa, the author of the children’s beauty pageant post. While I would like the entire beauty pageant industry to end, the truth is here in America it is a billion dollar industry. Especially in our South, there is a big subculture that is into that kind of thing.
But we don’t have to give audience to it. The show “Toddlers & Tiaras” is a vehicle to further exploit these girls and showcase their stage moms as freaks we should gawk at. A producer or camera crew member could have stepped in during the eyebrow waxing scene, but they didn’t because it made for “good tv”.
There is definite emotional and physical harm being done to these girls, and sending a message to TLC and to the moms in this beauty pageant circuit might be all we can do. In this country, the pageant circuit is largely ungoverned, and there are 50-100 major, independent pageants. It would be difficult to even know where to start. I think going after the producers of one show on one network makes more sense.
I agree with you there are problems with the whole industry, but we don’t have to give audience to this train wreck of a show.
January 21st, 2011 at 8:53 am
You are right. There should be a law against it. In fact there is a law against it. What that mother is doing is assaulting her child. She has no lawful excuse for doing so. It is not for the child’s betterment of health such as an innoculation injection. Even if there is a parental discipline exception in the law – that would not apply as she is not disciplining her child. What she is doing is quite unlawful and a complaint needs to be made to the police.
No more of these programmes need to be aired. We have seen enough child abuse and dont need to see any more to confirm what is happening. Time to call the police and whatever govt organisation there is there that protects children and put an end to it.
January 25th, 2011 at 2:09 am
“chldifying” women? Come on….we’re reaching a bit here, right? Tho Jen looks like a robot..she hardly looks like a child. Move on to something real. toddlers in tiaras, I will never watch it..it is sick sick sick