Spray tans, fake teeth and heeled feet - life for the 8 year old pageant girl-child is very far from endearing, but recently an 8 year old girl-child has had her face injected with poison on a regular basis. Yes, you read correctly, an 8 year old child has been regularly injected with Botox. The injections were administered by the girl's mother, in their home without medical approval or supervision. The girl-child, Britney, partakes in various beauty pageants which, as most of my readers will know, encourage young girls to compete with one another and obsess about their body image and physical appearance, rather than skills or personality. Britney's mother publicly admitted injecting her daughter with Botox, while assuring the rest of the world that it was justifiable and even logical for her daughters allegedly bright future:
"I know one day she will be a model, actress or singer, and having these treatments now will ensure she stays looking younger and baby-faced for longer"
Britney after receiving Botox injections. Photo found here
Surely, we can look to patriarchy for the answer to why a mother would potentially harm her own daughter for the sake of a few hops on a pageant stage.Under male-supremacy, all females are told to become hyper-feminine, passive and subordinate or face the social consequences. "First World" women and apparently now girls are taught to fear age and "signs" of aging such as wrinkles to the point of shooting themselves and others up with sausage poison 1. It's extremely unlikely that anyone knows of any eight year olds with crows feet and even if we did, so what? So, now even female children are herded about in a semi circle, wearing gowns, lead-laden mascara and glittery cone-bras like chattel while creepy 50 something year old dudes can grade them.
photo found here
As an adult, one has tremendous responsibility to ensure the safety of kids, by you know, not jabbing them with a neurotoxin like Botox. Botox, or Botulinum Toxin is a substance that likely is not healthy for anyone to inject into their face regularly, but specifically for those under 18 years of age. The eight year old brain is a very different brain from that of an 18 year old - during childhood the brain is constantly creating new neurological pathways and taking in new and unique information. Injecting a child with a neurotoxin on a regular basis (for aesthetic purposes, not for medical treatment) is a form of child abuse. However, there are other abuses of children, mostly girl-children that take place in beauty pageants. During a conversation about this with my partner, he brought up other pageant mothers' and fathers' reaction to the story - would they see the botox as wrong but still happily sanction the parading of their own children in false teeth, hair and nails? After receiving mental images from past episodes of "Toddlers and Tiaras," I nodded in agreement.
It is true that Botox is more immediately harmful to a child's physical well-being but telling your young child to grind on stage in high heels in order to win a couple thousand dollars is no less detrimental. The beauty pageant's perpetuation of the highest level of sexist social constructs and stereotypes robs kids of their childhood - it forces them into strict sex roles and can be physically and mentally traumatic. For example, children's foot growth could be interrupted by wearing restrictive and high heeled shoes. In addition to restrictive attire, the girl-children are almost always coated in makeup which is packed with toxins like lead and silica. Many makeup contains chemicals that are confirmed neurotoxins, carcinogens and endocrine disruptors 2. Not only are these children painted, waxed and pinched - they are also forced to take in mental cues about their own self-worth and body image. These cues will obviously have lasting effects if they are continuously reinforced in our social landscape.
Kerry and her Daughter Britney. Photo found here
Notes
1 P, T. Ting, & A, Freiman (2004) Clostridium botulinum: from food poisoning to Botox. Clinical Medicine, (4) 3
2 http://www.ewg.org/skindeep
*** Update *** May 14, 2011
Several quotes were brought to my attention from Britney and her mother via media interviews. These were far too problematic to ignore:
Kerry (Britney's mother) states the following in an interview with the sun:
“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.”
"I’m proud Britney is getting to have these beauty treatments at such a young age."
“I wish that I’d had the same advantages when I was younger."
“She is a lucky little girl and is going to be famous because of the benefits I am giving her so early.”
According to the same article, Britney's 83 year old now-deceased father/research scientist supported his daughter's "beauty treatments" regarding waxing and injections as "part of normal life" (qtd in the Sun from here) Kerry also stated that she gets her daughter "virgin waxes" to wax any hair that grows on the child's legs and to "make[s] sure she wont develop pubic hair in the future."
Britney was also quoted, the 8 year old girl told the Sun:
“My friends think it’s cool I have all the treatments and they want to be like me. I check every night for wrinkles, when I see some I want more injections.
“They used to hurt, but now I don’t cry that much."
“I also want a boob and nose job soon, so that I can be a star.”
Her mother claims Britney has been taken out of school once "for a headache," but "apart from that she has had no reaction at all" Kerry is being investigated by child protective services at the current time.
...absolutely terrifying
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