At 11 years old, most little girls are just starting to do battle with their parents over the question of ear-piercing. Except if you are 11-year-old Willow Smith, that is, for whom body piercing has seemingly gone way beyond a youthful pair of studs or sleepers.
In a shocking picture posted on her Instagram account, the little girl appeared to have a tongue stud.
Fortunately, the stud turned out to be a fake, and was probably of the magnetic jewellery variety.
What her parents Will Smith and Jada Pinket Smith were thinking in allowing even this (choking hazard, anyone?) we will perhaps never know. But one thing is for sure, with her partially shaved head and dyed pink stripe, her multiple earrings and her oh-so teenage wardrobe, Willow Smith is growing up fast. Too fast.
With tongue piercing being so potentially dangerous - the British Dental Association (BDA) told the BBC they can lead to infections, speech impediments, breathing problems and broken teeth - let's hope Willow wasn't trying out the look in preparation for going ahead with the real thing. Having already allowed the little girl to have her upper ear pierced, her parents are obviously not that reserved about piercing in general.
But really, as shocked as we all were at seeing the original picture and believing Willow's tongue furniture to be real, the issue here is that this little girl, who, regardless of her showbiz background or her own fledgling 'career' is being allowed (maybe even encouraged?) to project an image way older than her years.
WENN
A recent picture of her striding confidently along the street with her 40-year-old mum - mom in studded boots, jeans and a vest top, Willow in DM style boots, skinny jeans and sporting her pink shaved hair - do was disturbing on many levels; Willow looked like a sassy, attitude-filled teenager, whilst her mom - undeniably looking fabulous for 40 - looked like her slightly older sister.
And now, as Willow proudly sports her albeit-fake tongue stud along with her multiply pierced ears and shaved and dyed head, we can only wonder: what next?
For her sake let's hope its something a little more age appropriate and conducive to an fun and innocent childhood. Because she is eleven. ELEVEN.
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