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iSurgeon on iPhone? Not for my kid |
 If you’re an iPhone user (or even if you’re not), you may have heard of a couple of apps that allow users to see what they would look like with a new nose, face lift or other surgical enhancement. No big deal, I thought, what with iPhone apps popping up faster than you can say “Steve Jobs”, but then I read about a book entitled “My beautiful Mommy” developed by Miami cosmetic surgeon Dr Michael Salzhauer, who apparently wrote the book to help preschoolers cope with plastic surgery.
Though I haven’t seen the book, it started me thinking about the messages – both direct and subliminal that it might be sending to young minds who have yet to fathom the concept of ‘self-worth’ and ‘body beautiful’. One thing I’m quite sure about though is that the book isn’t peppered with gory or disturbing ‘BEFORE’ images of folks who, either as a result of unfortunate accidents or congenital issues, decided to go under the knife just to look ‘normal’.
What disturbed me was… what if such ‘kiddy’ books made their way into mainstream fare? I would want not want to reassure my son that his ‘Obama ears’ are perfectly normal and lovable, only to have him bring the book home from our well-equipped NLB branch and happily announce that if this ‘nice ang moh’ can make herself ‘beautiful’, so can he. Worse still, to have him looking at my ‘bellydancing-ready’ figure with renewed interest…
As it is, it is difficult enough sometimes to get used to the idea of teens going for plastic surgery but then again, with all the teen angst they claim to have to deal with, if a double eyelid will make that much of a difference in their self-confidence, then why not. But if kids who have yet to experience TRUE growing pains think that it is perfectly acceptable to plan a mini ‘niptuck’ or nosejob in well, a decade’s time when they’re at the ripe old age of 16, that’s just plain disturbing. Such an intent may well materialize someday but nevertheless, we should let every child have the benefit of time and maturity first, to let them grow up and learn more about themselves and find out what really matters to them in terms of their self-image. The ugly duckling may never get to appreciate the swan she will become one day if she has a fixed image of what beauty should look like.
So for now, I will keep telling my son that yes, I love his ears and he should appreciate them too. And that his friends don’t care even if his flaps block their view of the whiteboard in class ( ok I’m exaggerating a little), as long as he still loves to join them in a game of catch during recess.
And I will definitely keep a sharper eye on what he downloads on his iPod Touch, and be with him the next time he heads to the library.
What do you think of such 'niptuck' apps? How would you discuss the concept of plastic surgery with your child? Do let us know.
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