This is kind of sad to me. I’m not making fun of this little girl, who is just a product of her circumstances. I’m pointing a finger at her mom and dad, who have pimped her out at the expense of her childhood. Eden Wood, 7, is the breakout “star” of that Toddlers & Tiaras show which may have intended to expose kiddie pageants at some point but just manages to encourage them. As we heard earlier this week, Eden has retired from child beauty pageants and is now starring in her own show on The Logo channel called “Eden’s World.” It’s centered around Eden and her mom coaching other little girls who want to succeed in pageantry. As we also heard earlier this week, little Eden had a bit of an attitude on The Wendy Williams show. I found her behavior very rude. I’m a mom to a seven year old, and I encourage my son to have manners and be thankful. I also try to make sure he spends time with his friends. Eden’s parents, not so much.
In a new interview in In Touch, this little girl couldn’t even name two girlfriends. This also makes me realize the obvious fact that Eden is being home “schooled” and isn’t socializing with other little kids. (Not that most homeschoolers lack socialization or friends in any way, just that it seems to make this already bad situation worse, given what we know about it.) Here’s some of her interview, thanks to Jezebel:
On her career
“I thought it was time to move on. I want to mix it up, keep doin’ different things. I want to have my own brand of clothes. I want to be a singer, a movie star, and a pop star.”
On her new show mentoring kid beauty contestants
“I help kids a lot. I’m tough on them sometimes.”
On if she’s met any famous stars
“I think I saw Justin Bieber in New York, but I don’t like him. Because he’s gross.”
On if she has friends her age and what they like to do
“Play in the mud! I have girlfriends. One is named Abby, and I can’t remember the other one’s name.”
[In Touch, print edition, April 30, 2012 via Jezebel]
Kaiser and I were talking about this, and she has reservations about us giving these people any publicity, which I totally get. It’s just a despicable situation all around. But I believe people should point it out. This is a child who doesn’t have a childhood. Sure she has people fawning all over her and she has her own show and ambitions, but where will that get her eventually, when she’s old enough to understand what happened? Shouldn’t there be stronger laws against this? I mean, we were all concerned for the Gosselin kids and their lives under the TV microscope were so much more “normal” than this.
Here’s a link to Jezebel’s scan of this article, featuring Eden made up to look like career Barbie. She looks like a sweet little kid there without all the makeup and hair.
Eden is shown on 4-5 and 4-13-12. Credit: FameFlynet, Inc.
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