Karl and I spoke about this story on What’s Making News on the Today Show this morning (I’m now on every Weds morning at 7:50 for those who asked). While I certainly feel for Ambah Young who agreed to be interviewed by the Herald Sun and probably had no idea about the attention that would come of it, I think there’s a bigger issue here that needs to be discussed. This is about more than just one 18 year old’s decision to have major surgery to recapture her lost ‘youth’.
I’ll let the Herald Sun tell the story and I’ll make my comments in blue.
AUSTRALIAN women as young as 18 are taking overseas cosmetic-surgery holidays to “reclaim” their youth. Single mother Ambah Young, 18, will head to Malaysia in a fortnight to have a tummy tuck, a boob job and a “designer” vagina procedure.
But the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery has raised concerns about the appropriateness of such procedures on someone so young, along with the added risks of having them done overseas. Ms Young, who has a two-year-old daughter, said she felt old and hoped to reclaim her youth and regain confidence.
[Her words suggest to me that Ambah does not have enough people in her life who are supportive of how she looks and the massive changes she’s had to deal with since become a mother. This seems to me a very sad and misguided reason to have massive cosmetic surgery.]
The surgeries would cost $13,000. Ms Young has borrowed the money from a friend.
[Imagine if Ambah used that $13,000 load to invest in her education. Or go to TAFE and learn a skill. Or start a small business. Or do ANYTHING that could improve the future prospects for her and her daughter beyond bigger boobs, a flatter tummy and an ‘enhanced’ vagina. I am so terribly sad that Ambah could think that changing her body in such a drastic and expensive way could also change her life.]
“After the birth of my daughter, my body never went back to the way it was before,” Ms Young said. “I’m having this surgery so that I can feel my age again,” she said. Exercise had not given her the results she wanted and she hoped the surgery would make her feel better about herself, and help her get ahead in life.
[Bodies are not the same after babies. They’re not. Neither are lives. Ambah, you will never feel like the average 18 year old because you’re not. You’re a mother and you’ve experienced things and you have responsibilities far beyond your years. New boobs won’t change that. And they won’t help you ‘get ahead’. Education will. Employment will. Support from your community will.]
Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery chief executive John Flynn said 18 was very young for somebody to consider those procedures. “She’s probably quite vulnerable in many ways and I think the medical service owes her a duty of care to make sure that the procedures she’s planning to be done are appropriate and there’s a big question mark over that,” Dr Flynn said.
[DAMN RIGHT. Has her body even finished developing at 18? What if she has more children in the future? How will that impact upon such major surgery now? And what 18 year old has the wisdom and life experience to make such big decisions that impact on her longterm future? How disturbing that anyone could be led to believe surgery will help them ‘get ahead’ or improve anything other than their appearance.]
5 Things Jessie Learnt About Marriage In The First Year
Mamamia Out Loud
What Happened When Marian Keyes Couldn’t Write
No Filter
A Very 2022 Recap Of Love Actually
Mamamia Daily
ADVERTISEMENT
Oh this story makes me upset. I don’t want to demonise Ambah for making the choice that she has. There is a much bigger issue at play here.
To me, the most concerning part of this story and the INDUSTRY that plays upon the insecurities of women – PARTICULARLY new mothers – is the way we are led to believe the bullshit about bodies bouncing back. Bodies change as we get older and as we have children. They change with age and time and pregnancy. Clearly the popular media and women themselves are doing a lousy job of educating each other about this. Perhaps that’s because magazines and tabloid TV shows only have one story to tell: the one about bouncing back and losing the baby weight in the shortest amount of time possible.
Even when they have to lie to do it.
Ok mag bullshits women into believing a 10lb loss in 10 days is possible. Or desirable.
Damn you magazines for your emphasis on the way women LOOK after having a baby instead of the way they FEEL or the way they COPE.
Damn you celebrities for being complicit in this bullshit by stripping to your bikini to pose for photos to go with interviews about how you lost your baby weight.
Damn you society for being so ignorant and callous about the vulnerability of new mothers and encouraging them to feel inadequate about their bodies.
And damn you plastic surgery industry for ambulance-chasing this insecurity and turning it into a commodity to be ‘cured’ by with your scalpels and lipsuction machines.
Stop the insanity. Please.
Oh, and for the record, here is my overhanging tummy almost a year after having my third child:
Newsflash: many female tummies do this, with or without kids.
Top Comments
I had a breast reduction at 18. I was (and still am) very short and very petite. I had E cup breasts. God only knows why. I now have B cup breasts and I am not starred at by men or women anymore. I just wanted to look 'normal' and fit in. There is a place for cosmetic surgery in instances like mine I think. It was better for me psychologically to do something about an issue that was preventing me from living a happy life as an 18 year old. However, my situation was not the norm.
I do not think this girl needs cosmetic surgery. I think she needs an awful lot of therapy to help her accept and love herself the way she is. She is a 'normal' looking 18 year old. Infact, she is a very attractive 18 year old and the issue here isn't her body (which seems fine), its her lack of self esteem and self acceptance. I think if she were to go on and have cosmetic surgery, later on down the track she will want something else, then something else again, because she isn't dealing with the real issue - her lack of self worth.
"Improve", god how I hate that word. Why are we continually bombarded with the idea that we will never be worthy as we are? The false ideas of perfection that we internalise and then foist upon ourselves. It's 12 years since I had my last child and whilst I continue to bounce, I have most certainly not bounced back. I understand wanting my body to look differently than it does, but I am 37 and have popped out two kids, I will never have my 20yr old body again and that's okay. Surely we should begin encouraging young girls to value themselves beyond their visual appeal. Age catches up with all of us and at some point looks will change, what then? Surely having a decent sense of self worth and love is more likely to sustain our spirits longer than a designer vagina.