© Lifetime
Tuesday night's episode, titled "Topless Showgirls," featured girls as young as eight performing a sexually charged, provocative showgirl-like routine in a local dance competition, donning barely-there sparkly flesh-colored bras and panties to give the illusion of nudity.
"All the girls and I feel kind of nervous because we feel kind of naked," one of the dancers said prior to taking the stage.
Pyschological experts and parents groups we talked to are up-in-arms over the stripper-esque theme, and fear that the episode could act as encouragement for pedophiles and sexual predators.
"As a treatment professional of sex offenders, I can tell you that adults who are attracted to minors definitely seek out shows just like this to whet their appetites," Los Angeles-based psychologist, Dr. Nancy Irwin, told FOX411's Pop Tarts column. "They may attend the shows in-person, watch them on TV and seek out Facebook still photos and YouTube clips to pleasure themselves. The sexual body movements are more concerning than the costumes."
The raunchy routine involved girls thrusting their chests forward and backward, shimmying across the stage and even pretending to cover themselves up with big feathers as they bounced from the stage.
"I'm hot, I'm mean, you can't have me, you can't afford me," Miller recited to the girls as she taught the moves, before telling the cameras: "The moms are ridiculous because all they're worried about is their kids and their bodies and blah blah. Once you've seen one you've seen them all. This is show business kid."
Several moms on the episode expressed their horror regarding the choreography and costumes, yet not one of them intervened. Dance school matron Miller went on to defend the costumes as "stunning" and stressed that that they were "harmless" because "everyone in the industry knows the girls are completely covered."
Human behavior expert Patrick Wanis, PhD, begs to differ.
"This condones, encourages and motivates adults to imagine little girls dancing naked for their pleasure," he said. "Of course it will arouse pedophiles and offer them a new legal avenue to engage in their lustful thoughts as they watch the little girls 'nude' on television."
Lifetime did not respond to a request for comment, but the network is clearly not shying away from the extra attention as they encouraged show fans to weigh in on the "showgirls" on the official "Dance Moms" Facebook page.
"Horrifying, irresponsible, exploitive, damaging. This didn't just cross the line, it exploded it. I am very disappointed that the moms didn't stop the misdirected nightmare," said one viewer.
Another wrote point-blank that "the show should be canceled," while another mom vented: "Pedophiles ALREADY justify sex with kids saying the ones they abuse are 'hot' and 'sexy.' This show gave them more ways to justify their behavior. Sick sick sick..."
Several viewers, however, said they couldn't see a problem with the skin colored outfits and adult theme.
"Art is just that ART! I love the idea and it adds a little flare to the dance resume too," wrote one viewer. Another weighed in: "the girls have worn bras as costumes many times before so it's not that big of a deal. Abby is the director and what she says goes, so the moms need to keep their mouths shut and trust Abby."
TV ratings aren't being adversely affected, that's for sure. Dance Moms continues to gain traction - the controversial episode this week reached a series high across all key demographics, with 2.7 million total viewers. However, Melissa Henson, director of communications and public education for the Parents Television Council, says the show is out of control.
"When you have pre-pubescent girls performing what is essentially a Las Vegas showgirl strip tease to a nationally televised audience, things have clearly gone too far," she added. "Those responsible for the costumes and choreography should be ashamed of themselves, but one has to wonder if they would have chosen such deliberately provocative costumes if the possibility of being featured on Dance Moms weren't being dangled in front of them. Lifetime, and the producers and executives behind Dance Moms are complicit in the sexualization of these innocent young girls."
Reader Comments
That kind of borderline child porn is way over the top, sick and perverted, pandering to pedophiles wrong!
What the hell kind of parents would allow that to go on?
I'm afraid I might get in trouble for hurtin' someone for putting a kid of mine on stage in a routine like that.
Shallow, insensitive women, with no sense of self who see their children as sex objects and a way of trying to fill their spiritual emptiness.
The dance teacher should be charged with pedophilia.
ALM is just a gross, disgusting thing that needs to be stopped. obviously shes a pedophile: the parents are just revolting for allowing this and anyone viewing this wreck should be ashamed. the whole industry exists for pedophiles: a healthy person does not want to see sexualised children gyrating away on stage in faux nudity.
Indeed it is. And it isn't just the showgirls taught that, it's all girls. Look around you. More and more young females look like magazine covers. Bathroom cabinets full of make-up. Pants so tight you wonder how in hell they get them on. The warmer it gets, the less they wear (and not just to stay cool). Etc.
Sexuality is just one more commodity in this culture. It sells. And the images are idealized (twisted?). But it works for those not anesthetized by drugs, greed, or whatever.
The problem isn't going to be solved by cancelling one TV show. The entire society needs a detox. A mental emetic to clean out thousands of years of concentrated poison.
Then one day maybe we can all walk around naked and nobody will give a flying fart.
Once upon a time (when I was a kid) they would have been showing just as much (nothing) but dressed as fairies and doing some cute play and it would have been fine. Now everything is like its poisoned.