Reading this article in Philadelphia magazine, I wonder what the world of little girls will be like in another 10 years.
http://www.phillymag.com/articles/pretty_babies/page1
While the examples cited are probably exceptions and not the rule, we do participate in an upper-middle circle. I can only imagine what pressures a daughter will face in middle school and high school.
I'm not quite identifying with the moms in the article - but I do enjoy beauty treatments, hair removal, and if not for the ongoing maintenance of Botox, might consider it. (I'm just too practical and/or lazy to get a treatment that lasts only three months.)
At work, I'm in an industry where an appealing, polished appearance is as much a part of the package as is knowing your stuff and thinking on your feet. We aren't tasked with being models or wearing just-this-minute fashion, but the expectation is that you're putting your best foot forward. This is especially true when meeting with clients or making presentations.
So over time, I've become more groomed than when I started - but don't most women, regardless of industry, regardless of work status? As we grow older, we just become better at loving ourselves and highlighting our strengths. And like the writer noted, we love our present selves as all the more because we remember where we've been and what we learned in the "awkward" years. We look back at those pictures and smile, wincing at how tough it was to be 13 and have feathered bangs, or a side ponytail.
So it's with some slight measure of guilt that I wonder if I can just dodge the beauty bullet and have another son. I realize that boys and young men have a set of pressures all their own, but somehow I feel better prepared to navigate that world than help a daughter feel secure amidst aspiring pre-teen model types. I know that in my pre-teen experience, it was really tough, and I'd want her to have a better go of it. And would I become a mom like those profiled? I hope not.
