Remember JonBenet Ramsey? She was the poster child for toddler beauty pageants. Many of her photos featured her posed in showgirl costumes and lipstick. No one has figured out the sordid mess that led to her death, but it seems connected to how she spent her life — a tiny little girl turned out like a sex goddess.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote of the Honey Boo Boo show, “You know this show is exploitation . . . You also have to realize that human nature comes with the capacity to draw a line, to hold fast against the dehumanization and incremental tearing down of the social fabric . . . You can say no. Somebody has to . . .”

The beauty pageant industry in America is set squarely on the backs of our youngest and most vulnerable children, inflicting lifelong damage. The factory managers in India who put 5-year-olds to work tying knots in carpets have nothing on us.

When it comes to taking steps against the exploitation of young children, I say, “Vive la France.”