Cosmetic enhancements are making everyone look like the same regardless of how different they may be without them. Botox looks like botox and lip fillers look like fillers regardless of how “natural” the look may be. One thing is for certain, only the young look young. However, being young doesn’t equal being beautiful and one can be eternally beautiful without the dewy look of youth. The ones trying to look 25 at 55 look like a frozen version of themselves. For all the talk about female empowerment , it is pretty sad to see majority of Hollywood actresses going under the knife to make it in the film industry. Acting and modelling are the only two professions where many women retouch themselves to make it.
There is nothing empowering about plastic surgery and many women are saying enough!, I’m fine with how I look and I’m ageing my way. These are some reasons why lip fillers, botox, and other nip and tucks are anything but empowering.
- Not having work done is empowering. That’s you. Own it
Many well off women-less so men- have skin, faces and lips that look the same. Particularly lip fillers to make your lips bigger and luscious. As if thin lips or natural lips were something to be ashamed off. As if we all must have swollen lips. Instagram and the selfie culture are pretty much to blame in the obsession with having work done. In fact, not having work done, is almost becoming the new shame.Not anymore, not having work done means you own who you are regardless of beauty canons.
- A new generation of actresses will became starlets without having to change their faces
Thankfully, not everyone is at it . Take a famous woman such as Kate Middleton, she has thin lips and no botox if we go by the expression lines in her forehead. As a result, she comes across as warm despite being a Royal and the wife of the future King of England. Her natural look give her this aura of being at ease with herself and happy in her own skin
She is however an exception in fame-land . Celebrities are at it, “girlfriends of” are at it, influencers are at it and wannabe influencers are also at it. It is as if women who don’t do it, don’t look after ourselves. I’m happy with how I look not because I believe I’m prettier than anyone else but because that is just how I look and even if I was not, that is me, that is what nature gave me and that surely will always be better than what some Hyaluronic acid fillers may do.
- Just Like an Instagram filter, they all look the same
The cosmetic look makes people look exactly the same regardless of how different they are. It is like applying the same filter to hundreds of pictures. I don’t see anything empowering about plastic surgery unless it is strictly necessary. I remember the first time I had to go under a general anaesthesia. I really felt powerless and I wondered why some people do surgery that is unnecessary and could compromise their health.
- Only the young look young but beauty has nothing to do with youth
What is empowering about following the crowd? I thought one has to be a leader not a follower. The fact that we will all get some lines eventually shows we are living, shows we haven’t died young. There is nothing empowering about living under an exhausting pressure to look better than you did 10 years ago. How you looked at 25 is not how you will look at 35 , 45 or 55. Best to accept this to live happily in the woman you will become as you age. Accept that you will be beautiful regardless of your age and that the dewy beauty of youth is just for those going through that period. It is an ephemeral phase for us all. I will never ever have baby skin again because I did when I was a baby!. No regrets !My one year old does have beautiful baby skin but it would be ludicrous for me to try to get that skin , right?
- The pressure is on and it keeps women forever 21 emotionally
This exhausting pressure seems to keep women forever 21 emotionally which is not an attractive feature. Wisdom and confidence in your skin, on the the hand, are two very attractive features. A trio of dermatologists at Boston University published an essay in the JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery website titled, “Selfies – Living in the Era of Filtered Photographs.” It outlined a new twist on the condition known as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) . According to them, “a new phenomenon, dubbed ‘Snapchat dysmorphia,’ has patients seeking out cosmetic surgery to look like filtered versions of themselves instead, with fuller lips, bigger eyes, or a thinner nose” . “This is an alarming trend because those filtered selfies often present an unattainable look and are blurring the line of reality and fantasy for these patients.”
There is nothing more empowering than accepting who you are and being who you are. No-one will be able to compete with that. Now if plastic surgery and cosmetic enhancements truly make you happier, then , happy for you too.But just imagine how empowered you may feel the day you say: I rock just the way I am.