A salon chain is getting ripped for offering a month-long waxing special for girls 15 and younger.
Uni K Wax Center ran an ad with a bikini-clad adolescent promoting a 50 percent discount on all waxing services for young teens during the month of July.
The center, which has locations in New York and Florida, promises a “natural, safe and pleasant” experience to those who may not have tried the process before, but the special is raising questions about whether or not such grooming is appropriate for young girls.
One mother said it all came down to supporting her 12-year-old’s daughter decision to get a bikini wax before heading off to summer camp.
“She was very adamant, you know, and she’s becoming a woman,” Carol Dolgon-Krutolow told ABC News. “She’s very concerned about how she looks and it’s important that I listen to her.”
The waxing center featured a July 4 blog post on its website, which discusses certain aspects of waxing, as well as when it’s the right time for girls to undergo the process.
From the blog post:
As parents, we all look around and see that girls are maturing at an earlier age; our daughters and granddaughters at 11 look like we did at 14 and 15. We may try to hold back the years, but the reality is that girls are physically maturing at an earlier age, while emotionally, they are still little girls, even if they don’t look like it. So it is our job as parents and mothers to guide them through the changes in their bodies.
But when BuzzFeed writer Hillary Reinsberg contacted the company, a representative told her the idea for the promotion sprouted from an observation.
“At our centers, the daughters often come along and look at their mothers getting waxed and they have questions and they’re not part of the fun and it just becomes a regular activity,” Carlos Calderon, the company’s Director of Operations, told BuzzFeed.
ABC News also obtained a statement from the salon chain, which highlighted a different reason for offering the special.
From the statement:
By the age of 11 or 12, some young girls develop hair on their legs and upper lip. This can not only be embarrassing, but it often makes these young girls targets for bullying at school, especially during PE and recess…Uni K Wax is offering a safe solution in a comfortable environment for these girls.
One Jezebel reader echoed the salon’s statement by reminding parents that kids can be mean.
“I recently told my niece that I felt her 11-year old schoolmate’s mom was cruel for letting the girl show up at school with a full-fledged mustache and unibrow. Sorry, but sometimes leaving your kid hairy isn’t the kindest idea,” Jezebel user joeyneedscoffee wrote in the comments section.
However, Jezebel’s Katie J.M. Baker points out that there’s a difference between waxing by choice and waxing because salons say it’s needed.
The topic of adolescent waxing has been covered by several media organizations, including the New York Times and MSNBC.
A 2009 poll by Cafe Mom’s “The Stir” asked parents when they’d let their daughters receive a Brazilian bikini wax. Fifty-six percent said when they are over 18 years of age and 28 percent said it would be allowed when they’re between 14-17. Five percent of parents said they’d allow it at any age.
Source: Huffington Post
That graphic is comedy gold.