DiscursiveForres Academy

Is Sarah Burge’s obsession with beauty harmful to her children?

The average age for the use of Botox is forty to fifty-nine, when the skin is old and tired. At the age of fifteen the skin is young and fresh, so why inject such poison into a youthful body? All a little girl wants for Christmas and birthdays is a bike, jewellery, or maybe even a Barbie doll, but to become one? Why would “Santa” stuff vouchers for lipo-suction and breast implants in a seven year old girl’s Christmas stocking? The answer for all the above is cosmetic surgery, entrepreneur Sarah Burge, aka “The Human Barbie”.

Everyone may know Sarah Burge as the woman who was left horrifically disfigured from an attack, by her boyfriend, resulting in necessary surgery to mend the damage. Burge states that there was a time, when she was completely against cosmetic surgery. The business woman and mother of two, suffered domestic violence and was hurried to hospital, consequently ending up “looking like a monster”. Surprisingly, many have named Burge, an inspiration because of the events she has suffered. Yet, she fraudulently stole money from the government to buy a “bottom like Kylie Minogue”. Her daughters have inherited this plastic lifestyle and this is the legacy Burge now offers. From having the public’s respect, she now has their horror due to her fixation to improve her young daughters’ looks through surgery and procedures, such as Botox.

The list of these moral crimes goes on and on. One of Burge’s daughters, Hannah, who is now eighteen, received Botox injections for her sixteenth birthday. No, Burge isn’t breaking the law here but the fact that she still injects the poison into her daughter’s body is despicable. Burge says, “Hannah works as a professional dancer and has had Botox to stop her sweating” It is clearly obvious that Burge has in some way influenced her daughters into believing that Botox is always the solution. Sweating comes naturally to the human body; it cools you down when exercising, so why take that away? Burge’s eldest, Charlotte who is twenty-seven has also had cosmetic surgery for her breasts and face. Instead of teaching her children to appreciate and love themselves for who they are, Burge is teaching them that the number one priority is to be attractive. Now, her eight year old is becoming fixated with her appearance. This will end well.

On her youngest daughters, Poppy’s eighth birthday, she was given a boob job voucher to be used when she is at the legal age. “Mummy, just what I always wanted!” Surely a young girl should want toys and games, not silicon. Poppy also had a party that was highly abnormal, costing an immense twenty-five thousand pounds. Poppy’s birthday party consisted of a carriage being pulled by a horse with beauty treatments and make up specialists inside. The climax of the day was turning up to a venue of one hundred guests. Poppy and her friends had to impress the judges by walking down the catwalk where her friends wore a variety of ludicrous dresses. Poppy also dressed up in a designer dress and diamond encrusted footwear. It’s not the typical bouncy castle and barbeque many young girls her age receive, yet poor Poppy is no longer a normal little girl. She has been corrupted and damaged by her mother’s obsession with appearance. At the end of the night, the guests left with party bags containing a signed photo of Poppy and her mother; luxurious chocolates and two hundred pounds worth of spray tan vouchers. Isn’t it disgusting that Sarah Burge thinks this is an appropriate way for a little girl to celebrate her birthday? What eight year old needs fake tan, designer clothes and to be judged by her appearance? What impact will this have on Poppy? Will she grow up a well-rounded individual or a mentally and emotionally disturbed woman who has low self-esteem and never feels quite good enough? Poor Poppy. She never really stands a chance at a normal life, does she? Again, why is Burge doing this to her young daughters when they should be enjoying their childhood instead?

Burge and Poppy also takes trips to Los Angeles for regular holidays. Usually people who fly abroad have family trips and stay beside the pool for a perfect holiday. On the other hand, Poppy takes part in beauty pageants and also works as a model. At this age a child should not be working and especially not as a model. Yes many children are models for clothes retailers and also to promote companies’ products but when a child is already influenced by her mother that liposuction and breast implants are appropriate, it could become damaging to the child’s young mind. There is also a photograph of Poppy and her mother wearing nothing but tights and a “Caution Do Not Enter” tape which was wrapped about them both. This is obscene. What’s next? Pole dancing? The answer unsurprisingly and terrifyingly is yes.

Sarah Burge re-appeared in the news in 2010 when many found out that the woman who had gratefully been saved by surgery had given pole dancing lessons to Poppy at age six. This caused an understandable outcry and many were deeply shocked and believed that Burge isn’t a good mother. It’s obvious that the Human Barbie’s behaviour is peculiar and completely different to other mothers’ opinions and it is inevitable this has and will continue to harm her young, impressionable children. But will this teach her the errors of her ways? Unlikely. A few have asked her if she will ever give up on surgery; “No, not until they hammer the last nail into my coffin.” What a mother!

944 words

Bibliography

The following resources were used in this essay:

‘Mum reveals why she’s buying her daughter £8,000 of cosmetic surgery vouchers for her EIGTH birthday’ by Andrew Dagnell. The Mirror (Date accessed: 26/02/12)

‘SHE’S the mum who appalled the nation when she gave her daughter pole-dancing lessons when she was just seven.’ by Deidre Sanders. The Sun (Date accessed: 25/05/12)

Word Count: 1,019