15 Year Old Gets Plastic Surgery-What Are We Teaching Our Children??
All of us here at Beauty and The Breast were discussing the episode from July 24th on The View. The entire episode was centered around plastic surgery. Now, I know that plastic surgery is a big part of our society today and that in order for these types of shows to keep the interest of their viewers, they have to talk about the “hot topics” in our society today, but I can’t tell you how much these types of shows annoy me.
First of all, they always seem to glamorize plastic surgery. And, let me tell you ladies, there is nothing glamorous about plastic surgery. Having been through it, it is quite the opposite of glamorous. Anesthesia, hospitals, scalpels, pain medication….what about that is glamorous? I suppose that people think that it is worth it to go through all of the pain and torture for what they hope to look like afterward, but as we have pointed out here at B&TB, plastic surgery is too often not all it is cracked up to be. Too many times patients end up either looking like the bride of Frankenstein, are “overdone” or “underdone,” or still aren’t happy with the outcome for various reasons.
Speaking of the outcome, I found it very interesting that one young girl on the show had a breast reduction, reducing the size of her breasts from a size DD. Another girl on the show had her breasts enlarged from a A cup to a DD. Now, how does that make sense? What that tells me is that women just aren’t happy with what they are given and are always looking to find that “one thing” that is going to give them all the happiness and success that that they desire. What women fail to understand is that no procedure is going to give you all of these things that you so desire. Success and happiness cannot be found from a plastic surgeon and a scapel.
Another thing I want to point out is the fact that a young girl, Amanda was on the show with her Mother and Surgeon talking about her recent breast reduction. Amanda is only 15 years old! I should also mention that she had liposuction on her stomach in addition to the breast reduction. Amanda’s Mom claims that Amanda needed the surgery because she was being made fun of at school, her teachers were “trying to cover her up,” and because Amanda would have developed at eating disorder if she didn’t get the liposuction.
One of my favorite blogs, Jezebel wrote a great piece on this segment of the show. This is what the ladies at Jezebel have to say:
Amanda is small, so you can see that DD/E cup breasts might be a strain on her tiny frame. But since she is obviously not obese, why would lipo be necessary? To prevent an eating disorder, of course! Amanda’s mom explained that everyone in their family has belly fat, so she knew that even though her daughter was “eating less and less” it would never go away. Amanda’s doctor had no problem doing the surgery, since “not everyone is blessed with the right looks,” and he likes to “give children who are disadvantaged a chance to look better.”
Some of the comments are priceless, which I must share here:
My mother wouldnt let me wear make up until i was 14 (i totally did anyway but you know…she tried). I just recently joked around with her about me getting a chin lift and if looks could kill i would have imploded.
Whatever happened to loving your daughter for who she is? And encouraging her to enjoy being young and a teenager? Way yo go, mom of the year! Way to catupult your poor 15 year old daughter into a world of constant surgeries to maintain the LIPO you got her before she actually FINISHED developing.
I’m going to get a tub of ice cream and a hamburger. who’s with me?
In my day, “disadvantaged” meant children who couldn’t afford a fancy schmancy education, or basic necessitites such as food/clothing, not being “blessed with the right looks”. And I know I’m not even old, things just got messed up fast.
This is sick, and that doctor is horrible. Whatever happened to “do no harm?” And really, if you want to preempt an eating disorder, send a kid to a counselor, not a plastic surgeon.
Even her breast reduction seemed frivolous. She had no health problems, but she was self-conscious because people teased her. Isn’t that just part of being a teen? Although if her teachers were seriously picking on her for that, that is appalling. Does this girl have no respectable adults in her life?
I, of course agree with the comments made above. What exactly are we teaching our children if, at the age of 15 we are letting them have plastic surgery? Are you kidding me? This is just perpetuating the problems in our society today. Teenagers are so totally obsessed with their looks and material possesions, and the parents are the ones encouraging them to be this way! Instead of instilling values, responsibility, good work ethic, love and compassion, acceptance of oneself and others, we are teaching our children starting at a very young age that they are not to accept and love themselves as they were created. This is setting them up for complete failure down the road in life. What about this picture is completely wrong? A LOT!
What are we teaching our children? We’re teaching them that to ‘catch’ ‘rope’ ’score’ a good guy (read financially well off or will be)you guirls better fix any parts that can be improved. And that the lazy way to do it is the best way if you can get Mom & Dad to pay for it. We’re teaching them that superficial values are the most important ones. I have mentioned in another comment that a friends daughter wanted implants to ‘get better boyfriends’. She was at the time a college student in Pharmacy with very good grades and actually was attractive ‘but’ had ‘only’ big A or small B breasts. The thing she should have fixed was her personality, she was always the person who was dismal, sad, unhappy, tired etc…. I dont know how she got that way but I did try to give her some help and advice from a male who was like an uncle but couldnt fight the ads for water bras, miracle bras, etal.
But the real nonsense is the idea that having an attractive body (or certain parts) gets you a winner life. The press in many forms has built that illusion up and many girls/women want to believe that because its much easier than actually doing decent in school, paying attention to things outside your life, and maybe treating others as you want them to treat you.
For the young girls who dont feel ‘blessed’ with a large chest, I think they have two areas of woe. One other girls who are jealous will attack, being a woman seems to be very competive, and they will feel the outsider for no choice of their own since nature gave them more than the other girls got. And they wont be allowed to feel good about their bodies even though the world around them says bigger is better.
Secondly some of these young girls probably dont want the attention for something they didnt ‘do’. I’m sure many women who know they have nice figures truly want to be liked, loved and lusted for because they are just such attractive women on the inside. And many of these young girls who decide to have their chests shortened may never get passed the bustline measure of the men or even the women in their lives.
I think we’re getting so lazy with how fast technology is removing tasks from our daily lives that even in our social lives we just cant be bothered to think and live, its easier for the TV to tell us what to do.
Comment by Dennis — July 30, 2008 @ 11:46 pm
Good comment, Dennis.
I have a teen-age daughter. We live in an area where parents are VERY involved in their kids lives. I remember, when my daughter first started school, as a parent, I was so insecure. I’d see other little girls who seemed much more sure of themselves, and their mothers who seemed so to know what they were doing much more than I did. All this was, of course, all by superficial observation in the social environment of school. Well, it’s years later, and I’ve watched these little girls grow up to be young women. Over the years, I remember hearing from my eight-year-old daughter after play dates accounts of dresser tops covered with makeup, seeing with my own eyes 10-year olds in string bikinis at the pool in the summer, and then hearing the trials and tribulations of 11-year old girls and their boyfriends (!). I remember witnessing a million little incidents where girls were totally obnoxious to their mothers and their mothers did nothing, and mothers giving way to questionable things their daughters wanted only because it was far easer to not resist. I remember these same moms showing off about how many parties their daughters had been invited to that year. Today, many of these girls are still “successful” in the social environment of school, meaning that they are “popular,” but in so many others ways they are not successful in my eyes. They are mediocre students, don’t have much interest in doing anything other than socializing and shopping, and not very respectful to adults or nice to kids who are not popular. They’re only in their early teens, and I don’t like them as people, which I feel really terrible saying about girls I’ve watched grow up. So the point of this long ramble is, based on my own experience, I believe the culture of superficiality imposed by media is only possible because parents aren’t creating a healthy culture inside the home to counter balance it.
Comment by Gloria — July 31, 2008 @ 8:21 am