For decades, the public have demanded celebrities own up to the plastic surgery that helps them achieve their unreal looks – so why are fans still angry when they do?
WATCH: Kim Kardashian denies plastic surgery rumours
It’s no secret that they get to perfect their looks, from reality TV stars with new veneers to A-listers undergoing full body transformations.
In the ‘90s and early ‘00s it was taboo for celebs to talk about what they’d had done and despite constant surgery rumours, stars always denied going under the knife.
While some celebrities still try to keep up the facade today (remember, Kylie Jenner denied getting lip filler for years), attitudes are shifting.
Married At First Sight stars are constantly showing off new transformations – Jessika Power famously spent tens of thousands of dollars on a surgical makeover after the show.
Even the Kardashians will own up to some procedures now; Khloe has confessed to a nose job, Kourtney has breast implants and Kim is open about having tried Botox.
So it seems finally, celebrities are starting to be honest about how they attain their unattainable bodies! This is a big win, right? Apparently not.
Countless stars have been slammed for getting plastic surgery and owning up to it, with followers claiming they’re “normalising” surgical alterations to impressionable young women.
“Constant exposure to altered body image can lead to an unhealthy pressure to achieve unrealistic body types,” psychologist Deirdre Brandner told Girlfriend last year.
“Because our celebrities and influencers are honest about the procedures that they have undertaken, young women are presented with the narrative that to be beautiful you must make these changes.”
But weren’t they already promoting unrealistic beauty standards? Isn’t it better that they admit to surgery so young women know it’s not possible to look like their favourite star through diet and exercise alone?
Some fans don’t think so, saying it’s unhealthy to “glamorise” cosmetic procedures in this way. But what’s the other option?
Stars could go the Kylie Jenner route and deny they’ve had work, but their looks (altered or otherwise) will still create trends that fans will want to follow.
Even before Kylie confessed to having lip filler, other young women were getting their lips injected to try to replicate her pout.
Some insist we simply shouldn’t talk about female celebrities’ bodies at all, but who does that actually help?
WATCH: Kylie Jenner admits to getting lip filler
“Why do we need to talk about someone’s body? This needs to stop. Her body and what she does with it impacts no-one but her,” one Instagram user commented on a recent post about Khloe Kardashian’s rhinoplasty surgery.
But in the age of social media, there’s no escaping the fact that famous women and their bodies have a massive impact on the rest of us.
These are the bodies that set the beauty standards, the bodies that fashion trends are designed around, the bodies that flood our timelines and feeds in a constant loop.
Simply saying that what they do to their bodies doesn’t affect anyone else simply isn’t true from a psychological standpoint.
“Exposure to procedures via Instagram, Snapchat, Married at First Sight and influencers has the effect of normalising cosmetic procedures and changing the expectation of patients,” Dan Kennedy, Specialist Plastic Surgeon and President of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), told Now To Love in January.
He added that patients are asking for increasingly dramatic procedures to keep up with their favourite stars and influencers – even those who haven’t spoken about having surgery themselves.
There’s no easy answer on how to navigate the world of celebrity plastic surgery, how they should talk about it and how it affects average women.
Fans are still so divided because there really are valid points on both sides; talking about surgery could glamourise it, but even when celebs don’t own up we’re still affected by their altered bodies.
Sometimes being honest about surgery can make fans feel empowered, like when Julia Morris spoke about her 2021 eyelid surgery.
Then there’s the third camo, who even claim we shouldn’t talk about women’s bodies at all, even when they’re celebrities who have made their unattainable looks the central focus of their brand. But like every debate about women’s bodies, there’s no clear-cut answer.
Is it better to live in a world where famous bodies get more unattainable, but stars lie to our faces about how they look the way they do?
Or one where everyone is honest about every surgery and procedure they’ve ever had, thus normalising an already booming trend of young women going under the knife?
We’ll let you decide on that one for yourself.
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