My favorite memory is flying to Michigan (by myself, at the tender...BEAUTIFUL MOMMY: Plastic Surgery Picture Book!?
By Jackie Burrell
Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 8:35 am in Books, Just Bizarre.
Wait’ll you get a load of “My Beautiful Mommy,” the first picture book to tell the 4- to 7-year-old crowd all about Mommy’s tummy tuck, booby lift and nose job. The author, a Florida plastic surgeon and father of four, said the book is designed to reassure children about “mommy makeovers,” the plastic surgery that “fixes” all those saggy, wrinkly things that happen to your body after you give birth, breastfeed and, ya know, live with kids. Or just live.
“It is for the mom who has already booked her plastic surgery,” author Michael Salzhauer told Reuters reporters, “and now has to tell her kids why she is going to be in bed, why daddy is picking the kids up from school and all those other issues.”
As you might guess, the book, self-published through a vanity press, which is marvelously appropriate here, is igniting controversy … particularly the pages where the Saggy, Wrinkly Mommy says things like, “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.” Mommy won’t be different, “just prettier!”
We know, right? When we can’t fit into our clothes, we book an appointment in the OR, PDQ, ya know?
Sigh. Racing through the house this morning, getting the kids ready for school and avoiding all mirrors, which apparently we should have draped so we wouldn’t accidentally catch sight of ourselves looking human or anything, we have to wonder what’s happened here. We live in a Paris Hiltonized culture of coiffed, skeletal and makeup spackled women who’d rather go under the knife than betray even the slightest tinge of imperfection. But who have no problem racking up DUIs or betraying other moral flaws. Sigh. Now publishers are aiding and abetting.
What slays us - OK, one of the things that slays us - is that publisher Big Tent’s other offerings are books on “playing nicely” with friends, coping with your first pair of glasses and an entire line of Christian books for kids. We must have missed BoobJob 3:14. Is it before or after Corinthians?
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April 18th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Pathetic. And on the flip side there’s the store in the CCTimes today about women in prison who are willing to have their teeth yanked out by prison dentists and live toothless just so the can be with their babies. It’s these poor women in prison whose values and courage I respect.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Isn’t this book a sign of the apocalypse? I think the four horsemen all had eye lifts and liposuction, didn’t they?
April 18th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
As a former reading/special ed teacher and author of children’s books, I am keenly aware of the healing power of the right book for the right situation. Although I haven’t actually read My Beautiful Mommy, I have seen articles and comments about it. In preparation for writing my book, Sex, Lies and Cosmetic Surgery, I interviewed over 100 women and gathered so many insights along the way. I discovered that some women experienced really distressing reactions from their children, ranging from blatant negativity, hostile comments, and even unwillingness to recognize or discuss their mom’s altered appearance, pretending that it never happened. From these reactions, Some children simply don’t like change and are more comfortable when the status quo remains intact, while others can have hostile attitudes that need to be identified and worked through. I imagine the plastic surgeon who wrote this book had a sincere desire to help children understand what cosmetic surgery is all about and feel more comfortable with their moms undergoing it. If his book succeeds in accomplishing that goal, both the moms and their children will be the beneficiaries.
Lois W. Stern
Author of SEX, LIES AND COSMETIC SURGERY
http://www.sexliesandcosmeticsurgery.com
April 21st, 2008 at 4:43 pm
[...] plastic surgeon Michael Salzhauer is the author of My Beautiful Mommy, a book aimed at 4-to-7-year-old kids to help them understand plastic [...]
April 21st, 2008 at 10:08 pm
How about the title “My Narcissistic Self-Absorbed Female Progenitor” instead. Seems more appropriate.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 pm
[...] to the youngsters all about Mommy’s new boobs, button nose and lipoed derriere. According to aPARENTly Talking, the poor, frumpy mom explains that “As I got older, my body stretched and I couldn’t [...]
April 24th, 2008 at 8:40 am
I think it’s about time for children to learn about the realities of our society. It is refreshing to know that there are options out there for the less-attractive, and it’s important for children to understand that at an early age.