As much as most parents want to believe their kids are perfect the way they are, there are some areas where they’d probably all agree their kids need a little help . Like, for some, the existence of a unibrow .
A viral video recently made waves, as it showed a mother waxing her daughter’s eyebrows, in order to get rid of her unibrow. This TikTok gained a lot of attention, including that of a pediatrician.
The TikTok was uploaded in early October.
Leah Garcia ( @leah_tcrealtor ) posted the video just days ago, and it’s already been viewed over 18.3 million times.
The 17-second clip shows Leah in the process of using a wax strip to remove the hair on her daughter’s unibrow.
She captioned the video, “My fellow Mexicans, y’all understand!”
And in text overlay through the whole clip, it reads, “Idc! Idc! I’d rather y’all call me a bad mom before I let my 3 year old walk around with a unibrow like my parents did!”
The video shows the quick (though not painless) process.
“Alright girl, now you got two eyebrows!” Leah tells her daughter, who found the entire process more than a little painful (which makes sense, because waxing kind of hurts).
While Leah was preparing for the internet to come after her… the comments were actually pretty kind.
“Ugh I wish my mom did this for me. Got bullied so hard for my eyebrows and my arms,” one user commented.
A lot of people thought this was the right move to keep mean kids from making fun of her.
Another user commented with, “We live in a world full of mean people. You are protecting her in the best ways.”
It even got the attention of a pediatrician.
Dr. Amna Husain ( @dr.amnahusain ) stitched the TikTok to give her own two cents on what Leah had done.
“As a pediatrician, and as someone obviously of color who grows a ton of hair, I wanted to weigh in on this,” she said.
“I’m a girl mom, and I remember myself as a teenager feeling bullied.”
“Our generation recognizes that bullying is very real,” Dr. Husain continues. “And we don’t want to necessarily shape our children’s self-identity by changing what they look like on the outside.”
“But if we can help them not get bullied in some ways that can really break down their self-esteem, then we’d like to do so.”
“The other thing you have to realize is these girls will end up maybe shaving themselves and getting hurt… so better to approach the concept in an open, educational way with your child.”
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Dr. Husain’s own response was viewed nearly a million times.
And much like with the original video, many people agreed that hair removal of this nature was a good idea for kids who’d otherwise face a lot of school bullying.
And some offered the idea of waiting until the kid asks.
“I personally waited until she asked, but my oldest I started waxing her lip at 6,” a user said.”
Another user replied with, “I agree! don’t create an insecurity that they aren’t insecure about it. If they ask, explore options together!”
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!