about Respect Rx

Hey all! I'm Courtney Macavinta, co-author of the best-selling book for teen girls RESPECT and founder of Respect Rx, which is devoted to empowering girls, women and their advocates to boost self-respect, sisterhood and social change in their lives—and our world.
Join the Newsletter




latest posts get it deal with it reading list

<< Previous: Factoids: Girl Statistics & Studies | Next:INNER Beauty Pageant >>

respectrx
Body Image + Health

Plastic Surgery As a Graduation Gift?

It's May and this topic is popping up again! Should we reward girls' educational achievements with a nose or boob job? I think you know my answer on this one. And I feel the same way about giving a high school or college grad a new BMW (sorry, girls!). We need to support girls in LEARNING (and earning) how to gain the REAL goods in life: self-respect, living a passion-filled life, being self-sufficient, sisterhood, having healthy relationships, having their voices heard and true self-acceptance (to name a few of my ambitions for girls). Not convinced girls are being sucked into the plastic surgery trend? Think again. One celebrity glossie boasted the coverline "Surprise BOOB JOBS" this week and all the stars featured were under age 26.

Now I went through MAJOR changes from age 18-25 including: going from a C- high school student to a passion-driven honor-roll college student; getting my first real journalism jobs; paying my own big-city rent; going out with all different kinds of guys and then meeting the man who is my husband today; and losing a parent. If I had focused on permanently changing things about my body in order to "find" myself I'd still be lost. And BTW, I do regret the endless hours I did obsess about my butt and diets and so on.

So I think we owe it to girls to inspire them to dig deeper and get to know themselves and to carve out amazing lives (not their faces!) before they take this shortcut. Check out more of my thoughts on this topic here:

MSNBC
KIRO news in Seattle
Tips for parents and girls

Girls and parents: Want to help stop this madness? Bring the The Girl's Guide to Getting REAL Tour to your town!

 

email this entry to a friend

Email this entry to:


Your email:


A friendly message (optional):


 

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?


 

<< Previous: Factoids: Girl Statistics & Studies | Next:INNER Beauty Pageant >>