TLC’s “Toddlers and Tiaras” has kept America’s precocious pageant queens in the headlines and spawned the recent spin-off “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” The controversial shows have generated acres of coverage, both positive and negative, and launched the diminutive talent queens and their pageant moms into celebrity status.
“Here Comes Honey Boo Boo“ recently tied CNN’s coverage of President Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention among 18-49 year olds on cable. Despite the hype and the ratings Americans do not seem to be entirely impressed by the child pageant phenomenon.
62% of responders think that child beauty pageants sexualize people from too young an age, with college graduates (75%) and Independents (74%) most particularly concerned. 44% found they made children too image focused and 31% didn't think they should be appearing in the pageants at all.
We asked responders to tell us which statements best matched their opinions of child beauty pageants. "Image-focused," "High Maintenance" and "Fake" topped the list.
Although there is clearly some suspicion about the place of beauty pageants among the young, a significant minority seemed to be in favor of including men and boys in the pageant world. A quarter of respondents were in favor of the idea although 19% thought that pageants should only be for female contenstants. Opinions on male pageants varied with party affiliation with 31% of Democrats in favor of the idea compared to 15% of Republicans. Unsurprisingly men seem to be more in favor of female only pageants than women, with 30% of women happy to include men and boys into the pageant world.
