For years, celebrities have touted the miraculous effect that wearing Spanx can have on the way your body looks. But now, it looks like the shapewear trend is appealing to a different crowd: teenage girls!
These days, girls as young as 13 apparently consider Spankies–basically the teenage version of Spanx that comes in bright colors or patterns–everyday wear! "You get the training bra and then you get the Spanx," one girl told Good Morning America. To which I can't help but react: um EXCUSE me?
Read more ¿Qué más?: Disturbing trend sweeps YouTube: Teen girls asking "Am I pretty or ugly?"
I consider myself pretty open-minded and have always encouraged my own family members or other parents to pick and choose their battles when it comes to their teens…but this is one thing that I definitely do not condone! I know that the adolescent years are tough on everyone, but girls that young should NOT be so preoccupied with their figures that they want to go out and buy Spanx, let alone wear it all the time. I mean, when I was 13, clothes were either cute or they weren't. I never thought, "Man, this shirt would be so much better if I had something to painfully constrict my stomach underneath!"
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Though I know times have changed, the whole trend still surprises and saddens me. Besides the physical side effects (all that squeezing cannot be healthy), it can have a serious impact on mental health. Young girls should just not be feeling so much pressure to look a certain way (in other words, skinny) or be a certain size (sample size). And I don't think parents should be indulging these thoughts by allowing their kids to wear products designed to "normalize" their bodies, especially if they are on the young side of teenagedom. I would never do that if I had kids!
There are about a million different, great ways to help girls feel better about themselves…but I definitely don't think allowing them to wear Spanx is one of them.
Would you let your teenage daughter wear Spanx? Tell us in the comments below!
Image via ABC News
