The XX Factor

Mom Brags About Giving Her 8-Year-Old Botox

Thank you, Audrey , for your post about Bristol Palin’s jaw surgery .  Personally, I don’t give a whit what Bristol does to her face, though it’s not surprising that everyone is in a tizzy over it because she’s a Palin and so anything she does must be scrutinized. She’s an adult, she has managed to cash in on her fame/notoriety and has the resources to pay for surgery, and her new chin isn’t hurting anyone unless her kid happens to bonk his noggin against it when they’re playing peek-a-boo.  Why do we care whether it’s medically necessary or cosmetic?

I would like to invite anyone who is experiencing the vapors over this nonstory to check out this Jezebel post and accompanying Good Morning America clip about an 8-year-old who is given botox injections by her mother. The mom has subjected her daughter to the “pageant circuit,” and apparently some other pageant moms were snarking on the little girl’s “wrinkles.”

It’s heartbreaking enough to watch girls on shows like Toddlers & Tiaras get trotted out dressed in tight-fitting clothing and made up like little prostitutes. But to actually inject a child with poison-and to all but admit its sketchy, as the mom wouldn’t tell GMA where she gets the Botox for her daughter-is a whole ‘nother level of depravity. (Note to Congress: You get outraged about baseball players juicing. Why not direct some of that anger toward parents who Botox their kids?) No doubt in 20 years, some of them will be showing up on another reality show, Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew (perhaps by way of Jersey Shore 2031: Snooki’s Children and Friends* ) after the psychological damage inflicted on them by their parents manifests itself as a drug problem.

The mother justifies injecting her daughter with botulinum by saying that her daughter is worried about wrinkles, that she wants her daughter to be confident, and “it’s a tough world, the pageant world. The kids are harsh.” Also, everyone else is doing it. If the mother were able to take a good, hard look at herself, she might see those as reasons to run screaming from the pageant world, not excuses for perpetuating this awful practice. Alas, the mom herself takes Botox, and it seems as if the drug has paralyzed her judgment along with her facial muscles.

Correction, May 13: The post originally referred to a hypothetical future reality show starring “Sooki’s Children.”