No, this is not an April Fools post. I’ve been thinking about writing something on the subject of surgical enhancement for a while but this just floored me.
A couple of days ago a friend posted on Facebook an article about a woman giving her 8 year old daughter botox injections. WTF? This woman should be evaluated for mental stability. Who in their right mind could possibly think that pumping their kid full of botox to keep her looking “baby faced” is reasonable? You’re going to force your 8 year old to be injected with a paralytic toxin because you want her to be a super model? Her “logic” is mind boggling … “I’m sure people reading this will think I am being irresponsible, but I ensure that I test the Botox and fillers I buy online on myself first.” Really? How about it being irresponsible to risk damage to your child? Why hasn’t someone locked this loon up? Apparently because it’s not illegal. Can you hear me banging my head on the keyboard?
Here in LaLa-land cosmetic surgery and botox use is commonplace … can’t have all those celebs looking too tired or past their prime now can we? But do we really need to advertise this stuff on the television? It’s nuts, I see at least 2 commercials for some clinic or other every day, and we don’t watch that much TV. Most of what we do watch has been recorded so we skip over the commercials, so those 2 per day is likely only a small bit of the total. I can’t help but wonder if the prevalence of cosmetic procedures, and the heavy advertizing of them, has led to mentalities like this woman has.
When did we get to the point where people are so afraid of looking older, let alone getting old, that they are willing to go into debt to get one more facelift? And the botox … it seems like everyone out here wants to do the botox thing. I honestly don’t get it. I just recently turned 48, and while the thought of hitting 50 seems a little ominous to me (come on, it is half a century ya know) it’s really just a number. I don’t feel “old” nor do I “act my age”. Hell, my daughter and I are frequently mistaken for sisters when we are out together. Yeah I’ve got a few wrinkles but they don’t bother me. I earned them so why not wear them proudly? There’s nothing wrong with aging … it’s a natural part of the life cycle.
Whatever happened to age being a sign of wisdom? To elders being respected? Yes, there are still cultures that celebrate their elders but not here in the US. Anyone deemed “old” by our society is viewed as a burden to be pushed out of the way and ignored. I think it is, in part at least, a by-product of our society treating death as an ending. And getting old equals near death in the minds of many. For those of us who are certain that death is not an ending, but just the beginning of a new chapter, getting “old” is just another paragraph in our current chapter. Not to be feared, but celebrated. To be worn like a badge of triumph over all the adversity we faced in our youth.
© Copyright dragonfae 2011
Among the Crystals, Dragons, and Fae 
Parents that have their kids undergo Botox treatments need to be reffered to Child Protective Services. The fact that you can buy the stuff and inject on your own is mind-boggling.
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I was incredibly disgusted when I read that article. My daughter just turned 7 and she is absolutely perfect. I can’t imagine any reason at all to ever inject a child. Can you imagine the emotional baggage that poor girl is going to have when she gets older? “Mommy didn’t think I was pretty enough or perfect enough.” Come one! Girls in this day and age have a hard enough time with the media images shoved down their throats. They don’t need mom making it any worse.
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Mark, I’m sure there are all sorts of things that can be had if one knows where to look. But my understanding is that it is illegal (at least here in California) for anyone other than a physician or his licensed assistant or nurse to give botox injections. Personally, I think this loon needs some jail time.
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Foxy, this gal fails on several levels. She really isn’t a lot different than the parents who insist their child do whatever activity the parent failed at (or didn’t get to do) as a child themselves.
But the botox thing takes the cake … her rationalizing the whole thing is just sick. Sounds like some shrink time is needed in addition to some jail time.
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I think that parents who pull this crap need a psychological evaluation. I saw a show on TV not too long ago where this woman was consenting for her 16 year old daughter to get breast implants. I just don’t get it.
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I agree … on both counts. To me, it shows just how sad our society is. To value the exterior looks instead of the inner beauty of the individual. **shakes head**
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I was astounded when I just saw the news and then searched it and found this site. I think the pageant officials should set guidelines forbidding this type of action since some of the parents apparently aren’t responsible enough and have no common sense. This whole little kid beauty thing is just ridiculous anyway. I had a family friend that spent thousands and travelled the country doing this and her daughter is no different than any other kid in the end. Natural beauty is God given, some have it and some don’t. This “mom” that let her kid get injected is just does not have “it”, I will not go as far as to say that the little girl doesn’t “have it”. This poor child will always have self esteem issues. I hope that all of these people that have done this come to their senses, it should be a criminal offense. It pisses me off!!!!
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Thanks for stopping by Tom. I totally agree. Sadly our state is in such sad shape it’s unlikely anyone will do anything about this crap anytime soon. Personally I’d like to see a whole bunch of them locked up.
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Holy cow…I’m blown away by the sheer idiocy of some parents. As parents, we are supposed to look out for our children’s health and well being, not stick needles in them full of toxic substances!
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No kidding! Honestly? Some people just should not be parents.
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I really think that the only legitimate use of Botox is for the relief of migraines and treatment of cerebral palsy. Surely, this perversion of medicine must make treatments for those who genuinely can benefit from them more expensive. To my mind, that’s evil – using for personal enhancement what was designed torelieve suffering. However, this mother raises that evil to a new level – she’s using it to *cause* psychological suffering to her daughter – if not now, surely down the road, when she realizes that her mother thought her less than perfect. Our society places undue emphasis on youth, and has forgotten the lessons that ageing can teach.
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I agree … though I have concerns about using a deadly toxin for even legitimate use. To each his own there … not having to deal with the particular medical issues you’ve noted I’m certainly not going to knock it if it helps others in pain. 😉
Thanks for stopping by, and sorry I didn’t get back to respond sooner.
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