jmmurphy



young girls becoming women to early?

I understand that it is hard to believe that some girls are waxing their lip or eyebrows and shaving their legs at the age of 10 but this does not mean they do not still have a strong set of values behind them.  Way too much blogged about how she is trying to raise her 10 year old daughter to have good traditional values but was surprised to hear that one of her daughter’s classmates is already shaving her legs and waxing her lip.  To me this does not seem superficial; I feel that it depends on the type of household you grow up in.  If you do not put much emphasis on these activities and just look at them as normal hygiene habits that women do young girls are not going to feel like they are so special because they are finally shaving their legs.  I was in 5th grade the first time that I got my eyebrows waxed, and the reason was that they were taking over my face!  It was very uncomfortable for me and when I did get them waxed you could hardly notice but to me it was such a huge deal for my self confidence. 

 

I do totally agree that it is hard to see young girls acting so much older and getting so wrapped up in these grooming habits but I think society has already put these ideas in their heads and they want to do it.  I truly think that it is ok for 11 year olds to shave their legs and get their eyebrows groomed as long as that is not the highlight of their day.  We need to allow our children to do what makes them happy pertaining to their bodies (i.e. shaving and grooming eyebrows) but make it a point to not emphasize their wants to do so.  My mom never made it a big deal when I asked to shave my legs she just explained to me that once I make the decision I have to keep it and do it all the time.  So I choose to wait a little while until it was really bothering me and then I shaved my legs.  I think it was easy for me because there was no big deal made out of the idea. 

 

I just really think that children look up to the women in their lives and want to do what they do.  I grew up in a household with a gorgeous mother who always looked perfect to me, she never spoke of how she needed to shave or wax her eyebrows so it was no big deal to me it was just something that women did.  I think that you can teach your child to have a good set of values for their life but also teach them a good set of values when it comes to their bodies.  It is important to educate young girls about womanly grooming habits but to not emphasis what a big deal these are, teach them individuality and if they want to shave their legs let them, they are the ones who have to deal with the repercussions of shaving daily after they start. 


Comments

  1. way2much says:

    You bring up excellent points! I wasn’t trying to judge anyone but I guess it appears that I am! I was just trying to see what everyone else thinks on the subject. It was time for my daughter to start removing the hair on her legs when she was uncomfortable with shorts, etc. So this year we began. She has fuzz on her lip but not too noticeable, and her eyebrows are full. I am not comfortable with her doing anything to her face at this time. But I guess it shouldn’t be about me but about her! I just think she should still be playing with dolls! (That’s just a mom fear of letting go! :-) )

    Posted 3 years, 6 months ago


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