ABSTRACT
A sassy, blonde, 6-year-old girl walks on stage to perform her talent, dressed in short jean shorts and a red gingham mini-shirt that exposes her full belly. With country music playing in the background, she sashays through a dance routine with her mother mimicking in the audience, or is it the daughter mimicking the mother? Whichever it is, the mother encourages her by saying, “Shake your butt, baby!” This 6-year-old, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, became immensely popular in America in 2012, aided by media exposure on YouTube and the 2009–2013 Reality TV series Toddlers & Tiaras (TT), a show about children, mainly girls, who compete in child beauty pageants. Child beauty pageants follow the general format of adult beauty pageants and allow children to compete for awards within their own age division as well as for more coveted awards available to all contestants. A variation of the “Ultimate Grand Supreme” award typically denotes the title won by the winner of the entire pageant. To win these awards, girls are judged by their participation in a range of categories, such as modeling (e.g., expensive gowns or swimsuits) and talent.
