Produced with Emma Ruddock
It’s that time of year when young people are getting ready for summer camp, which used to mean labeling socks, writing wish lists for care packages, and stocking up on plenty of bug spray. Earlier this month, the New York Times reported on a new trend in camp prep – girls, and even a few boys, as young as twelve years old getting seriously groomed before heading off to summer camp. We’re talking leg waxing, hair straightening…the kind of salon services usually reserved for adults with means, not kids setting off to sleep in platform tents. Jane Roper isn’t exactly thrilled about this notion…she’s author of Eden Lake, a novel based on her fifteen years of experience at summer camp, and recently wrote a reaction to the times piece on her blog Baby Squared, saying that pre-camp preening totally misses the point.
