One of the most disturbing articles I've read in a long time

[ellen_datlow]

I find it hard to believe that 1) that a bride would ask this of her friends and 2) that if asked the friends wouldn't beat the s...t out of their supposed friend, the bride. Am I overreacting?

It’s Botox for You, Dear Bridesmaids

Comments

[amysisson.livejournal.com]

You aren't overreacting in the slightest.

I'm truly disgusted that such things would ever even occur to a bride. I thought it was bad enough when brides gently suggested to bridesmaids that they try to lose 10 pounds for the so-called "big day."

Wow. Gonna have to re-post this one....

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Yeah--that was bad enough.

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

Holy christ. If someone asked me to do that I'd laugh right in their face. What in the hell is wrong with our culture that this is happening?

[casacorona.livejournal.com]

You are not overreacting. That's disgusting.

[upstart-crow.livejournal.com]

Wow... My girlfriend and I are just gobsmacked by this.

And I think this part of the article just broke my brain:

Alas, two women were claustrophobic and couldn’t bear standing in a tanning capsule. “They asked the bride if they could use regular tanning cream from a salon,” Ms. Goldberg said. The bride refused; she wanted everyone to be the same shade. The women ultimately declined to be bridesmaids. “Friendships of 20-plus years gone over a spray tan?” Ms. Goldberg said. “Sad!”

[stephcampisi.livejournal.com]

I think I just developed some wrinkles from all the frowning I did reading that article!

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I grew more and more appalled as I kept reading.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Me too, and I LIKE my wrinkles.

[stephcampisi.livejournal.com]

Well, no upcoming weddings in my schedule, thank goodness!

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Seems like reasonable behavior. Yours, not that of the bride. =)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I thought so ;-)

[joeicarus.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

I'm rolling my eyes so hard I think I lost one.

It's times like these I feel like I'm from a different planet--I just don't understand how shallow some people can be.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

One might almost think it's a joke foisted on the reporter and the public...

[shadowsandice.livejournal.com]

I think I come from a different planet than the people in this article.

[vee-ecks.livejournal.com]

Well, presumably, if you're that shallow and awful, you tend to surround yourself with other shallow, awful people. So maybe making this kind of horrifically inappropriate demand would just sort of blend into the passive-aggressive cesspool you call "friendship" and not be anything worth objecting to, in that context.

I really can't believe the part about the bride demanding boob jobs, though. Good god.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

I am clinging to this notion. It's either that, or apply for Martian citizenship -- and the residency requirement is a *pain*.

[tinaconnolly.livejournal.com]

Word.

[cathellisen.livejournal.com]

On one hand, a sort-of relaxing spa get-together with the bridesmaids would be cool- massage, pedicures maybe, but botox? It's like these people come from a different planet.

[cherylmmorgan.livejournal.com]

I had to go to Korea on a business trip a couple of years ago and one thing that stood out to me about Seoul was that it appeared to be standard practice for marriage bureaus to have attached cosmetic surgery businesses.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

...Or breast enhancements? 'Scuse me? "You're my best friend and I love you and I want you to be my bridesmaid, but just have your body fixed first..."

I've just decided; people are weird.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I noticed that, too - but I assumed it was for the brides and grooms, y'know? The ones making a lifetime commitment, rather than the ones just turning out for the day...

[splinister.livejournal.com]

I think this is a sign of the worsening pressure on women to stay young and attractive. After all, that's one of our primary functions! What's the saddest thing about this article is that the women have bought into the myth. The fact that only one bridesmaid out of five had the good sense to refuse cosmetic surgery (a push-up bra did the job after all) is telling.

I thought the reporter, Abby Ellin, didn't present any alternative to this upsurge in obsession about perfection. The issue is normalised in her piece, and the women who don't participate are subtly depicted as the odd ones out.

In fact, I'm a little leery about the careful placement of companies offering these services in the article - which struck me as being close to product placement. I noticed this the other day in another NYT article I read online.

[lagilman]

*flails madly*

I very rarely ever say this, but - OMGWTFBBQ?


(if you're overreacting, I'm right there with you. OMGWTF, people!)

[e-cunningham.livejournal.com]

I guess nothing says true friendship like inducing muscle paralysis with an injection of neurotoxin.

Idiots.

[vee-ecks.livejournal.com]

"I agree - there are good, hard-hitting articles in the NYTimes, and then there are fluffy commercial pieces loosely disguised as news, targeting a very small and specific financial class of reader."

That would be why this article ran in the *fashion* section, yes.