Over the past week, multiple reputable news sources reported on a story about a three-year-old dog attack victim. The young girl went to a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi with her grandmother after a doctor’s appointment. Minutes after purchasing food and sitting down to eat in the restaurant, the pair was asked by an employee to please leave the restaurant, as the girl’s facial scarring was disturbing to other customers.
According to Kelly Mullins, the grandmother of young Victoria Wilcher, Victoria is “…3 years old and she’s embarrassed about what she looks like. She’s embarrassed and I hate it because she shouldn’t be.” Although the KFC franchise has given the family thirty thousand dollars to assist with medical expenses and apologized on for the behavior of the restaurant employee, the damage has been done. Regardless of the apologies made and the surgeries paid for, Victoria Wilcher cannot forget the hurtful comments and judgments made about her appearance.
How sad is it that a three-year-old girl will live the rest of her life knowing that she was judged solely on her appearance by a restaurant full of adults? Our society has become one that values looks over everything else; so much so that even toddlers are put under a microscope. Looking at magazine covers and headlines, more often that not, the biggest stories discuss the latest celebrity endorsed weight loss plan, or which celebrity has gained weight, or which celebrity now looks too thin. No one ever seems to be good enough.
We can’t expect the next generation of kids to change the problems that have manifested themselves in our generation if we haven’t tried to make changes ourselves. When Jennifer Lawrence told Barbara Walters in an interview, “I just think it should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV,” she attempted to speak out about the fat talk that plagues society. Even though she received positive endorsements from people across the world, a surprising number of people failed to see the point that Lawrence tried to make. Most likely, she wasn’t asking that we literally make this illegal, rather she was bringing to attention the degrading comments that are constantly made about people around us.
Self-confidence is an attribute valued by everyone. Men love women who carry themselves with dignity and are confident in who they are. Women like when their friends aren’t constantly hating on themselves so they can actually enjoy whatever it is that they are doing. Confidence is appreciated in the workplace and in social circles. Yet, confidence cannot easily be bred into children today.
We need to take a hint from Jennifer Lawrence and start making a change. Starting in your friend group, you can stop people from “fat talking” about themselves. Emphasize the beauty that each of your friends possesses rather than discussing the flaws they see in themselves. If we started to see the beauty in everyone, beginning with those closest to us, society would catch on eventually. And, maybe, one day, a little girl like Victoria Wilcher can go out without worrying what other people think of her and feel as beautiful as she really is.
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