This summer my 7-year-old daughter got her first taste of the Smurfs.
I took her to see the little blue creatures’ movie in 3D and my brother purchased her Seasons One and Two of the animated 80’s show on DVD.
I knew she wouldn’t count Smurfette as one of her favorites, but was surprised her fascination with Vanity Smurf.
“Why does that Smurf always look in the mirror?” my daughter asked after watching an entire episode in which Vanity stared at and subsequently kissed his reflection more than a dozen times.
Hmmm… how does one explain the habits of a narcissist metrosexual to a second grader?
Vanity’s obsession with mirrors, his reflection and all things related to him reminded me of some of the girls I attended high school with. During my freshman year I was forced to sit through two weeks of Driver’s Ed classes with some of the school’s “IT” girls. They were the ones who spent more time staring at their CoverGirl compact make-up mirrors than at the overhead projector which featured stats on the number of distracted drivers who perished each year because they refused to keep their eyes on the road.
The cosmetic queens were fixtures on all of the school’s courts, from Homecoming to Prom, Winter Ball, Spring Fling and May Day. They weren’t all that (IMO), but they certainly knew a thing or two about make-up application. Then again, why wouldn’t they? Goodness knows they spent enough time perfecting their skills.
Back then, teachers didn’t seem too concerned that girls were painting their faces during class. I’d like to think that those same girls wouldn’t be able to get away with their endless mirror-gazing if they were attending school today.
I know they wouldn’t if they were in Britain.
According to news reports, several British schools are not only banning students from bringing make-up compacts to school, but they’ve also removed the mirrors from the girls’ bathrooms.
School officials say they instituted the crackdown because too many female students were showing up in heavy make-up and were skipping classes to primp in front of the bathroom mirrors. Administrators say the last straw came when parents started complaining that their daughters were getting eye infections from trying on each other’s mascara, eyeliner and shadow.
Personally, I applaud the school’s move to ban make-up and remove mirrors.
After all, who needs a bunch of Vanity Smurf wannabes running around campus?
Do you think the school went to far in removing bathroom mirrors?
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