OK, sometimes I post about my kids. Sometimes I write about work. Sometimes I write about my own neuroses.
Tonight I have to stop the presses and write about…..ALi Lohan. Check this out!!!!
Do you even recognize this as the same person? What is going on here? Where are the cute freckles? Chin…cheeks…lips…freckles. She didn’t keep any of her own facial features! She was cute and now she is scary. (NOTE: Media sources like E! Online say these photos were taken about 2 years apart.)
Here is the $50 million question: Since she is only 17, who let this happen to her? Could her mother really have signed the paperwork to agree to cosmetic surgery just for the hell of it? (Because c’mon, these are not normal changes from growing up and “losing baby fat.”)
I’m shocked and horrified. I feel so sad for her. Why would a beautiful, unique and lovely person at the wonderful, possibility-filled age of 17 voluntarily alter her already attractive appearance?
I feel sad and concerned for our daughters and nieces and cousins and friends. What kinds of messages we send young girls today?
First, the vapid and vacant Kardashian sisters, despite the fact that they don’t actually do anything worthwhile, are placed on pedestals and considered American royalty. Then, we market t-shirts and magnets with slogans like “I’m too pretty to do math” to our tweens.
From what I have heard, JCPenney and Forever 21 both pulled the items once the criticism and outcry reached critical mass. Though you can still buy your daughter a shirt that celebrates her good looks and willingness to minimize her intellect and play dumb on Amazon. Awesome.
Tonight I’m grateful that I have three amazing sons. (And not because they are immune to societal pressures regarding physical appearance or performance. I’m not kidding myself that we don’t send the wrong messages to our sons, too.) Because I can introduce them to all kinds of wonderful, wise, kind, caring and vibrant women with varied interests and interesting things to say. That’s not going to save Ali Lohan and it’s not going to make the Kardashians go away. But it’s what I can do.
And it’s a start.