Is a breast-implant voucher a good gift for a 7 year old?
Six-year-old Poppy poses with the breast enhancement voucher her mother gave to her.
Recently, there seems to have been a spate of moms encouraging their daughters to have cosmetic procedures. First, there was “Botox Mom” Kerry Campbell, who claimed to have injected her 8-year-old daughter Britney’s face with Botox. Then, “Human Barbie” Sarah Burge gave her 7-year-old daughter Poppy a voucher to get breast implants once she turns 16.
The Botox Mom story turned out to be a hoax, as “Kerry Campbell” was in fact Sheena Upton and was apparently paid by a UK tabloid to play the role of a mother who would give her daughter Botox injections. Which is, you know, not nearly as bad as being a real-life mother who would subject her real-life daughter to that kind of publicity in the first place.
So far, the Poppy Burge story seems to be real, perhaps because her mother is already known as an advocate for plastic surgery, having more than three quarters of a million dollars worth and counting, and is a celebrity in her own right. And Poppy seems delighted, saying: “I can’t wait to be like Mummy with big boobs.” Continue reading
Reared to Compete: Toddlers and Tiaras
Two of the contestants from the TLC show Toddlers and Tiaras
While previous generations were playing with Barbies, current younglings are opting to become Barbie – and their mothers don’t seem to mind. In a current reality TV series on TLC, Toddlers and Tiaras, the cameras follow young girls and their mothers in their quest to win beauty pageants.
Beauty pageants have always been scrutinized, and the reason for that is becoming more evident. Continue reading
Distorted: A Book Review
Recently we came across an honest, enlightening account of a mother and daughter’s experience with eating disorders, and we thought you should know about it. Distorted, a book by Lorri Antosz Benson and her daughter Taryn Leigh Benson, chronicles the experiences they respectively shared while Taryn was battling eating disorders as a teenager.
Distorted is an honest and holistic account of what happens when a loved one is struggling with a disease. Continue reading
A cautionary tale: growing up under the knife
“Mommy, does plastic surgery make you look like a different person?” “No, it just makes you look more beautiful than you used to be.”
From my seat next to her, both of us facing the Starbucks storefront, I balked. Her reflection gave her away: tall, thin, with a tightly drawn face and deep-set eyes.