"My Beautiful Mommy" (sorry mom, not about you this time)

"I think a book like this could have been useful if it had a less superficial emphasis. Instead, the cover image alone suggests that if you look better, your child is going to be happy." -Julie Deardorff

And, from Julie's blog entry "Apparently cosmetic surgery causes you to be surrounded by fairy dust and butterflies, and your kid will throw open her arms because she finally loves the new, not ugly, you," medical librarian Rachel Walden seethed on Women's Health News.

So what exactly are these two women talking about? They're steaming mad about the book "My Beautiful Mommy". It's a book designed to "help patients explain their transformation to their children" and to guide "children through Mommy's surgery and healing process in a friendly, nonthreatening way." (from Big Ten Books)

Surficially, the book would seem to be a help - some women have to go under the knife for non-cosmetic surgical procedures. It could be scary for a child to see their mother covered in bandages, bruised, swollen, in pain.

This book, however, gives the impression to youngsters that if they're not happy with their physical appearance, that if they don't conform to the cookie cutter standards put forth by the media, they can simply have themselves remade into the perfect image the world seems to desire. The book also insinuates that looking 'perfect' means BEING perfect, feeling happy, and becoming a better person all over.

I strongly urge all parents, all aunts and uncles, all god parents, all people who have any influence on children whatsoever, to teach them the TRUE meaning of happiness, the TRUE meaning of beauty, and to make sure that tomorrow's adults don't turn into mindless look-alike drones intent only on how they look, rather than who they are.