My blood is boiling because I just heard that 8-year-old beauty queen Britney Campbell got Botox. She didn’t just get Botox. Her mother gave it to her. Why? Because Britney complained that she had wrinkles, and now, post-Botox, she feels like she "looks way better, like, beautiful, pretty, like, all those kinds of nice words."

WTF?

Britney and her mother Kerry were on Good Morning America, talking about her extreme beauty regimen, which includes waxing and Botox. And according to Stylist.com, they showed “a slew of photos depicting Britney with bruises, puffy cheeks and ice packs.”

What is happening to us? How can this be true?

At the risk of sounding completely self-absorbed or vain, I’m going to put this right out there as I see it. I was considered a Pretty Girl growing up, getting regular praise for something completely out of my control and not of my core self — and as a result, feeling strangely uncomfortable about it from a very young age on. Maybe I didn’t totally believe it, or more likely I saw it as a very small window of “opportunity” relative to my lifetime, and so I actively and deliberately chose to work on developing my personality, sense of humor and personal growth in multiple areas. I expect(ed) a lot of and for myself (as my mother drug-pushered onto me) attributing my talents to not hard but smart work.

But enough about me. This is what I think about us.

"Rainbow Woman," artwork by Rita Lloyd, (c) 2004

As women, we are inundated with messages that we are not beautiful enough just the way we are. We must pluck, dye, lose weight, wax, exfoliate, tone, manicure, highlight, paint, flatten, inject, and dress in haute couture to be “beautiful.” Well, I’m here to say, on behalf of women everywhere- bullshit.