When I Grow Up, I Want to Be Just Like My Mommy...
...except I think I'll get bigger boobs and more of an Ashlee Simpson nose...
I am super exhausted with the end of the semester and medical treatments. I think this story may have been floating around the internet the past week so some of you may have already seen it...
I am not entirely against plastic surgery although I think we uncritically accept the sexist and sometimes racist aspects of the industry as discussed here. It particularly makes me want to take a scalpel to my own neck when women bemoan the plight of the oppressed women in other countries while they're signing up for labiaplastly over here...Aaah, the 'freedom' delivered by the 'free' market.
Anyway, at a more practical level, if your plastic surgery leaves you looking so different that a kid has to ask, "Are you my Mom?', I would say that you've gone TOO far!!!
In an article titled 'Mommy 2.0', Newsweek reports on a picture book for kids about plastic surgery that 'aims to explain why mom is getting a flatter tummy and a 'prettier' nose':
"My Beautiful Mommy" is aimed at kids ages four to seven and features a plastic surgeon named Dr. Michael (a musclebound superhero type) and a girl whose mother gets a tummy tuck, a nose job and breast implants. Before her surgery the mom explains that she is getting a smaller tummy: "You see, as I got older, my body stretched and I couldn't fit into my clothes anymore. Dr. Michael is going to help fix that and make me feel better." Mom comes home looking like a slightly bruised Barbie doll with demure bandages on her nose and around her waist.
The text doesn't mention the breast augmentation, but the illustrations intentionally show Mom's breasts to be fuller and higher. "I tried to skirt that issue in the text itself," says Salzhauer. "The tummy lends itself to an easy explanation to the children: extra skin and can't fit into your clothes. The breasts might be a stretch for a six-year-old."
The book doesn't explain exactly why the mother is redoing her nose post-pregnancy. Nonetheless, Mom reassures her little girl that the new nose won't just look "different, my dear—prettier!"
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