Jezebel
First we hear about little girls getting pedicures, then bikini waxes, and now, at the tender age of 6, it's chemically treated hair. The New York Times reports that today's moms are paying for their daughters to get highlights. (Full disclosure: I was a hair model in high school, and for a good four years my hair got dyed every color of the rainbow. But I made money doing it and I was 15. The girls in the Times are much, much younger.) Says Tammy Curris of Toadly Kool Me salon in Fayetteville, NC, "We've had girls as young as 6 in for highlights, but 9 and 10 is more the norm." Echoes Mark Goodman of Hair Designers of Hilton Head, SC, "Five years ago, the rule of thumb was 15- to 16-year-olds would come in for their first color. Now, that girl is 10."
Is Mr. Goodman horrified by this emerging trend? Hell to the no! "I tell stylists to get more involved in school and community events to reach out to these younger girls. They may not want to think in those terms, but these girls are our future business." Barf.
Ouidad, who owns a Manhattan salon where she is also a stylist, says:
"These girls want flexibility to imitate the styles of their idols, and they need it to look right. Girls as young as 10 come in with little support groups of friends who wait with them hours. And when I turn them into Hannah Montana or whoever they want, they literally jump and cry and scream... I wonder what message we are sending the girls."No shit! Adds former Miss Virginia Nancy Amanda Redd, "Pregnant women can't get highlights, what makes it safe for little girls? These girls are going from baby to mini-adult. They feel naked without their highlights. I think we need a giant dose of realism here."
As for the mothers? They're basically enablers. Says Jane Ordway of New York, "Originally, we went to the salon because [12-year-old daughter] Olivia wanted me to have my hair colored to cover the gray, which I did. But then it turned out she wanted a highlight herself. She does have a really good fashion sense and some of her friends have done it, and I felt we were in the right place to have it done well so I let her." Wait, what? They were at the salon to begin with because the daughter told the mother to get rid of her grays? Fuck. It's not about the parents any more. This nation's youth cannot be saved. When you can buy a tramp stamp for your toddler, you know the end is nigh.
A Girl's Life, With Highlights [NY Times]
Lower Back Tattoos for Your Toddler [Babble]
Earlier: Why Let A Girl Play When She Can Be Made Over Like JonBenet?
How Many 8-Year-Olds Have To Get Bikini Waxes Before We All Agree The Terrorists Have Won?
Comments
"Toadly Kool Me"? Srsly?
not good, not good. and not OK.
Gnnnnnaaaarrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I've been dying my hair since 6th or 7th grade.
Just say no, moms.
Yeah, it really is that simple.
I need to call my mom and thank her. No makeup, ear piercing, or leg shaving until I was 13. She would have killed me if I asked to color my hair.
Goddammit, what happened to using lemon juice or the regular peroxide your mom keeps in the cabinet for cuts and scrapes and then realizing that your hair is black so none of this shit is really going to change anything?
I read that this morning, so what next - Anne Summers slumber parties for tweens?
Since when do mothers take orders regarding their own appearance from their pre-teen daughters? "Mom, I really think this Hannah Montana baby tee would make you look less OLD"
I have been waiting all afternoon for this to pop up
What is wrong with the NYT lately - I know it is styles Thursday but still this shit is gross
On the flip side, my mother refused to let me Sun-in or poodle perm my hair in the 80s and for that I am eternally grateful.
Um, does this apply to Black girls as well? I had my hair relaxed at 11
"I tell stylists to get more involved in school and community events to reach out to these younger girls. They may not want to think in those terms, but these girls are our future business."
Does he work for the cigarette companies too?
Okay, I'm going to get flamed, but my mother took me to get highlights when I was twelve, and I loved it.
I know, I know, she's fueling the patriarchy, and I'm giving in to OPPRESIV BEAUTY STANDARDS. I don't advocate forcing a kid to go against their will and overall I'm against the sexualization of children. Of course, of course, of course.
But you know what? I was kind of mousy in junior high. It sounds stupid, but those highlights were a treat. I held my head a little higher in school next day. It instilled a little bit of confidence in me. While confidence should come from more high-minded sources, sometimes it comes from a salon.
Flame on!
Put all three of those things on the list of things that will NOT happen at BAngieB's house. Whether it's the 50's or not.
Oh, that Babble article has to be a joke. I still hate everybody, though.
I've read about this before. Women who highlight and color their kids' hair so that it would match their own. Like bottle blondes who want to pass their kids off as blondes too. It's like your children are your new (matching) accessory.
When I was ten years old I wanted to dye my hair SO BADLY, and my mom was like "absolutely not." I get why little girls want highlights, but I don't get why their mothers let them.
Depending on hair texture I have heard of 5 year olds(african american) getting perms because the mother cannot "do that head"...I think a perm is much worse then a streak or 2...
I'm not sure if I get the big deal about little girls going to hair salons. (Getting a bikini wax is something different.)
As a kid I went to the beautician (yeah, I'm old), almost every week as did the other little girls I knew. Women of color start getting their hair done by professionals at a young age.
I now have dreadlocks because I hated going and my skin is sensitive.
@TwiceShy: Glad to know I'm not alone. I don't feel like it was "abuse" to have my hair did in junior high.
Yes, but are they getting a brazilian and anal bleaching?
@Lux Lisbon: I was wondering about that myself. And I also caught myself saying "Sooooooooooouth" in my head - because I had a bad time of it down there in Georgia, beauty-wise.
I'm raising my kids in Finland anyway, so they're all going to be freakishly normal and well-educated and pasty until they go through their scary Goth phase. Whatevs.
Whatever happened to using Sun-In and laying out in the sun covered in baby oil? The times they are a-changing!
Nothing is worse than bikini waxing an 8 year old. I'd rather highlight all the 4th graders in the world than wax them.
Ugh, my cousins bleach their hair and their mother is so bad about letting them do whatever they want. Tattoo at 15? Yep. Piercings at 13? Uh huh. My aunt is ridiculous.
Parents need to stop being friends with their kids and letting them walk all over them. Seriously.
I thought the whole point of being 6 was to have the hair color everyone wants?!
If my mythical 6 yr old wanted pink Manic Panic, that would be one thing, but why groom your kid to look like a future office girl? You might as well get her some wide leg trousers and pointy heels to barely peep out the bottoms.
I know I'm gonna catch hell for this, but I put blonde highlights in my granddaughter's hair when she was about 11 or 12 and it turned out great and was really cute. I don't see anything wrong with it - it's better than the "Sun-In" we used that turned our hair bright orange.
My mom used to take me to get my nails done when I was little. The lady painted Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on my little nails. And added a red jewel for the nose. It was the greatest.
besides all the stuff about kids growing up too fast and the hypersexualiztion of little girls... who the hell wants to pay that much for a kid's haircut? My mom trimmed my hair until I was 18. I get that not everyone feels comfortable cutting hair. Its called Great Clips people. And when I'm paying over $100 at the salon there better not be a bunch of ten year olds there.
I didnt get my first highlights until I was 17 years old. I didn't peirce my ears until I was 18 years old. My mom figured at 20 it was time to teach me how to wear makeup. I love how I look and I've always had great self-esteem, even though I have like weird adult acne beating the shit outta my face lately and a AA cup. These mothers don't know what the fuck they are doing to their kids. These girls are going to be dropping their panties and drinking Miller Lites by 14 because "that's what's cool now" seriously, people. Stop fucking up your kids...the cycle must end
I can imagine the look on my mother's face in 1994 if I had asked for $45 to get highlights. I can then imagine her locking me in my room for a few years until I became sane once again.
Shit, this is the woman who would not let me dye my hair auburn in HIGH SCHOOL like all the other artsy kids.
I begged for a perm... my mom said no way (As if we had money for little children to get salon perms anyway, we were immigrants). Then, my hair turned curly anyway, and I wanted my straight hair back. Life.
i think the whole sexualizing-young-girls thing is truly revolting, but one thing struck me about the "toadly kool" hairshop-- it's in fayetteville, nc, home of ft bragg and pope airbase, so perhaps some of these little girls are getting extra treats b/c their dads are away fighting this never-ending fucking war?
yes, it's enabling, but for some kid who doesn't know if the first love of her life, dear old dad, is coming back alive, i can overlook a few highlight shenanigans.
@ineffable.me: Agreed. I dont even completely understand brazilians at 8 - little kids don't even have hair there, do they?
I want to be outraged, but then I remember that my mother let me get a perm at 10 (it was the 80's, people!). Then again, I am still outraged that there are pictures of me with big hair. So, yeah, outrage wins!
See, my mom let me do what I wanted to my hair, I had it every possible color and even permed (although I'm naturally curly, I wanted it curlier), I got it out of my system, and now I cherish my natural color and texture. That said, all they dyeing took place when I was in high school. This here, this is just sick.
@JEZICKLES IN MY TUNABEL: I just had a flashback to SM saying she felt like her soul was sucked out through her asshole when she had it waxed.
That was my first Pot Psychology and I loved it.
Oooh I used to get so mad at my mom for not letting me dye my hair or get highlights... I should call her up and thank her. She always said I could do whatever I want when I turn 18. Of course, by that time I had lost all interest. I've still never colored my hair, which is awesome because I never have to worry about touch ups. And there are no embarassingly tacky zebra striped pics of me to be found.
@JessicaLovejoy: I was all about Sun In! I would spray it on certain strands and then go and do all my "summer activities." It took 4 years for the "blonde" to come out.
@angryblackgurl: Yes I was thinking the same thing. Perhaps it's a different coversation altogether
@Lux Lisbon: Fayettenam is a different world. Trust.
my mom would use the extra blonde box color she had from dyeing her own hair on me when i was 13 or so. it was just highlights and it was no big deal...i was naturally a blonde already. i don't think it's a big deal if it's done at home - but going to a fancy salon? to get orange streaks in your hair? when you're 8? no way.
I think it's wierd that they go to salons. When I was in middle and high school we just got crap at cvs, or kool-aid. Hey, kool-aid! remember that. My mom said no :(
I first dyed my hair at 28 and my mom was upset that I started doing it before I had to.
What's wrong, moms? Have you never heard the word No before? Six is too young to have your hair dyed.
@golddigger: My friend who was four years older bought my first bottle and took me to the salon. Before then I was using ink, so wrong!
@RyanB: I was just coming to ask to that. I've been getting my hair relaxed since I was probably 7 or 8.
@angryblackgurl: Yeah, I remember a lot of kids, white and black, getting perms when I was growing up. I think it's just as bad and weird.
@RyanB: Jheri Curl at eight, followed by a 4 year stint with the pressing comb, and finally a straight perm at age 12. I don't think this one applies to the lil' black girls.