Under the Knife-Fishy Little Mermaid Plastic Surgery Ad That Should Make You Crabby

If the idealized creation of a beautiful Disney princess needs plastic surgery, I should just start wearing a paper bag over my head.
Clinica Dempere, a plastic surgery center in Venezuela, has a new ad that features the likeness of Ariel the Little Mermaid emerging from under the sea to go under the knife. The ad shows her as a finished product with a sexy pair of gams, boobs that wouldn't fit in those clam shells anymore and a tiny, turned up nose that a Jackson would envy. Clearly she's no better off with this than with the deal from the Sea Witch because she also has a brow lift and lip job that would undoubtedly prevent her from speaking or making any sort of facial expressions while luring that prince. I'm surprised she didn't just finish this transformation off by shedding the ginger like Lindsey Lohan to go blond and getting a nice, leathery burnt sienna tan.
As if the visual image in this plastic surgery ad isn't upsetting enough, they dig the knife deeper with the tag line "We make fairy tales come true." Terrific. What a wonderful message for young women. In order to make your dreams come true, you have change everything about your appearance to be as perfect as possible. And breasts. Forget about getting that man if you don't have some of those. It's concerning because according to the American Society of Plastic Surgery, cosmetic surgery on teens make up 5 percent of procedures nationwide. From 2010 and 2011, the number of Botox treatments on teens rose 20%, the number of breast augmentation surgery climbed 4%, and “chinplants,” or chin augmentations rose 69% among teens.
This ad is horrible. I hope Disney sues them. Plastic surgery is not a fairy tale. Have you ever seen an episode of Nip/Tuck? It's absolutely choke-on-your-couch-snacking-food disgusting! Not to mention the many medical risks. And the fact that this business chose Ariel for this ad is not clever. Yes, she was desperate to change herself into a new species to get to be with the man that she loved, but that doesn't mean that she would have gone all Pam Anderson and done this to be part of his world. But then again, what kind of world are we living in?

We Need to Fight Toe-Besity

Your toes look great! Have they lost weight?

Growing up in dance and having worked as a professional dancer and actress for the past decade, I obviously have obsessed over every flaw on my body. I've lived in fear of strappy sandals that may create cankles. I carefully want to angle myself in pictures so that you can't see that my teeth are a bit crooked because I lost my retainer in the sink disposal.
But thank you beauty obsessed culture for giving us yet another part of our body to obsess and worry about: our toes.
Dr. Oliver Zong, a NYC based plastic surgeon, has been performing toe slimming/reshaping surgeries. Apparently many of us suffer from "toe-besity" and we don't have to. Luckily for those hard to exercise toes that just can't shed that extra ounce-there is a crazy surgical answer. Perfect. You no longer have to feel embarrassed bearing your little piggies in your flip flops.
And remember how crazy you thought those step-sisters in Cinderella who willfully cut off a toe to fit the dainty glass slipper were? Well Dr. Hillary Brenner, a podiatric surgeon in New York, told ABC News that several women have come to her wanting to have their pinky toe removed so they could fit smaller shoes. Hmmm....I do have big feet. Maybe I should look into this in case I happen to be one of the lucky women to win Louboutin's Cinderella shoes. If fairytales have taught us anything it's why should we be a fat toed stepsister when with expensive elective surgery you could be a delicate Cinderella. Who cares if you can walk. You won't need to walk when you are whisked off in the arms of your Prince.
I'm glad that we are finally facing the real health problems in this country. It's time we brought this little known problem into the spotlight so we can put an end to tragic toe-besity.