Bikini Waxes For Tweens

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Pearl

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I saw this on Good Morning America...

The simple mother-daughter stress-reducing day at the spa — complete with perfect manicures and pedicures — has morphed into a full-fledged booming beauty business.
Giving young children a trip to the spa is a growing trend among parents.

Some spas now are giving their tween clients resort-type treatments and pint-size pampering. The offerings go beyond the typical painted nails.

Catering to a kid's every possible desire, some spas have stepped up their tween care by offering hair highlights, microdermabrasion and bikini waxes for girls as young as 11 and 12.

"I feel it's part of hygiene. When it's appropriate and they need to, they'll be doing it," said Kelly Burrus, mother of 11-year-old Bella Burrus.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/BeautySecrets/story?id=4881675&page=1

When I was eleven year old, there was always that one girl who acted too old for her age. But now, it seems common for young girls to be old for their ages. I think kids should be kids, not miniature adults. When I hear stories like this, it makes me dread having my own children.

Also, what are these parents thinking? My parents - old fashioned as they were - were always insistent that I stay my age. Why are so many parents out there allowing their young daughters to be overly concerned with their appearance before they should be? It boggles my mind :no:
 
I think it's fine for little girls to go and have their nails done, hair done, even mini facials, but this is absolutely ridiculous. I think the microdermabrasion could even be harmful, as the skin is so much younger and hasn't even really had any exposure to harmful skincare yet. Hopefully. :huh:
 
Man things are so different now. My mom wouldnt even let me shave my legs until I was like 14 :crack:
 
is this some sort of nation wide trend? or is this just a mildly sensationalistic story designed to get everyone upset about yet one more sign of the fall of western society?
 
Well, when you have young girls playing with Bratz dolls, or wearing miniskirts, and so on, tweens going to the spa for facials and waxings would've been next.

And even if it wasn't a huge trend, having a handful of parents doing this to their daughters still would be surprising and sad.
 
I havne't heard about bikini waxes for that age, but they get nails and feet done, eyebrows and legs.

It is up to the parents to help keep a childs perspective in check. These are things that should be kept for when one is older, I think.
My 13 yr old shaves her legs because she is self conscious of the the dark hair. but waxing - NO. If she wants a professional manicure and pedicure, which she has never had, that is considered a treat, and she would pay with her money she has worked to earn. After all, these things are a luxury. and she would see how this isn't something that they are entitled to just because they want it. We do our own nails. I may go twice a year, for a special occassion only. but that's just me.
What happened to moms and daughters doing 'the spa' type thing at home together, special time together....
 
11 and 12 is far too young to even need to worry about bikini waxing.

At that age, what are they even waxing?

By 15 and 16 that's fine, but this is really getting ridiculous.
 
Irvine511 said:
is this some sort of nation wide trend? or is this just a mildly sensationalistic story designed to get everyone upset about yet one more sign of the fall of western society?


I think the issues highlighted by the Jonbenet Ramsay case (principally, that some upper middle class parents thought beauty pageants for 7 year old girls were a good idea) were a lot more disturbing, and that was over a decade ago.
 
Irvine511 said:
is this some sort of nation wide trend? or is this just a mildly sensationalistic story designed to get everyone upset about yet one more sign of the fall of western society?
That's what I was thinking...the "evidence" for the story appears to be drawn entirely from two salon-spas in NYC and one in Chicago, which I'd bet serve a mostly wealthy clientele. While the very idea of "mother-daughter spa day" is a hoot to someone like me who grew up in the rural South in the '70s-'80s, I'm sure that even then, in places like Beverly Hills and whatnot, you had the rich and fabulous toting their little princesses along to the salon for a "makeover." If that's where Mom's regularly going to get her primping and preening done, then it's really not surprising that daughters who are interested in that stuff get introduced to that environment fairly young too. Other than the fact that it costs $$$ (but we're obviously talking folks with the $$$ to burn here), I don't see how this is all that different from mothers teaching their "tween" daughters to use face masks, hair curlers, manicure tools etc. at home, as many have been doing for decades. As far as waxing, while I'm personally of the opinion that body hair removal for women should be seen as wholly optional, if a girl's old enough to have body hair (and yes, some 11-12 year olds do have pubic hair), then I think she's old enough to decide whether or not to remove it, and again, if Mom's regularly going to a salon to have her own "needs" of that sort attended to and has the $$$ to blow, then I don't find it that surprising that some will offer their tweens that route too. You can let your daughter fuss over her nails for 40 minutes at home once a week, or you can take her to a salon for the same thing--other than the expenditure involved, I don't really see the difference in terms of how it affects her self-perception. Primping is primping.
 
yolland said:

That's what I was thinking...the "evidence" for the story appears to be drawn entirely from two salon-spas in NYC and one in Chicago, which I'd bet serve a mostly wealthy clientele. While the very idea of "mother-daughter spa day" is a hoot to someone like me who grew up in the rural South in the '70s-'80s, I'm sure that even then, in places like Beverly Hills and whatnot, you had the rich and fabulous toting their little princesses along to the salon for a "makeover." If that's where Mom's regularly going to get her primping and preening done, then it's really not surprising that daughters who are interested in that stuff get introduced to that environment fairly young too. Other than the fact that it costs $$$ (but we're obviously talking folks with the $$$ to burn here), I don't see how this is all that different from mothers teaching their "tween" daughters to use face masks, hair curlers, manicure tools etc. at home, as many have been doing for decades. As far as waxing, while I'm personally of the opinion that body hair removal for women should be seen as wholly optional, if a girl's old enough to have body hair (and yes, some 11-12 year olds do have pubic hair), then I think she's old enough to decide whether or not to remove it, and again, if Mom's regularly going to a salon to have her own "needs" of that sort attended to and has the $$$ to blow, then I don't find it that surprising that some will offer their tweens that route too. You can let your daughter fuss over her nails for 40 minutes at home once a week, or you can take her to a salon for the same thing--other than the expenditure involved, I don't really see the difference in terms of how it affects her self-perception. Primping is primping.

:wave: I agree with a lot of what you have said but I think its all about differing degrees of expecatation.

I am Mum to a gorgeous 12 year old girl who is 'young' in comparison to some of her contemporaries - she has done the nail and hair thing once or twice (always for a special occassions like her primary school graduation party or a family wedding), we've had our own mum & daughter nites at home where we do each others hair and she had a blast, but she doesn't expect it every week as do most of her friends & that's where I think the worry is . . . why can't some of these things be kept as rites of passage?
Okay, maybe I am just a lot more conservative than I ever dreamed I would be but to me it just screams of asking our kids to grow up too fast - there have to be some things left to look forward to don't there?
 
I'm sure it's just a tiny, tiny segment of society (the ultra-rich, ultra-trendy segment) that's doing this. But still, it's disturbing - not so much the pedicures and manicures - I had fun painting my own nails (not very succesfully) when I was that age. But why the hell does an 11-year-old need a bikini wax?
 
This thread makes me :eyebrow:

I went through a "girly" stage at 11/12. I spent every waking moment of free time at the mall, spent my babysitting money at the Icing, owned three dozen shades of nail polish... but I'm not sure that the thought of waxing or getting any sort of professional spa treatment ever crossed my mind or the minds of my friends. Like yolland said, I think it's more of a class/wealth thing than a fad among tweens in general. I'm 23 and can't afford routine spa treatments, hair coloring, or waxing even if I WANT it. OK maybe I *can* afford it but think it's so ridiculous compared to what I could be spending my money on (travel, retirement savings, fixing the car...).

As far as whether girls that age are old enough to have pubic hair... I've always been told that girls are pretty much mature two years after their first period. Looking back, this was at least true for me. I've grown only one half of an inch since I was 13 years old and now that I've been working out and eating better, I'm within 10 lbs of my "high school" weight. I knew girls that got their periods in fifth grade (age 9/10). So yes, some girls do have boobs, hips, and pubic hair by age 13.
 
I knew plenty of South Asian girls whose mothers took them to have their eyebrows, upper lips and arms waxed at that age. So maybe that's why this doesn't sound particularly strange to me.

I remember getting bikini waxes in high school, maybe when I was 16 or so and going to Florida or elsewhere on a beach vacation.
 
Bono's shades said:
I'm sure it's just a tiny, tiny segment of society (the ultra-rich, ultra-trendy segment) that's doing this. But still, it's disturbing - not so much the pedicures and manicures - I had fun painting my own nails (not very succesfully) when I was that age. But why the hell does an 11-year-old need a bikini wax?

We 're not in an ultra trendy suburb but there is a HUGE market for it amongst my daughters friends and it staggers me - a) the expense, b) the time spent obsessing over the way they look c) the definite divide between those who do it and those who don't that is starting to appear - grrrr! I am all for the dress up phase as its a normal, very natural part of a young girls journey from adolescence to adulthood - I guess I just worry that getting caught up in all the hoo haa so early on leaves them nothing to look forward to and skews their self image.

As for 11 year olds needing to wax - my daughter does have friends who (unfortunately for them) got their periods when they were 9 and the subsequent body hair not so long after that.
 
"I feel it's part of hygiene. When it's appropriate and they need to, they'll be doing it," said Kelly Burrus, mother of 11-year-old Bella Burrus.

What the hell does waxing have to do with hygiene? As disturbed as I am with the way young girls seem to grow up so fast these days, I'm even more disturbed that there are women out there who think that unless you are waxed down there you're not practising good hygiene!!!! Bathing daily, more often if sweating a lot, etc - that's hygiene. There's nothing dirty about having pubic hair for god's sake...
 
For gymnastics we did a lot of creative things with regard to pubic hair. I don't know if that counts though, since it wasn't really a "spa" treatment, but an I-have-to-wear-a-leotard-and-don't-want-THAT-showing sort of thing. We didn't think hair was dirty, quite the contrary. Be in a competitive sport that requires you to dance around in your undies long enough and there's no such thing as modesty. :shrug:
 
Liesje said:
... an I-have-to-wear-a-leotard-and-don't-want-THAT-showing sort of thing.

See, I can understand girls that young removing hair for these sorts of reasons - living in Australia, swimming is big here and I'm sure I had to do something every summer when school swimming lessons came around - but hygiene!?!? I guess it just seems to me that more and more people are falling for the hype from beauty companies which seems to say 'body hair is unclean, unless you wash with this special scented lotion you too will smell 'down there', etc, etc', and most of the time the advertising is dressed up with pseudo-science so people actually begin to believe it. Take underarm hair for example - from personal experience, women seem to think that other women who don't shave/wax/otherwise remove their underarm hair are unclean somehow. Ditto with legs. Mind you, I shave both those areas, so maybe somehow I am contributing to the stereotype...:shrug:
 
Just parents with too much money showing off by lavishing excess onto their kids.

I wish I had too much money... :drool:
 
An 11 year old child getting waxed? Creepy. I'm sorry..as a mom of three young daughters, I think it's sad to see today's kids act like they're minature adults. Whatever happened to enjoying childhood? At 11, 12, 13 years of age, I was still playing with my Barbies, and climbing trees.

One thing that really disturbs me... Every couple of years or so, I go to the tanning bed for a month or so to get some color for an upcoming vacation. I just finished up two months, and you wouldn't believe how many kids from 13 and up are going to the tanning beds now! Every other day, and some of these kids had tans that take a good 3 months or more to achieve. Melanoma? Cancer, anyone?!
 
Irvine511 said:
is this some sort of nation wide trend? or is this just a mildly sensationalistic story designed to get everyone upset about yet one more sign of the fall of western society?

the trend of over-sexualization of young girls has been well documented in recent years.
 
MaxFisher said:


the trend of over-sexualization of young girls has been well documented in recent years.



how is this sexual?

or is that in your head.

i used to shave my bikini/speedo line twice a year for the taper-and-shave championship swim meets.

wasn't sexual.
 
and, as an aside, the sexualization of younger and younger girls has nothing to do with liberal or conservative or morality or whatever, and it has everything to do with cold, hard capitalism.

which is what this is about as well. spas create the perception of "need," which the mothers buy into, which their daughters see and want access to, and which in turn creates the perception of "need."

if you love money, if you love capitalism, if you love the free market ... stop complaining.
 
Irvine511 said:




how is this sexual?

or is that in your head.

i used to shave my bikini/speedo line twice a year for the taper-and-shave championship swim meets.

wasn't sexual.

oops. I read your previous post wrong.

no, I don't think there's anything innately sexual with a bikini wax.
 
Irvine511 said:
and, as an aside, the sexualization of younger and younger girls has nothing to do with liberal or conservative or morality or whatever, and it has everything to do with cold, hard capitalism.

which is what this is about as well. spas create the perception of "need," which the mothers buy into, which their daughters see and want access to, and which in turn creates the perception of "need."

if you love money, if you love capitalism, if you love the free market ... stop complaining.

a capitalist society may allow for a more excessive lifestyle, but the choice is still up to the individual. I choose to buy a product. I'm not a victim of materialism. I'm constantly barraged by marketing and images convincing me I "need" things but I still manage to live a fairly simple lifestyle.

I see the problem as parents not being able to say "no" to their kids.
 
MaxFisher said:
I see the problem as parents not being able to say "no" to their kids.



but my job, if i were in advertising or whatever, would be to compel you to say "yes" to your daughter, and i will use all the tools at my disposal to reduce your perception of actually having a voice in the matter. i will send messages that will tell your daughter -- who is far more likely to listen, being that she's so young -- that she is undesirable if she doesn't have my product.

if you can resist, more power to you, but most people can't, and don't.
 
Irvine511 said:
if you can resist, more power to you, but most people can't, and don't.

and that's the real issue. you blame the system for someone's inability to say "no". I say ownership of one's life allows us to transcend.

if I waste my day watching television, I don't blame capitalism for providing me with the television. I blame myself for not getting off my ass.
 
Re: Re: Bikini Waxes For Tweens

PJW said:
There's nothing dirty about having pubic hair for god's sake...

Thank you!! Maybe it's just because I'm in my 40s, but I can remember when people weren't nearly as obssessed with getting rid of pubic hair. I always thought of it as just something you did if you were going swimming and didn't want any of it showing. It didn't have anything to do with being "unclean." (Then again, we had all those Summer's Eve commercials on TV when I was growing up, and having to douche for hygiene purposes is also a huge myth, so maybe we weren't so enlightened back then after all).
 
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