A mother from the show "Toddlers and Tiaras" is suing TMZ.com, The Huffington Post, and London Daily Mail for $30 million for "over sexualizing" her daughter. Isabella Barrett, only 5 years old, was at a NYC night club when a video of her singing "I'm Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO was posted by these three websites. The video does show her sitting in the deejay booth with a celebrity deejay while the song is playing. She is also singing along. Susanna Barrett, mother of Isabella, claims that online posts show that she was forcing her daughter to sing along. She also said that the media outlets were “brazenly attempting to sexualize” the girl by “claiming she was gyrating in a nightclub and singing about her sex appeal”.The full article is here.
Call me crazy, but I think that just being on "Toddlers and Tiaras" is over sexualizing a child. Yes, I do watch the show. I watch it for entertainment purposes only. I have seen episodes where six and seven year old girls wear less clothing than Britney Spears in her hay day. I do believe in pageants but not glitz pageants. At least not for children under the age of 13. Being dressed up and made up to look like a barbie doll on a regular basis is not a good thing for a young child's self esteem. My daughter, who is almost 4, loves this show and would love to be in a glitz pageant. I just don't think I could ever do it. I could put her in a natural pageant, but she's a big girlie girl so that wouldn't be as fun for her.
So a huge question I have here is what in the world is a FIVE YEAR OLD doing in a nightclub? Seriously?? I understand that it was for some fundraiser, but if it's a fundraiser for children should it really be held in a night club? What was her mother thinking? That right there, would be enough for me to find the media outlets not guilty! A nightclub is smoky, there are drunk people mingling about doing god knows what to god knows who's hoohoo! No wonder why they sites claimed she was gyrating! She was probably just mimicking what every adult around her was doing.
As for the show "Toddlers and Tiaras", I feel most of the parents are just living out their childhood fantasy. They're exploiting their children for the most part. There are a couple of kids who actually seem to be enjoying what they are doing, but most of them aren't the girls featured on the show.
Based on what we know from this little bit of information, I don't think the mother should win the suit. If I was in the jury I would certainly laugh at her. She put her daughter in these clothes, in the spotlight, and this is what happens. Yeah, the media outlets should leave a five year old little girl alone, but they were just doing what they get paid to do, make stories about celebrities out of nothing.
2 comments:
I have watched that show in the past and was AMAZED at how parents introduce all of that nonsense to little girls barely out of diapers! If those young girls spent half of their time inhancing their personality and character, they'd automatically be more beautiful on the outside WITHOUT the continual application of spray-on tans, makeup, and other beauty products. The media was doing their job. The mother shouldn't be surprised at the outcome when she has put her daughter right in the middle of all that drama. Thanks for the interesting blog!
I don't watch the show. I never have, probably never will. I have seen commercials though and read about it online and I am amazed. Appalled is probably a better word. I think the mother is over sexualizing her child enough by allowing her to sing that song and even being in a night club. Who allowed her in?
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