All of our 154,500+ voices have been heard! YOU have been heard.

Together, we managed to put enough pressure on a giant company to make them take a hard look at their policy around cosmetic surgery apps for children and change it (or the enforcement of it) for the better.

Back in April, an Apple spokesperson made the following positive statement to the media about the company’s stance on cosmetic surgery apps targeting children: “‘We do not want nor allow these types of apps on the store. We have rules in place against these apps and do not offer them on the App Store.’”

Although we were pleased to see that these cosmetic surgery “games” in Apple’s app store were removed, we were reluctant to declare victory because, over the last four years, Apple would swiftly remove flagged apps but new ones would quickly take their place. As our petition was focused on companies creating an official policy, we wanted to be confident that the absence of cosmetic surgery apps for kids in Apple’s app store was a permanent change. After several months of monitoring Apple’s app store, we are now sure:

 “A wonderful dream come true!” (Cinderella, Disney, 1950)

By Emma Jacobs, Endangered Bodies contributor

It’s the ultimate fairy-tale. Cinderella, the enslaved heroine — soot-stained, rag-ridden, oh-so-humble — holds her breath and makes a wish and with a shower of sparkles she is transformed, now a ball-gowned princess, at last lovely both outside and in. She’s worked hard, she’s suffered quietly, and so she is deserving of the Fairy Godmother’s greatest gift: beauty. “Why!” cries Disney’s Cinderella, “It’s like a dream! A wonderful dream come true!”

Cinderella stories have existed in countless variations throughout human history, from Ancient Greece to the Tang Dynasty to the Islamic Golden Age. We’ve always been fascinated by the “before” and “after” of the makeover. And like all good fairy-tales, the makeover is in essence a morality story. Beauty, it tells us, is something you earn; ugliness is for the lazy. 

This moral lesson has been woven into TV makeover shows since they began in the 1940s and ’50s (incidentally, around the same time Disney’s Cinderella first came to the big screen). In US studio gameshows like Queen for a Day and Glamour Girl, women competed for the viewers’ sympathies by confessing their stories of misery, hardship and marital trouble. Whoever got the most applause from the audience was rewarded for her suffering with a beauty-queen makeover, and the obligatory sense of self-worth that accompanied it. As the NBC brochure for Glamour Girl noted, “the girl is changed not only in appearance but also in her outlook on life. We see her poised, secure and smiling. This creation of a new personality has great human interest appeal.” [1]

By Meg Finney, Endangered Bodies member

The Italian government recently banned plastic surgery for anyone under 18 years old, and they are not the only country to consider such precautions. In Italy, this legislation has been talked about for several years, specifically in terms of breast augmentation. Recently after a recall in France for breast implants containing carcinogens, Italy passed the ban as reported on Televisia.com (2012). Officially, the law bans plastic surgery for aesthetic purposes for anyone under 18, unless needed for medical purposes. Any surgeons found in violation of the law will face a fine of 20,000 euros and a three-month suspension.