In The It’s-The-End-of-The-World-As-We-Know-It Department
Yes, I know its Sunday and I promised the results of my survey, which I’m not even going to bother to link to because I’ve hyped it mercilessly already and you’ve already had your chance to enter.
But first, I just had to write about this god-awful book I found. I’m sorry, there is just no other way to describe it. The book is called, My Beautiful Mommy and it is a picture book that explains to little kids about their mothers having plastic surgery.
Gag me.
The book is by Dr. Michael Salzhauer, who is, of course, a plastic surgeon. He says he was moved to write the book after many of his patients had "mommy makeovers" (could the term be any more patronizing?) and didn’t know what to tell their children.
"It sounds like a joke, but there really is a need to address this issue," Salzhauer told Reuters.
Doesn’t sound like a joke to me, it sounds like a nightmare. Here’s the link: Mom’s Having Tummy Tuck? What to Tell the Kids.
Read it and weep. Or decide to go live in a cave somewhere. I might come join you.
Jennifer
Yow. The scary thing is there probably is a market for this. And the whole implication of “mommy makeovers” — yes, dears, I destroyed my body by giving birth to you, and now I have to fix it — is disgusting.
(On a whole other topic, I’ve been enjoying your blog. It really is helpful and very readable. Thanks.)
Judith HeartSong
Looking for a cave.
The shallowness of the perfection-craving society we are living in now just horrifies me.
The “Real Housewives” (California and New York)who are anything but, and in their newfound 15 minutes of fame celebrity do not even understand how very shallow and sad they are is just one example of how far off-kilter some people have gotten.
To venerate age and experience, and growing older, and silver hair, and the wrinkles that come from laughing much and often are much more my style.
Charlotte
Along the same lines, is it just me or does everyone else think that a woman who has had heavy plastic surgery or Botox (such as Priscilla Presley or Nicole Kidman) incredibly unattractive? I’m with you, Judith, I much prefer wrinkles and faces that have been made interesting with experience.
Jennifer, thanks for the compliment!
Greg
I’m not a fan of the whole plastic surgery for cosmetic improvement thing, though I guess I understand that some people think they need that to like who they are.
But I suppose it’s a fact of our screwy world, and hopefully this is book that will help these people’s kids makes sense of sudden changes…though I fear it’ll end up perpetuating the whole taut business into the next generation. Written by a plastic surgeon, was it?
Charlotte
I guess that is one ray of light in this otherwise dismal idea–that it will help kids make sense of sudden changes. And yet it still bothers me that we are so damn appearance oriented. And yes, I believe the doc who wrote it was a plastic surgeon.