The pressures to look a certain way and weigh a certain number aren’t so much significant as absolutely freaking enormous.
And when you’re 17-years-old and female the world seems to throw criticisms at your appearance every way you turn. Every billboard. Every TV ad. Every magazine cover. Every few testosterone-fuelled boys. They all seem to be telling you you’re not good enough.
But imagine how much worse it would be if it weren’t ‘society’ telling you that your looks weren’t up to scratch, but instead your family.
I for one? Would be absolutely crushed.
But that is exactly what now-35-year-old Orley Granot, whose father is a Melbourne-based cosmetic surgeon, has experienced her whole life. In op-eds for Fairfax published last weekend, Orley and her father Ashley Granot, discuss their mutual decision to have her undertake a liposuction procedure at the ripe old age of 17.
Yep, 17. Urgh.
In a wonderful example of Top Notch Parenting, Orley’s father one day tried to broach the subject of her appearance. Orley was (quite understandably) upset, and began to cry. Who could have seen criticism like this coming from dear old dad. She writes:
One hot day, aged 17, I was standing in front of the TV in my undies and a T-shirt when Dad asked me to turn around and started examining my legs and grabbing chunks. “We can get rid of this,” he said. “And some of that.”
Yeah. Cheers for that ‘advice,’ dad.
Almost equally disturbing is that Ashley seemingly implies that his daughter’s career as a successful New York based lawyer can largely be attributed to the liposuction procedure he performed. Rather than crediting his daughter’s intelligence or drive for her considerable achievements, he reckons it’s all because he helped Orley get super skinny and hot. Daddy Ashley says:
Top Comments
Dear Teenage Girls of the World:
There are many people who will be more than happy to tell you that you are unacceptable. You will be too tall, too short, too fat, too thin, hair too long or two short, wrong face shape to suit the latest fashionable haircut, bad skin, etc, etc. At your vulnerable age - and teenage girls are very vulnerable to criticism - this can cause a host of mental and physical problems.
There are also people out there who will tell you that better looking people do better in life, and that is either because they have been brainwashed by constant advertising and marketing into believing it, or because they have a vested interest in telling you so (usually, so they can sell you a product or a procedure).
Dear Teenage Girls of the World: Make the world a better place by abolishing this utter garbage. Nobody is "perfect" except that weird Barbie woman who now wants to live as a breatharian - good luck with that, Barbie, dear.
Your generation has the option to call "BULLSH*T" on this whole scam. Tell each other that you appreciate each other's good points whether that is unfailing kindness or empathy, intelligence, sporting ability, the way in which someone can make everyone laugh and feel good ... there is SO much more to life than worrying about your appearance.
Dear Teenage Girls of the World: Please always remember that even Miranda Kerr doesn't look like the marketable "Miranda Kerr" when she wakes up in the morning. She will have greasy skin and bad breath and will probably be tired and grumpy as she has a young child. To look like the "Miranda Kerr" you're thinking of, she will go through hours of dressing, make-up, hairstyling, etc. Her photographs will then be elongated, trimmed, air-brushed, augmented, what ever is necessary to make her look like the "Marketable Miranda Kerr".
I suggest watching Jean Kilbourne's hilarious analysis of the media's portrayal of women, particularly in advertising. Here is a snippet:
http://youtu.be/_FpyGwP3yzE
Wonder what OPRAH would say... WH...