Taking a Kid's-Eye View Of Cosmetic Surgery

Here's an interesting article form the Washington Post about Dr. Michael A. Salzhauer's new book, My Beautiful Mommy, that takes a look at questions posed by children:

Why is Mommy's nose smaller? Where did her tummy go? And what's with all those bandages? This Story

"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," said Diana Zuckerman, president of the nonprofit National Research Center for Women and Families, after reading "My Beautiful Mommy."

"This is disturbing on so many levels," she added. "For one thing, it perpetuates a completely unrealistic ideal" of female beauty: the large-breasted, wasp-waisted, midriff-baring Barbie-doll look. Zuckerman, who says she is not opposed to all plastic surgery, notes that the book's portrayal of postoperative recovery seems remarkably short: The mother is up and around soon after her tummy tuck, which in real life can require a much longer recuperation.