Are you conscious of beauty-related signals you're sending to your kids?
Over the weekend, our friend, having struggled with body issues her entire life said to us, "This stems from my mom. Throughout my whole life she was on and off diets and constantly saying out loud how out of shape she was. I think it gave me a complex for never accepting my body as the way it is."
Yeesh. Talk about a loaded statement. Think about the last time you said something negative about your appearance. Ours dates as early as this past Saturday-we were shopping the new Liberty of London for Target collection and were spewing off a slew of negative comments while in the fitting room.
We're wondering, had our daughter been in the fitting room with us, would we have complained so easily about our "stumpy legs" or "flabby arms" for fear that we'd be sending the wrong impression to her?
Additionally, it's also the nonverbal actions. Think about who you got your beauty cues from growing up. In the late 80s, we wanted huge hair like our older cousin, so we used multiple bottles of Rave hairspray to get the look. (Long story short: we didn't get it.)
On that note, we're wondering, will Heidi Montag's child grow up thinking that one needs over 10 plastic surgeries to be happy with the way she looks? Or if Snooki from The Jersey Shore ever procreates, will she tell her child that tan equals beautiful, and to lie in a tanning bed seven days a week to achieve a terracotta color?
Do you try to nip in the bud what beauty signals you may be sending to your kids? How will you handle your son or daughter's body issues? Sound off below.
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Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.
