"My husband and I moved ourselves and our tween and teen daughters this fall, for work. This state is known for a religion we're not in, so I knew it would be a transition. What I didn't expect was the crazy beauty standards and how they would impact our kids. In our previous city, there was definitely an ideal to be thin to be "cool," but there seemed to be lots of subcultures in fashion and interests."
"In our new area, I'm often the biggest outlier in a crowd just for being more olive-toned with dark hair, as are my girls. The girls' classmates often go to the salon with their moms for blonde hair or highlights at ages 11 and 13. Our kids are begging me for this, but I say no from a budget, care, and emotional perspective. A stunning number of other moms are rail-thin, even in pregnancy, or so many are on GLP-1s."
A family moved with tween and teen daughters to a state dominated by a religion they do not follow. The community enforces homogenous beauty standards favoring thinness, blonde hair, and specific branded clothing. Girls as young as 11 visit salons with mothers for highlights, while many local mothers take GLP-1s, remain rail-thin during pregnancy, or have plastic surgery. The daughters have dropped non-girly hobbies and want identical branded outfits. One daughter worries about her weight compared with peers. The parent refuses salon treatments for financial, caregiving, and emotional reasons and is uncertain how to help the girls fit in without endorsing the monoculture.
Read at Slate Magazine
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