A mom on TikTok says she is helping her daughter build self-confidence through body autonomy, but is she going too far? Vidya Gopalan shared a viral video of her shaving unwanted hair from her 12-year-old daughter's face. With more than 20 million views, many women are cheering on the mother-daughter duo and say they wish more moms would do the same.
Gopalan spoke with Today and explained that growing up, she wanted to remove her facial hair, but her mother wouldn't let her. She doesn't want her daughter to go through the same struggles. We have to admit, we like this momma's style.
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This wasn't the mom's idea.
Gopalan explained that her daughter, Sahana, asked her to remove the hair. Although her daughter hasn't been bullied, she shaves as a precautionary measure.
"Having gone through something similar, I would have wanted my mom to support me in that way," Gopalan told Today. "It's really important to listen to your kids."
She added that life isn't easy for young girls. "If hair removal makes her feel better, it's a small thing to do," she said. "Middle school is hard as is."
The young girl inside of us feels this in our souls.
Sahana is thankful for her mom.
In the video, Gopalan uses an electric razor to remove hair from Sahana's face. The tween is grateful to her mom and tells her, "Thank you so much. I don't like it. I don't like the way it looks." She then explains to her daughter that because her hair grows fast, it is a better alternative to waxing.
She wrote a message to moms very directly on TikTo."To moms: if your teen/tween asks to remove facial hair … please do it!"
Gopalan had to go behind her mom's back to get her desired results.
The caption explains the mom's plight. "I tried doing this myself secretly at her age since I wasn't allowed to do this until HS and it didnt end well . ♀️"
She told Today that her family immigrated to the United States from India when she was a child, and her mother believed she was too young for hair removal, which wasn't prevalent in the 1980s. So, like many girls, she would hide under her covers and do it herself.
"When I was 12, I asked my mom to get my eyebrows and upper lip done but she said I wasn't old enough," she explained.
Although that may have been the case many years ago, moms today don't necessarily feel the same way.
A lot of women cheered her on.
The extremely viral video has 9,700 comments, mostly encouraging Gopalan and thanking her for being open.
"COMPLETELY agree! I was not allowed to even shave my legs until high school ," one woman wrote.
Educators are behind the idea, too. "I'm a teacher and: PLEASE DO IT ! You avoid so much suffering on them," someone commented.
"100% yes. My mom let me shave my legs in like the 5th grade without question and I was so thankful," someone else wrote.
One person had a solid idea: "I completely agree but ONLY if THEY ASK u."
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So many people were bullied themselves and know it could have been avoided.
Lots of woman think that if their moms had been more like Sahana's, they wouldn't have such painful memories.
One woman wrote, "I love that you do this for her. I was bullied SO BAD when I was in third grade for my unibrow and "mustache" I'm 31 and that still sticks w/ me."
Lots of others agreed.
"I remember getting my facial hair threaded for the first time, painful but changed life forever! I hated kids making fun of my mustache ."
"You're like the best mom. My grandmother made me go to school with hairy legs and armpits because it's for 'grown' people," one woman shared.
Bad memories abounded.
"yes! my mom didn't allow me to shave my legs until hs and I was always so embarrassed. I made sure to teach my daughter how to do it when she asked!" one comment reads.
For us, this is 100% a yes! We may have been the girls hiding in bathrooms and shaving our legs, and we have the scars to prove it. We are all for self-care, body autonomy, and building self-esteem. Showing our girls how to be body-positive now will help them grow into strong and confident women. You go, momma!
