AHS girls of all grade levels have begun watching the newest TLC hit, Toddlers In Tiaras. While the show is designed to show girls from three to ten years of age, there have been many girls featured as young as two years old.

Pageant mom and dads alike enter their young children in competitions that cost anywhere from $25 to $500 just for the entry fee. With dresses costing up to $500 apiece, mothers regularly buy three to four outfits for one weekend pageant.

Some pageants have prize amounts as high as $1,000 in cash, but the average winner receives $300, if they are lucky.

Not only are these contests very costly for low-income parents, who are the majority of those who participate, but it also exploits young girls, and strips them of their innocence.

Mascara, glitter, blush, tanning, waxing, highlights, flippers (fake teeth), fake lashes, acrylic nails and shaving are only a few of the torturous preparations these toddlers endure in order to “properly” prepare for pageants. While not all competitions require these very adult-like appearance “enhancers,” “the high glitz” pageants strongly recommend it.

While the “high glitz” pageants encourage more costly measures to be taken, some children are not waxed or spray tanned before a normal pageant. However, that is rare.

These young girls, and sometimes even boys, strut around on stage trying to act beyond their years. On one episode, a mother was surprisingly proud when her four year old daughter resembled a 16 year old girl.

This grotesque epidemic is revolting yet fascinating at the same time. While Toddlers in Tiaras makes your stomach churn, viewers seem to be unable to pull their eyes from the screen.

Toddlers in Tiaras airs Wednesday 10/9c on TLC.