Nothing surprises me these days and yet I’m shocked at the uproar this story has caused recently.
In case you missed it, pageant mom Kerry Campbell injects her daughter with Botox to prepare her for her future as a superstar (Kerry’s words). The young girl is only 8-years-old and parents around the world (moms, mostly) are calling Kerry’s actions outrageous, even criminal. In fact, Campbell is now being investigated by the San Francisco Human Services Agency.
What surprises me most about this story is not the fact that this woman decided to use her daughter for her own 15 minutes of fame but the idea that women around the world are placing judgment and questioning this mother’s parenting skills.
If I’m to take sides on this issue, I’d stand up for the little girl whose innocence has been lost and childhood taken away from her. There are too many young women already who grow up way too quickly, without being injected with Botox by their mothers.
But my question is this, “When does Botox become age-appropriate?” When will we look at our daughters (for the record, I have two sons) and tell them that, “Yes, you are now old enough for Botox.” Because it’s coming.
When 8-year-old girls are being injected in the privacy of their own home, before we know it, teenage girls will be having Botox parties and stealing it from their moms to inject themselves before school.
Personally, there will never be a day when I will think Botox is right for me, but I have to wonder, with girls wearing make-up and dying their hair in junior high, will Botox be the next ‘beauty solution’ for young women?
Our society continues to show and tell young girls that changing their appearance will make them look younger, more beautiful and feel better about themselves. But we all know that’s not true. When questioned about true beauty and what makes women feel beautiful, the answers have nothing to do with physical appearance.
The other day, I saw a photo online, posted by a grown man who I know and respect, of a gorgeous woman with naturally silver hair. She’s beautiful and he thought so to. He placed this picture under a category he created entitled Sexy Things for a Man to Look At.
When are we women – as a culture – going to understand and recognize that aging gracefully – and naturally – is a truly amazing, and beautiful, thing? Because our young daughters are looking to us as role models and in my opinion, we’re not doing them justice.
Happy Healthy Hip Parenting
Peace Begins in the Home
Exactly. You took the words right outta my brain!
This is so sad! That poor little girl!!! Makes me glad that I have boys. I know their not immune to all these issues – but girls have it rough!
Society is scary these days with the things that are put out there for young, innocent children to see. The poor girl has no idea what Botox is or what it means, only what her parent tells her. We’re killing our children’s childhood slowly but surely and their self-confidence and self-image by what society/parents project on them. So sad to hear this story — I much prefer the “This is who I am and accept it stories.”
As women we always being told what to look like, how to act, etc. My daughter is beautiful as is…I can’t imagine taking her to get waxed, botoxed (is that a word), tanned, whatever have you, to make her look ‘better’ when she is 8 years old. Who’s standards are we following anyway. Let’s remember to respect women, the natural beauty we posses, at all ages/stages in life. We as parents need to not only protect our daughters from the harsh reality that women are forever exploited in and out of the media, but we need to teach them to embrace who they are, not try to change them. Phew…good post!
I sometimes have to catch myself because I insinuate to my daughter that she is not cute when her hair is all tangled and she will not let me brush it – yes, I’m aware it is perfectly normal for moms to say and use this but I know in the back of my mind that it can be an awful seed planted for a fruit I do not want it to bare… that her looks are important. But, I’ll be honest I’ve struggled with how I look plenty from being very young I never thought I was pretty…. there is something to be said for sending our daughters the right message of their beauty both on the inside and the outside. It does feel good to hear that we’re pretty, I know for sure that I enjoy it – and part of the problem is that whenever that compliment has been paid to me there has been something unnatural that I’ve done to enhance something… now it could be as simple as make up, having highlights, I was regularly going to a tanning salon before my wedding day so I wouldn’t be so pale in my white dress. Some of these things nobody would bat an eye at cuz we perceive them as normal – but at one time was there someone raising this same question about why we can’t allow our own natural beauty shine through? I shudder to think that botox will be a regular thing in people’s homes, geez how vain has our society gotten? So I find myself wondering if this little girl wonders if she has anything else to offer besides how she looks? Just as I wondered if I was pretty as a little bookworm girl. Where is the tipping poinit when it comes to what we allow our girls to do in the name of beauty? It is hard to see before we’ve gone too far.
Well said. As girls mature they slowly learn to enhance what they have, and I am OK with that. Girls focusing on their outer beauty is natural, but way overemphasized in my opinion. For every girl or woman “exploited” there is usually at least one or more adult that is somehow letting it occur or that has some form of warped value system.
Joann,
Thanks for being so open and honest with your reply. That is exactly what I meant about how shocked I was that women are judging this woman when we think about the many messages society is sending young women (and women of all ages, really). Where do we draw the line?
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Our children learn from what they see and hear. It’s a parents responsiblity and duty to treat themselves and to treat others in a manner that sets the standard that becomes ingrained in their children’s lives. Unfortunately, not every parent has their priorities right. Sometimes it’s out of ignorance (not knowing any better, not realizing/recoginizing the influence/impact they are having on their child) and sometimes it’s simply because they are just so messed up and so in touch with the material things of this world, that they don’t even stop themselves long enough to care about their child’s spirit and the damage they are doing.
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