I spend a lot of time watching talk shows usually scoffing at the TV cup of tea in hand, it makes me feel a little less alone in my house. However one story this week really got me interested to the point I had to write about it.
More specifically this story, about a little girl who had her ears pinned back to avoid being bullied. The show consisted of outraged parent becoming red in the face, while everyone blasted the mother for her terrible parenting. Sure giving a kid plastic surgery may seem a little extreme but I’m not going to try to understand what went through the parent minds because I can’t, but I can safely say what was going through the child’s mind.
Why?
Because I had the exact same fucking operation at the same age due to something doctors apparently called “having stupid looking ears”. Now I know some people say that we’re all beautiful on the inside and no one should have to change how they look because society says they have to conform to an ideal standard. I say fuck those guys, fuck them so hard. If you’ve ever been bullied you’ll know what I mean.
I don’t remember much from my early childhood, but one thing that will stay with me till I die, was being bullied. I still recall coming home crying with my ears bleeding because people had been flicking them. Some people would say, that’s the schools problem they should have stamped down on bullying. That wouldn’t have changed a damn thing, because that’s exactly what the school fucking did. You know what happened then? I still got picked on.
And the Power rangers never stepped in!
No matter what the teachers did or said, I looked different, no amount of education or punishment would ever change that. My mum understood this, she took me to the hospital and explained that I was basically being punched every day, the doctors understood. They gave me the surgery and I can’t thank them enough.
When people find out, there are two different reactions, either they say good for you, your ears don’t make me want to punch you. These people usually receive a manly handshake and a firm embrace of friendship. Then there are people who react by saying, you have bad parents they shouldn’t have done that. Those people cannot begin to fathom the amount of my dick that they can suck for saying that.
I’m not perfect, I have flaws, but so does everyone, but then there are somethings that affect us more than others. If a child was born with an impairment that affected how they walked, doctors would fix that shit in a heartbeat. So why was my impairment that affected my school work, my home life and the lives of my parents considered something that shouldn’t be fixed because some people say that it’s a cosmetic procedure?
The surgery has saved me countless hours of teasing and being bullied, and made me infinitely more confident in how I am as a person, and I hope the same can be said for the little girl in the story I linked.
I feel bad about not writing something funny this week, but this was an issue close to my heart.
Part of the reason I badgered my mom for braces for years and years before finally getting them was because I was teased mercilessly.
The point I’m trying to make, I guess, is that in a perfect world, plastic surgery to avoid bullying wouldn’t happen–not because I think it’s wrong, but because it wouldn’t be necessary. Good on your mom for doing something that would help you not get punched all the time. And shame on anyone who refuses to understand the decisionmaking process your mom–and that girl’s mom–went through, and judges them for it anyway.
Posted by Savvy | May 31, 2011, 4:43 amOh Savvy you’re just the sweetest thing for saying that.
Posted by Karl Smallwood | May 31, 2011, 5:32 pmTrue story: after almost four years of torture, and thousands of dollars invested in my smile, I lost my bottom retainer–and now all my bottom teeth are crooked again.
Vanity lost out to laziness.
Posted by Savvy | June 1, 2011, 7:04 am