• About
    • Penny
    • Hank
    • Juju
  • Contact
  • How To Start A Blog
  • Make Money Blogging
    • How To Make $40K Your First Year Blogging
    • Making Sense Of Affiliate Marketing
    • How To Monetize A Food Blog
    • Food Blogger Pro
  • Blogging Tips
    • Blogging Resources
    • Recommended Blogging Tools
    • Blogging Tips
      • More Quick Blogging Tips
    • How To Increase Blog Traffic
      • SEO For Health Blogging
      • External SEO Tips
      • On Site SEO Tips
    • Blogging Action Plan
      • Deciding Why You Blog
      • Types of Health Blogs
      • Important WordPress Settings
      • Blog Security
      • WordPress Plugins
      • WordPress Themes
  • Shop
    • Planner Favorites
    • Fitness Favorites
    • Kitchen Tools
    • Blogging Books

A Merry Life

Healthy Living & Budgeting Blog | Health, Wealth & Everything Else

  • Budgeting
  • Finances
  • Fitness
  • Food
  • Family Life
  • YouTube

My Beautiful Mommy – Children’s Book About Plastic Surgery

April 24, 2008 by Mary

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for details.

The illustrated children’s book, written by plastic surgeon Michael Salzhauer, features a mother explaining to her daughter why she is having cosmetic surgery (a nose job, tummy tuck, and breast enhancements).

Before her surgery the mom explains why she is getting a smaller tummy, saying,

“You see, as I got older, my body stretched and I couldn’t fit into my clothes anymore. Dr. Michael is going to help fix that and make me feel better.”

The plastic surgeon named Dr. Michael helps the Mom come home with nice new parts, which she reassures her daughter are not “different, my dear—prettier!”

The book does not seem to address why the Mom needs a nose job, and simply does not discuss the breast implants in the text, although the pictures illustrate the change.

Here is a valid opinion from the Newsweek article:

Child psychiatrist Elizabeth Berger, author of “Raising Kids With Character,” likes the idea of a book for kids. “If the mother is determined to pursue cosmetic surgery, I think it’s terribly important to discuss it with the child,” Berger says. But she says the book is incomplete. She wishes that the mom had just said something like, “This is silly, but I really want it anyway,” she says. “That is more honest and more helpful to the child.”

Berger doesn’t want to come across as anti-cosmetic surgery, but she notes that it can be difficult for small kids to understand. “The younger the child, the more mysterious and potentially hurtful the mother’s absence, or mother being out of commission, or mother looking like she’s been beaten up, will be,” she says. Small children are “concrete” and “sensible” and think “you go to a doctor because you’re hurt or sick,” she says. After considering how their children might react, she says that “some mothers may realize that the total burden of the child’s anxiety might be a side effect of the procedure they hadn’t quite thought through and that might inspire them to postpone it until the child is older.”

I agree that there should be something in the book that says the mommy just really wants plastic surgery. Otherwise the message appears to simply be “plastic surgery makes you pretty!” That may be true, but letting this message seep into children’s minds cannot be the correct way to raise kids with healthy self-esteem.

Found: FlackLife BoingBoing NewsWeek


Filed Under: Books, Magazines, TV Tagged With: body image, Media


« Another Year Older
God in the Whirlwind: Stories of Grace from the Tornado at Union »

Comments

  1. Lou Veyret says

    April 25, 2008 at 1:03 am

    Isn’t the world becoming bizarre!!

    Definitely raises some ethical questions and do children really need to know this now?

  2. Jeff Jones says

    May 12, 2009 at 1:56 pm

    I agree with the previous commenter that this definitely poses some serious questions.

    Kids get enough of that “you’re ugly and stupid” stuff at school by children their own age. Having it seem like mom or dad doesn’t believe they are acceptable as they are has got to be a step backwards in their development.

mary Welcome to my journey to improve my health, wealth, and everything in-between!
Join me as I learn and share helpful tips and tricks I find along the way.
  • Bloglovin
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • YouTube
Ebates Coupons and Cash Back

Popular Posts

weight loss gift ideas healthy chocolate protein pancake recipe how to start a blog how to make money blogging

Search

Recent Posts

  • Whole30 Reflections 1 Year Later + Recipes I’m Loving
  • 10 Reasons To Get Out Of Debt
  • July 2019 Online Income Report
  • Should You Go on Vacation While Paying Off Debt?
  • How Much YouTube Paid Me For 2 Million Views

Top Posts & Pages

  • Apartment Essentials For Single Ladies
  • DIY White Painted Dresser
  • What I Learned From Playing Volleyball
  • Diet Tips For People With Kidney Stones
  • Contact
  • Weight Loss Motivation Quotes
  • 15 Inspiring Images To Motivate Your Healthy New Year's Resolutions
  • Dog Bite Update + Mederma Review
  • Baby Shower Brunch Food & Drink Ideas
  • Blogging Action Plan

Categories

Disclosure!

Note: Affiliate links may pop up on the site when I'm recommending something. They are free for you to use, but they help support me by giving me a small commission of any sales. It's like leaving a tip for good service while buying something you'd purchase anyway. Thank you for supporting A Merry Life!

Copyright © 2022 · A Merry Life - Healthy Living & Weight Loss Blog. Tasteful Theme by Restored 316 Designs

A Merry Life (amerrylife.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Copyright © 2022 · Tasteful Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in