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2 months ago (edited) Report 👍

I've had a lot of thoughts on it that have shifted or have become more nuanced over the years.

When younger, I was against it.

Let me clarify.

Never against a free person freely doing what makes them freely happy, 

but concerned in the way you are about 'why', and 'what is too far' etc.

I've also been so 'anti-style' over my life that I have a hard time understanding drastic changes to please other people's standards of how someone should look.

But you need to be comfortable in your own skin.

That's so different from one person to another, from one situation to another, from one set of standards to another, etc.

Well, amongst the rich and powerful, the overarching reality is misogynistic beauty for women, and youth and vitality for all, but especially for women.

As a collective culture, we devalue age and non-conforming appearance, and that translates to real stress, real loss of opportunities, and real reduction in the participation of life's experiences for some, including chances of finding a mate, starting a family and all.

Sure, my high-minded self would like to pontificate about the inner strength of rising above all that, finding your own path, finding people who love you for being the 'real' you (whatever that means),

But it is still exhausting.

I can speak to that as someone who has gone against the tide for the majority of my life to the point where I've felt like a salt dolly sent to measure the depth of the ocean.

So ... cosmetic surgery is a symptom of that for some.

I can't imagine I'd ever want it for myself, and I am pretty okay with the wreckage of age having crept in across my face for years now 😆 

But looking at the long road of trials for myself and imagining how much sharper they may be for others raised to actually care about such things, 

Who am I to judge?

Even if I think what someone has done is 'horrific' in my opinion? 

Do I become part of a judgmental society - if but in the opposite direction - lending my voice to dictates proscribing what a person should do with their own appearance? 

I just don't have those answers.

Gery thought provoking blog post. I have more to say in various rabbit-hole directions.

2 months ago (edited) Report 👍

Megan fox has spoken a lot over the years of having pretty bad body dysmorphia so as much as I hate it I do understand why she would go through with it (and likely it didn’t even make her feel any better) :( 

They have SO MUCH pressure on them as such public beings so I try to always understand especially since I too am insecure and understand what it’s like to be so uncomfortable in my own skin but I just wish they would take a step back and realize the unnecessary parts just further that cycle and harm people’s perceptions of beauty and aging (ESPECIALLY AGING!!!)

I LOVE body modification so really wish those who choose plastic surgeries, cosmetic surgeries, or procedures should double, triple, and quadruple check in with themselves first before making such a permanent and unfortunately public decision :(

Also I think more uncommon body mods should be wider accepted! Split tongues are SO SWAG and just the very tip of the iceberg of possibilities!!! without feeding into a misogynist cycle <3 although I still see the fact that if it was normalized to the point regular surgeries are now, the same problems would start to happen and the cycle would restart just with a different view of what conventional attractiveness is, so I just wish they weren’t horribly frowned upon (at least where I live) <3

2 months ago (edited) Report 👍

They are simply a product.

That is how I look at famous people who are generally extreme with their changes (excluding the other talented individuals who get small changes or none at all.) 

They were taught to do this, they don't care if the masses follow because they already are, they are just a product, their thin bodies they so try to make disappear and seem smaller is a product, the other use of Botox, filler and amongst many things is a product. In my opinion it isn't about feeling pretty (outside of regular people) its about selling something that seems so unattainable.

In general I don't judge if someone (like you) is getting changes, its only a matter of time till someone on social media who goes further with all these operations and food issues which like you said can influence innocent young people to do the same or aspire to do the same in the future.

I also feel like people feel the need to do more because of touch ups after operations! 

2 months ago (edited) Report 👍

I wonder how much of it is genuine and how much of it is the person intentionally ragebaiting an audience to get people to engage more on social media. Remember, algos dont care if you are positive or negative, any sentiment is good enough to boost. I dont think these influences are particularly dumb, I do think a small subset knows what they are doing and want to stay in an attention cycle for as long as possible.