“Did you know dermatologists can use half of the syringe so it looks more natural, and when I go back in, my lip filler refill is essentially free?”
Gee, what a steal! For a couple hundred bucks, my lips could look almost the same as they do now but better.
Since turning 18, and now thrusted into a world where my friends and I can legally pay for cosmetic surgeries and GLP-1s — weight-loss injections — that have flooded the beauty market, signatures have been given out left and right among the women I know to receive various procedures — invasive or not.
Who am I to say that this is wrong? They can vote, take out a loan for tens of thousands of dollars and can get a tattoo or a piercing. We all have dabbled in getting manicures and dying our hair since middle school. Why stop at just that?
If the best way for someone to feel confident and comfortable in their skin is to take control of their body, I applaud them. Bodily autonomy is of the utmost importance, and you absolutely have the right to exercise that.
The artistic and social connection between women and the simple pleasures of getting dolled up that does not exist in fillers and botox. Sitting at a nail salon is not only a place where you can feel refreshed and choose a color that compliments your natural beauty, it’s a social outlet where friends go to gossip and relax. The same could be said for the hair salon or even a pregame before a night out when everyone is sharing eyeshadow and curling irons.
That artistry and friendship is not found in a dermatologist’s office. Cosmetic procedures aren’t a way to express oneself when they are done simply to appeal to the mass expectations of beauty — it’s just a sterile room and a needle ready to fill the emptiness inside of you.
The pressures of beauty seem to be completely unattainable and unavoidable — just as they always were.
Hearing about how Serena Williams is now a spokesperson for a GLP-1 medication and supposedly “healthier” on it might not be the best commercial to play during every ad break. If a beloved women’s sports idol reaches for a weight-loss drug to fill her emptiness, would this not be a direct attack on the women who look up to her? A body that supported her through a decorated tennis career and birthed children was still not good enough.
With easy access to GLP-1s, young women — who have no medical reason to go on this weight-loss medication — have subjected themselves to a socially acceptable eating disorder. Turning off the part of your brain that makes you hungry to see the scale drop? I’m already stressed about the long-term effects this will have on, not only their bodies, but their mental health.
What I find most troubling about the aesthetic-procedures industry is that nobody ever leaves the office feeling completely comfortable in their skin. Changing one’s appearance to live up to the idealized beauty standard of influencers or celebrities has never been a guaranteed solution, despite what the industry claims.
Left with a Band-Aid-like fix, all your other insecurities have a chance to come to light, and, in a matter of time, you’re back in the office asking for more. It’s a vicious cycle that keeps people focused on their insecurities under the guise of boosted self-esteem and body positivity.
Unfortunately, all of these beauty procedures and medications are created by an industry set up to make money off of our insecurities. Combined with their marketing tactics that shout, “GLP-1s are for everyone” and “baby botox is a smart investment for wrinkle prevention,” I doubt that this is the best rhetoric to spread toward impressionable young women.
Of course, social media has never helped our understanding of beauty either. It almost seems ridiculous the sheer number of celebrities that openly admit to their cosmetic procedures and act as if it’s the one thing that transformed them into these confident women we hear about; however, on the other hand, no one wants to hear another celebrity deny plastic surgery allegations either.
How utterly exhausting is it to keep up with who’s done what and how we can look like our favorite celebrities with their bottomless wallets to fund their beauty endeavors? You will never be able to keep up with the Kardashians, so release yourself from this madness of trying to attain celebrity-like beauty.
Ladies, you gained the right to a bank account and credit in your own name only in the past 60 years, take advantage of this and save a pretty penny by avoiding the unnecessary beautification procedures and medicines!
Am I jealous because I won’t — or can’t — dish out $200 for a lip-flip to make my upper lip more noticeable when I smile because I know my insecurities lie within myself and no injection could ever truly take them away? It sure would save me the five seconds it takes to overline my lips on a night out.
Maybe.
What I do understand, though, is that we are young, so simply let yourself live. Soak up the sun and sure, wear sunscreen, but, oh my! You are too beautiful as you are to lose the features that make you unequivocally yourself.
Find joy in the laughter with your friends and eating the cookies you baked after exams. Life is worth living without the focus on needle-led beauty fads.
Thea Findlay is a communication junior and opinion writer for The Battalion.
