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Picture Imperfect | VIVYD Magazine Beauty Special Edition
Picture Imperfect
by Deborah Ramos
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Marketing can awaken women and young girls a kind of anxiety about our appearances - we are taunted by our peers. We have false impressions of women foisted upon us by billboards and magazines. Those said models went through the procedure of Digi-surgery, allowing them to be able to advertise the latest swimwear or the new mint-flavored foundation. Through those images, the image of what makes an ideal beauty has convinced society that women who do not abide by those standards do not belong. It all begins with surrounding everyone with the images of fashion industry goddesses - all altered through the power of Photoshop.
Let’s imagine a 19-year-old model on a table with Dr. Photographer, Dr. Editor, Dr. Marketing, and Dr. Beauty surrounding her. Each of those doctors takes out futuristic digital surgical tools and begins shrinking her waist size, removes those “pesky” freckles, and whitens her teeth. Her hair began to grow longer, and she felt her body being changed. She can’t do anything about it because her contract says that her superiors are allowed to change her appearance. This just shows that there is a reason why the proper glamour goddess is an illusion - none of it is real. All it takes are a couple of pushes of a button and keyboard, and voila, the model is ready for all eyes to be deceived. Who pays the price to society’s fascination with the lie? The young girls pay with their peace of mind and their self-esteem. The illusion drives them to do anything it takes to look like the models they see in magazines and billboards.
There are two ways to make a model: photoshop, where no incisions are made. The other more invasive option is plastic surgery. Plastic surgery uses needles and scalpels to physically alter the body to the mainstream goddess standard’s liking. 21 years old is still young by our means, but in the fashion industry, that is half a lifetime. After 21 years old, your 15 minutes of fame are almost over. Picture a 21-year-old model on the operating table, lying still as the doctor’s trace on her where to cut, expand, remove. She is then put to sleep by anesthesia.
The doctors get to work - they cut open her skin and remove the unnecessary fat stuff, and her breasts are also enlarged. Her nose also undergoes a size reduction. Her lips are expanded so that she can get the attractiveness she has yearned for and extend those 15 minutes by any means necessary. In the end, the model leaves the surgical procedure not only in immense pain but also looking worse than what she imagined. What is going on? Plastic surgery was supposed to make her look like a model, not make her look like a monster? What could have gone wrong? The doctor made no mistakes. The aesthetic was not real, to begin with.
The illusion of the goddess has driven many girls and young women to do anything to copy that image. However, perhaps the worst effect is the friction within society that the facsimile of beauty creates. Women who are slightly overweight are looked upon negatively when they do simple things like eating or exercising. The illusion created a stigma. Everyone knows that gyms and yoga studios are places for everyone to come in and get fit. Whether it be for weight loss or training for the local marathon, it is supposed to be a safe space. More overweight women report feeling uncomfortable and shamed at these meccas of wellness. Even more astounding is the amount of women that have reported feeling fats shamed at the doctor’s office. At some point, we, as women and the industry, need to have the conversation. It’s time to back the curtain and ask ourselves, why are we chasing a fantasy? There is nothing wrong with just being us. Why do we allow an industry to sell us products and convince us that there is something wrong with us? This is not a knock on the beauty industry. You guys are doing what you have done for over a century. The industry is selling you an image and a lifestyle. They are saying, “with our product, you too can be beautiful.” What are they really charging, though?
Unrealistic beauty standards - it is not just tearing our self-confidence apart - it is pushing us to destroy our bodies and our lives. There have been numerous cases where women feel like a little alteration on their waist, chest area, or lips needing to be puffier for sex appeal. Yet, in the aftermath of the procedures, they end up looking more monstrous than beautiful and have to live in regret of what they have done to themselves. You always see celebrities like the Kardashians or Lil Kim coming out of cosmetic surgery looking unrecognizable. There was controversy with Khloe Kardashian and speculation that she had surgery and her entire face changed. However, the results are not always as innocuous as rumors and talk on social media.
In some cases, the results of cosmetic surgery can be deadly. In one extreme case, Donda West, mother of rapper Kanye West, went for cosmetic surgery. She got a breast reduction and liposuction and died of heart failure the very next day. She put her health at risk to shed a few pounds. She will never be able to hold her grandchildren because she was chasing an illusion. We are being destroyed by marketing beauty standards - it is killing us. At some point, we need to ask ourselves - is what society and beyond’s the opinion of our appearances worth our self-esteem and our health? We pay $15 for lipstick, $21.99 for eye shadow, three- 10 thousand dollars for a liposuction, but we know what the illusion really costs. Donda West found out too late what it really costs. Whatever happened to looking at the beauty that comes from the heart and the soul? It is up to us to not let those delusions make monsters of ourselves - you can be any shape or size and still be beautiful, just the way you are.
