Earlier, I mentioned a story about 8-year-old girls getting bikini waxes. Yeah, eww doesn't begin to describe it. Here's the story.
I am all for, umm, personal maintenance, but this is gross. The writer mentions that some salons require parents to sign a waiver-- which should be warning enough that the action you're about to impose upon your child is dangerous. But, I agree with her opinion that these salons are asking for trouble by accepting the business at all.
Shaving your legs may be a rite of passage, and a mother-daughter spa day may be a special treat. And although highlighting your six-year-old's hair is pretty extreme, how many of us children of the '80s had perms before their tenth birthday? I did. Granted, it was about $8 and administered by my mom and my aunt in the kitchen, not $80 in a salon, but that's somewhat irrelevant.
BUT, waxing non-existent hair is not only useless, but pretty sexually disturbing. As parents and teachers, we teach children about private areas and no-touch zones. How contradictory is it to subject a child to the nakedness, awkward positioning, and embarassment of a bikini wax? Like I said, it's way beyond ewww.
Of course you don't want your daughter to be the hairy/smelly/messy girl, but there's a bold line between age-appropriate and downright wrong.
*As a mom of boys, I do need to mention one other point: Girls are not the only ones affected. Boys are just as likely, if not more likely, to suffer from low self-esteem. They're also less likely to talk to you about it. It's not "manly" to copy your friend's haircut, or be envious of his clear skin, or compliment his sneakers. That doesn't mean those feelings don't exist. So let's just not forget about the boys. Rant done.
Your thoughts?
I am all for, umm, personal maintenance, but this is gross. The writer mentions that some salons require parents to sign a waiver-- which should be warning enough that the action you're about to impose upon your child is dangerous. But, I agree with her opinion that these salons are asking for trouble by accepting the business at all.
Shaving your legs may be a rite of passage, and a mother-daughter spa day may be a special treat. And although highlighting your six-year-old's hair is pretty extreme, how many of us children of the '80s had perms before their tenth birthday? I did. Granted, it was about $8 and administered by my mom and my aunt in the kitchen, not $80 in a salon, but that's somewhat irrelevant.
BUT, waxing non-existent hair is not only useless, but pretty sexually disturbing. As parents and teachers, we teach children about private areas and no-touch zones. How contradictory is it to subject a child to the nakedness, awkward positioning, and embarassment of a bikini wax? Like I said, it's way beyond ewww.
Of course you don't want your daughter to be the hairy/smelly/messy girl, but there's a bold line between age-appropriate and downright wrong.
*As a mom of boys, I do need to mention one other point: Girls are not the only ones affected. Boys are just as likely, if not more likely, to suffer from low self-esteem. They're also less likely to talk to you about it. It's not "manly" to copy your friend's haircut, or be envious of his clear skin, or compliment his sneakers. That doesn't mean those feelings don't exist. So let's just not forget about the boys. Rant done.
Your thoughts?
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