I think my mom is beautiful. I think my grandmother is beautiful. I appreciate it when women age gracefully. Yet, there's a whole industry out there for people that are trying to reverse the clock. I understand how celebrities getting work done will encourage people to go under the knife but there is a point when advocating plastic surgery is unacceptable. Michael Salzhauer, MD, a Florida plastic surgeon, wrote a book called My Beautiful Mommy about a mom and her young daughter. The mother is going in for surgery (nose job, tummy tuck, and a breast augmentation) and she explains that she will look different but prettier. I'm concerned about how this will affect a young child's self esteem and way of thinking. At young ages, children are very susceptible to ideas. If they are being shown at such a young age that plastic surgery makes you prettier then when they are older they will feel inadequate and want surgery themselves. Imagine that girl waking up one day, looking in the mirror, and seeing her mom's pre-surgery "ugly" nose. Of course she's not going to want it!
The media is really influential on children, but a lot of children aren't exposed to plastic surgery and a lot of other social tragedies while watching cartoons or children's programming. A lot of them have their parents read to them, thus giving the parents the control over what books are read. This book is giving them what TV shows won't. It is advocating something that can become dangerous behavior. There's a reason cartoon-like animals aren't allowed to advocate cigarettes anymore, because that directly affected children. A children's book is even more direct. We have to consider the fact that the author of the book is a plastic surgeon...and he loves getting paid.
