In 2009, TLC aired a reality television show called Toddlers and Tiaras. It was instantly a hit with local viewers and also sparked major controversy over children's beauty pageants. The show focused primarily on glitter competitions; which requires all contestants, no matter how young, to compete in makeup, spray tans, acrylic nails and revealing costumes. Many, like me, first had fun with pint-sized Barbie dolls; However, after watching a few episodes, checking out stage moms and toddler tantrums reveals that glitzy beauty pageants are nothing short of the objectification and exploitation of young girls. Beauty pageants not only exploit children but are also harmful to their physical, emotional and psychological health. Children of all ages are highly impressionable and research has concluded that "a person's social actions later in life are a direct correlation to the networks in which they grew up" (Cairns, 2010). Child beauty pageants are harmful to the child's health because they can cause cognitive, physical, and psychological problems (American Psychological Association, 2010). According to the American Psychological Association, young girls are increasingly sexualized in the media and found that women who participated in beauty pageants as children were 39% more likely to suffer from a mental disorder ; 28% are currently living with an eating disorder (APA, 2010). William Pinsof, a clinical psychologist and president of the Family Institute at Northwestern University, says, “Being a little Barbie doll means your body has to be a certain way and your hair has to be a certain way. In girls especially, this can trigger a whole complex of destructive personal experiences that can lead to eating disorders and all kinds...... middle of paper ...... because Miss USA and Miss Universe are competitions aimed at adults. , self-confident women capable of making their own decisions. However, beauty pageants for children ruin childhood and force them to grow up believing in their appearance rather than themselves. It's no surprise that emotional distress afflicts beauty pageant contestants long after they leave the stage; subjecting young girls of any age to judgment and ridicule is not only humiliating but horrible to think we stand by and be entertained by their competitive nature. Rather than raising strong, confident girls who want to succeed in life; parents and organizers of these pageants provide a platform on which little girls are dressed up as little Barbie dolls and parade around, trying to achieve a form of perfection that should not exist in little girls..