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Recently, the mom of a very pretty 8 year old wanted to start teaching her daughter to wax the hair on her arms and legs, because she is getting teased at school. What is the message? What is the right thing to do?
To keep up with the kidding pageant beauty standard, mom of 8 year old Britney Campbell personally injects her face with Botox and waxes her thighs.
Link to video interview with ABC news : http://www.styleite.com/beauty/little-girl-botox-britney-campbell/
Does Pinning A 7-Year-Old’s Ears Back Count As ‘Plastic Surgery’?
by Verena von Pfetten | 4:31 pm, April 14th, 2011
This morning, Good Morning America aired a segment on 7-year-old Samantha Shaw whose mother flew her to New York from South Dakota in order to pin back both her ears and fix a fold on her right one. The segment, as we’re sure you can imagine, has garnered the ire of the blogosphere. But in a rare departure from our editorial stance on childhood plastic surgery, we’re about to go to bat for this mother.
Samantha’s mother Cammie told ABC’s Juju Chang that Samantha’s ears have made her a target for schoolyard bullies. For her part, Samantha didn’t seem as concerned — but does that make what Cammie did wrong?
The idea that plastic surgery is the answer to bullying certainly isn’t a good message to send children. And, let’s be honest, almost everyone gets bullied at some point in their life — no matter how perfect they may look. But is fixing “cup” ears really Plastic Surgery? Dr. Steven Pearlman, who performed the surgery pro bono thanks to the Little Baby Face Foundation, says no. “In my book and most of the medical community,” he argues, “ears that stick out is not a cosmetic issue.”
A personal anecdote: my mother had my sister’s ears pinned back sometime between fourth and sixth grade, something my sister is both entirely unscarred by and thankful for. In fact, she barely remembers it. (Hence the vagueness about her age.) And though there’s a hilarious story involving the Vancouver Canucks visiting the children’s wing of the hospital the day my sister had it done and my mother getting chewed out by the captain for being some sort of pageant mother freak, the overall story has a happy ending — which is to say: my sister loves her ears.
I would put ear pinning in the same category as orthodontia, but I understand that I might be in the minority. But as a delightfully pithy commenter at Jezebel put it, “I doubt [Samantha] is going to look back at her childhood and wistfully think, “Gosh, I wish my right ear were still folded in half.”
What do you think?
Abercrombie Wants Your 7-Year-Old To Wear A Push-Up Bikini
by Julia Rubin | 1:54 pm, March 26th, 2011
Abercrombie & Fitch is a brand that knows no shortage of controversy. Sperm-harming fragrances, discrimination lawsuits — and remember those racist t-shirts? Abercrombie even landed itself on a list of the worst companies in the world. Their latest offense? Selling push-up bikinis to 7-year-olds.
Yes, Abercrombie Kids is selling a swimsuit top labeled “push-up triangle”. However, after people freaked out about this, the website’s copy now reads “striped triangle”. And while the product description once included the word “padded”, it is now conspicuously absent. Of course, the bikini top in question has remained exactly the same (read: it still has padding and is still a push-up). It certainly has not been a good week for girls, as this comes on the heels of news that a mother has been giving her 8-year-old Botox injections and bikini waxes.
When a daughter asks her mom what's the best way to get rid of unwanted hair, then she can say 'oh i'll bring you to the salon to have it waxed if you want', but a mother who pressures a daughter into it or makes her is just cruel. Wait until she is 15 at least, yes, some girls develop early but kids don't notice pubic hair when their at the beach, if they don't have it themselves they probably still don't know what it is.
Would you pressure your daughter into wearing makeup when she's eight? I would never pressure my daughter period. Girls won't car unless their mothers make them care!
Here's more of the madness! The mother of this 8 year old girl has her waxes, ANd botoxed, in hopes of making her a "star"
Styleite article: http://www.styleite.com/media/8-year-old-daughter-botox/
Today in disturbing stories of childcare, a mother in San Francisco says she regularly injects her eight year old daughter’s face with Botox and fillers in the hopes of making her a star.
Kelly Campbell says she first gave her daughter Britney a Botox injection on her eighth birthday — as a present, of course — and has since repeated the regime (with the addition of Restalyne) every three months. Campbell told The Sun, “I make her frown before injecting, which helps identify a potential wrinkle. This means we can get it before it even develops.” Even scarier, Campbell purchases the Botox and Restalyne online or, better yet, from her local “beauty dealer”, which is to say: one of the other mothers at her school. Campbell also administers the injections herself, but don’t worry — it’s not illegal, and she swears its safe. “I know the correct amount to give her as I am a trained beautician.” Toddlers & Tiaras may have cornered the market on terrifying eyebrow waxes, but Campbell is coming up strong. She says she plans to get Britney’s eyebrows waxed this year and then hopes to get them “lightly” tattooed into an arched shape, and she also gives her daughter a monthly “virgin wax” in the hopes of stemming future pubic hair growth. “What I am doing for Britney now will help her become a star. I know one day she will be a model, actress or singer, and having these treatments now will ensure she stays looking younger and baby-faced for longer. Sadly, Britney now checks “every night for wrinkles” and say she wants a “boob and nose job soon, so that [she] can be a star.” And while it’s almost silly of us to think that maybe, just maybe her mother would be concerned with her daughter’s physical and mental well-being, well, that’s clearly too much to ask. “I’d rather she be perfect and have a little frozen face,” Campbell says. “Some people say her eyebrows look a little pulled already but they look striking.”
i'm posting this here, because it carries over the same message and frankly, it's disturbing.
The link below is about a line of cosmetics targeted to 8 - 12 year old girls and marketed as an anti-aging line.
http://www.styleite.com/media/wal-mart-kids-makeup/
Where is the line, and who is going to enforce it?
http://www.tvsquad.com/2011/01/13/a-5-year-old-screams-through-an-eyebro...
An article taken from the Irishtimes.com
Crossing the bikini line? Why girls as young as 11 are going for waxing
A DUBLIN salon is offering bikini waxes to girls in response to demand from mothers. Jennifer Traynor, co-owner of Urbanwax, says that “The Little Lady” menu of waxing for girls aged 11-15 came about through clients inquiring about their self-conscious daughters who were determined to be groomed like their mothers.
The menu also offers leg, underarm and arm waxing at prices lower than grown-ups pay. “When they come in to the salon, they and the mother have already decided what they want,” Traynor says.
Traynor says that some children have very dark hair on exposed parts of their bodies, including the swimsuit line. “We just remove the hair that shows. I would never do a Brazilian on an 11-year-old. You have to be at least 18,” she says.
Psychiatrist Prof Patricia Casey counters: “When was the last time you saw an 11 or 12 year old with such obvious dark hair? If that’s the case, they need to go to the doctor, not the salon.”
Waxing young teenagers is controversial in the US, where it is known as “virgin waxing”. There, it frequently comes with the claim that removing hair in early puberty will result in the hair ceasing to grow. “Virgin hair can be waxed so successfully that growth can be permanently stopped in just two to six sessions,” claims Wanda Stawczyk, who runs Wanda’s European Skin Care in New York city. Wanda’s website claims: “Save your child a lifetime of waxing . . . and put the money in the bank for her college education instead.”
“This is deeply disturbing . . . a creepy combination of infantilisation and sexualisation,” says Prof Casey. “What mother would want to deny their children the right to become adult women? These women are trying to keep their children as children because they’re not letting them go.”
Traynor’s salon doesn’t call its service “virgin waxing”, but says that waxing is preferable to shaving for young girls because it eventually makes hair lighter and thinner, but does not eliminate it entirely.
“There is no medical basis for that belief,” says dermatologist Dr Rosemary Coleman. “Women say to me, ‘I’m waxing regularly and the hair is growing back the same,’ and I say, ‘I can’t believe you actually thought that it wouldn’t be.’” As for waxing young girls, she says: “I think it’s hideous. What sort of message is this giving to the child?”
Waxing children’s pubic hair to deprive them of normal adult bodies is violating their human rights because it is an intrusive practice that violates their bodily integrity, asserts Niamh Reilly, co-director of the Global Women’s Studies Programme at NUIG. “Waxing of a child is a potentially painful and highly invasive procedure – a harmful cultural practice. We are quick to point the finger at other cultures, but there’s a slowness to appreciate that we have our own variations of harmful cultural practice,” she believes.
Rights are not being violated in a criminal sense, she clarifies, but in a moral and ethical sense that society should be willing to discuss. “It’s about creating infantile bodies and it’s about rejecting normal adult women’s bodies, and mothers absorbing and participating in this emerging social practice without thinking about what it means – it’s very problematic on all kinds of levels.”
Clinical psychologist Rosaleen McElvaney believes that mothers who bring their 11-15 year olds for waxing are giving their daughters “a very negative message that there is something unnatural about hair”, although she suspects that many parents are actually bowing to pressure from the girls themselves. “Some parents are going overboard and not setting limits. Just because the daughters want it done, doesn’t mean that they should have it. With these young girls there’s an element of exhibitionism. Why are they so concerned about body hair?”
McElvaney does not think salons are at fault. “The morals should not be their concern. If there’s a demand, they will supply.”
Laura Fitzpatrick, a beauty therapist and waxing specialist in Dundrum, waxes upper lips and legs of 13 and 14 year-olds, but will only give Brazilians (in which all but a thin strip of public hair is removed) and Hollywoods (all removed) to girls aged 16 and over. The youngest teen she’s done a basic bikini on was 14, and she claims the girl needed it because her hair was dark and showing at the edges of her swimsuit.
She disagrees that girls are being infantilised or sexualised. “Some girls are very paranoid about hair showing . . .[waxing] is out of necessity and it’s not about growing up too fast. It’s about training girls in good grooming.”
It's difficult to give a straight-forward answer. Everyone will have a different opinion on the subject of what is and isn't appropriate. First off, I must say that it's almost frightening how young girls with image issues are these days. At 8-years-old, I certainly wasn't concerned with leg or arm hair and neither was anyone else I went to elementary school with.
It should go without saying that girls at this age are highly impressionable, and what they experience at a young age can often be a catalyst in one direction or another. I think this particular situation might be a good time to start talking about body image, stressing that no two people are alike. Beauty doesn't have a definition. The fact that we're all unique is something to be honoured and not stripped away (excuse the pun).
I don't think waxing one's arm hair is necessarily right or wrong - I do it myself. But it's my own decision and not a result of peer pressure or teasing.
What are the important questions we need to ask ourselves as responsible child-loving adults?
How about we start here: - Is this the child's idea, or someone else's? - If it was the child's idea, why does he/she want the hair removed? - is this an issue of self esteem?
We want everyone to feel beautiful and we also want you to have smooth skin - IF that's what you want and IF it's the right choice for you.
If waxing is the right choice - then please go to a professional esthetician first, before trying do-it-yourself waxes (like ours). It's the best way to educate you and your child about the pros and cons of waxing - AND it offers a great venue for them to ask whatever questions they may have. Comfort is key.
Alley Laundry, Waxing Guru - Parissa Labs
1. As a parent faced with this issue you have to ask yourself 2 questions, 'is my daughter old enough at 8 for make-up?' or further 'would I let my daughter get plastic surgery at 8 if she wanted it?'. There's your answer, age of consent. It does, however, allow for an opportunity to introduce a conversation about what is beautiful and natural, and for you to become aware of the pressures she may already be facing. Are we really willing to send a message that it's wise to strip away all that might be interesting and unique about ourselves to conform to a narrow misogynist santised image of female beauty? There is an argument to be said if there is something so problematic that it becomes a self-esteem or quality of life issue, but barring that we are just setting them up for a lifetime of self-loathing and taking them just one step farther away from their divine authentic radiant intelligent beautiful selves.
2. I fear that this is just another example of the sexualising our young girls buying for them a world of pain. Entering them into the world of sex without any knowledge of sex is a dangerous game. We have all seem them, little girls dressed up like tarts, getting the kind of attention from boys, and sadly, some grown men that they really are not prepared for or mature enough to even fully understand. I'm deeply concearned about the far reaches of vanity, or the idea that as women our value lies in what response we are able to elicit from men, that our worth is limited to our ability to satisfy anothers desires. You can be sure that I'm pissed off that we are passing this on to our young girls. For fucks sake, at that age they likely already have seen drugs and violence in the schoolyard, we have bigger issues!
Is bikini waxing for 11 and 12 year old girls really the new normal?
http://www.styleite.com/beauty/tween-bikini-waxing/
I think it's more important to consider what the child wants and how she feels.
I have always had very dark hair, and though I love my mane and eyelashes...I always hated how hairy my arms and legs were.
I got called monkey once when I was about 12 and went straight home to daddy's razor.
Hello nicks and cuts!
I hate the thought of an 8 year old child using - or having access to - a blade, so in those terms, waxing or sugaring is better.
However, I'd be inclined to talk to the girl and make sure it was what she wanted, not the mom. Then I'd take her to a professional, and ask (even pay them extra) to take some time explaining the importance of doing it correctly.
the worst part of this question is that whether or not her daughter waxes her her arms probably won't make the teasing go away.
Wax her and teach her to do it herself. Her regrowth will be finer and sparser. Soon enough she will have underarm her, what are you going to do? Let it gorw long! You let your kids makeup and have their nails done, why not wax. Waxing is not just beauty is also being clean.
also kids go through enough peer presure, we definately do not want them to go through one more unneccessary one that we can prevent so easily.
Wax her arms and teach her how to do it herself. Arms are one part of the body that the hair once removed depletes quicly, so soon enough regrowth will be finer and less noticible. Kids go through enough peer presure and teasing, why do we want them to experiance more. Anyway waxing is as much cleanliness as it is beauty. You let your kids makeup and do their nails, why do you hesitate with waxing. What about underarm hair, are you going to let it grow!
What are the options?
...Allowing your little girl to get a mani-pedi alongside your own might be a cute scene, but letting her get a bikini wax is raising more than a few eyebrows. Good Morning America reported on the booming Tween Beauty Market on Thursday, Business Insider
By Vivian Giang