The Young and the Bustless

I just recently checked out a few news stories like this one on parents buying their teenaged daughters bigger breasts. And of course – I have some two cents I’d like to share on it.

So some women want bigger breasts. That’s fine. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend paying to have to wear over-the-shoulder-boulder-holders for the rest of one’s life, but hey – it’s your money and your body. Knock yourself out.

My issue is with WHEN these young women are getting them. For Sweet 16 birthdays, as high school graduation presents, as college-going-away gifts. Are the parents of these girls crazy? Don’t they understand that a young woman’s body is still developing and maturing well into her early 20’s? Don’t they hear about the potential complications associated with breast implants?

Most importantly - don’t they remember how cruel and immature elementary, junior high and high school kids can be, and what a twisted impact they can leave on a vulnerable teenager’s ego? High school can leave a girl with average B or C cups feeling like an undeveloped freak. Do they really want their daughters to enter life-effecting surgery armed with nothing but the experiences they’ve had with puberty-infected boys, mean girls and magazine models?

As a reminder folks, here are some of the potential health risks associated with breast implants:

• Interfere with mammography and cancer diagnosis
• Mammograms can rupture implants
• Interference with breastfeeding
• Eventually, most women with implants will experience pain, hardening and rupturing – with follow-up procedures and additional operations being required in the long term
• Infections and blood clots
• Breast implants are not regulated by the FDA
• Suspicion of being linked to autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis
• There are still unanswered safety questions and concerns regarding alleged links between implants and other illnesses
  

Sure, plenty of women get the implants and never report any real problems. Still sounds like a risky procedure to me, and I don’t think it should be taken lightly. I mean, come on. You have to be 21 before you are legally mature enough to drink alcohol. Yet we think our teenagers are mature enough to take on the undergoing of expensive, flesh-altering surgeries just for the sake of cosmetics? Because the fashion industry says that A and B cups aren’t hip right now?

Maybe I’m just out of touch, and times are really different. But when I was a young girl, and somebody asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I’d reply with a specific career. “Big busted” was just never one of my answers.

It bothers me that we have so many young women that are so concerned about their body images in this way. It bothers me even more that the parents are indulging them in these negative self images. I’m not referring to the fact that they spent so much money on these surgeries for their daughters, but rather the fact that at this stage in their lives, parents need to be telling their children that they should be focused on their mental and emotional growth – not the growth or lack thereof of their intimate body parts. I mean look – my parents gave me a $7,000+ present for high school graduation, too. It was called College Tuition.

What’s your opinion?