Posts
This blogger has never promoted Botox. On the contrary, I have been at pains to point out the downside of the trendy face-freezing technique and have been happy to report on the reversal of the trend.
This morning, the New York Post reports that more and more
women, especially celebrity actresses are rejecting Botox. They are, as the
saying goes, saving face:
It may
be freezing outside — but the faces of American women are thawing out.
Botox,
the most common cosmetic surgery procedure in the country, is suffering a
serious public backlash, a decade after its rise to rigid prominence on the
brows of celebrities and average folk alike.
The
waxy, immobile visages of middle-aged stars like Nicole Kidman, Bruce Jenner,
Renée Zellweger — and even that of 27-year-old Lindsay Lohan — have become
cautionary tales of overindulging with the injectable antiwrinkle treatment.
And now many A-listers are speaking out about their revulsion for Botox.
Emma Thompson and Nicole Kidman have their reasons for
rejecting it:
… 54-year-old
Emma Thompson, on a tour for her new movie “Saving Mr. Banks,” made some
pointed comments to UK talk show host Graham Norton recently: “Look at me, I’m
normal. I really wouldn’t do anything. It’s psychotic to have your body opened
up and stuff put in and inject yourself with poisons.” Even 46-year-old Kidman,
the queen of Botox, disavowed the cosmetic procedure this year. “I did try
Botox, unfortunately,” she told an Italian paper, “but I got out of it and now
I can finally move my face again.”
Similarly for Rachel Weisz and Kate Winslet:
Rachel
Weisz has gone so far as to propose that the treatment be outlawed from her
profession: “It should be banned for actors, as steroids are for sportsmen.
Acting is all about expression — why would you want to iron out a frown?” Kate
Winslet echoed her sentiment, saying, “I am an actress; I don’t want to freeze
the expression of my face.”
Isabella Rossellini took her criticism a tad too far, but still, the side-effects listed on WebMD are hardly desirable:
And
Isabella Rossellini has compared Botox to the painful practice of foot-binding.
WebMD lists possible, immediate side effects of facial-injected Botox as
“dizziness, mild difficulty swallowing, respiratory infections such as cold or
flu, pain, nausea, headache, muscle weakness, double vision, drooping or
swollen eyelid, eye irritation, dry eyes, tearing, reduced blinking and
increased sensitivity to light.”
Julia Roberts gets the last word:
As
Roberts put it: “Your face tells a story, and it shouldn’t be a story about
your drive to the doctor’s office.”
8 comments:
I always thought the most beautiful women are the ones who look their age, no matter what that age is. The women who resort to cosmetic procedures look like puffy puppets to me.
Will we be able to recognize Nancy Pelosi if she quits Botox? (Is this snarky?)
"...more and more women, especially celebrity actresses are rejecting Botox.""
My top-of-the-head guesses:
(1) the deep-pocket broads and their promoters and backers have found an alternative treatment.
(2) Hollywood has identified what they believe to be a burgeoning market of older women for (a) films featuring older women, and (b) product tie-ins for merchandise bought by older demographics. Think MORE magazine concept.
Emma Thompson… you mean the actress who consistently looks like an adult, and therefore plays her part magnificently, and therefore doesn't have to be considered a silly, tart-ish professional "actress?" Perish the thought. How will said woman end up on the cover of Redbook?
In terms of genuine dignity, I've always felt the same way about Kate Winslet. She is buxom, and absolutely, stunningly beautiful. I've not always liked the roles or films she's played in, but she doesn't apologize for it, which is impressively courageous (and therefore even more attractive). Her nude scene in "Titanic" was one of the most dignified I've seen, worthy of a pose for Renaissance artists. Beauty knows no season. And it doesn't hurt that she was 21 at filming, but that never hurt any woman, did it? Again, we're talking about beauty, which holds many forms… not just physical.
Women are normative creatures, and often don't realize their attractiveness unless they stand/step out. Ms. Winslet is often complimented for her beautiful breasts, deservingly, and by such chauvinist cultural leaders as Oprah Winfrey. "They're real!" she exclaims. Fancy that! And women are beautiful, and they shouldn't apologize for it or avoid it. The feminine adolescent nightmare is not constant…. they move into their own sexual competence, both in form (as diversified as it is) and in grace (as it is demanding).
I love women. My only wish is that women loved themselves more. It would make them more attractive to those they seek to attract. Finding the right mate is a game that demands the maximum number of suitors. You can't get that when you look like a slut in search of (easy) prey or hide behind formless clothing in hopes of feeling invisible. This is not the stuff of heavy biology or complex feminist theory… it's life.
Note to mothers everywhere: it is the winter interregnum of college, the time when everyone comes home and goes out parading and drinking and all other social activities of the age. Please pass along these admonishments to your daughters, and stop this endless pageantry of costumes that beg no imagination, pining of men who care little, and demand that these young women (who you SAY should be "sophisticated") be stupid, arm-ornatment floozies for the little boys they glorified back in high school.
There is a great multitude of manly young men out there who will take care of said damsels, but they're not going to be found at Sierra Club meetings and memberships in save-the-earth causes. Grow up and eat a steak, sip a glass of delicious cabernet, use intrigue when required, and bag the best man in sight while all the other little girls are cackling about all this nonsense about who dared to wear the most risqué brand, color, ad infinitum. Men like legs, men like boobs, men like tight outfits, men like hair, men like women who care to look their best for the occasion. And don't you forget it, despite your own constant denials. Ever. But men also have imagination… use it for advantage. What is feminine is beautiful. Always. Perennially. And your daughters need to know it. The message: "Ladies, maximize your options."
Consider it my little Christmas present. And they needn't be for the man that fancies them at the end of the night. Just sayin'.
Isabella Rosselini always looked like a boy to me.
Tip
Tip,
Well stated. There is a lot to be said for liking who you are as a person. I've never understood the desire by feminists to sublimate being a woman. It is great to be a woman. Being feminine does not keep one from being successful and it does not keep a woman from understanding the realties of the world.
Understanding leads to joy and beauty if one does not try to be other than what they are as a person. Growing old gracefully is one of the joys of life.
If one likes themselves as a woman the chance are that far more men are going to like you as well.
I suspect that BOTOX has the same problem that this link mentions. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/health/fda-to-require-proof-that-antibacterial-soaps-are-safe.html?ref=health
Yes Mommy your children can be too clean.
I agree with Lastango. Most likely injectable fillers, like Restalayne, are stepping in because they allow mobility. After all, none are say they do nothing.
Tip: I will grant you that over all this is good advice and basically what I tell my daughters (and sons, too, but maybe not the same way). But, I've often noticed that if an older woman speaks out in this manner she is portrayed as being prudish, heinously jealous, dried up, catty etc. etc.
Many conservatives want it both ways. They want older women to uphold the values, but men can get awfully mean if women point out how the man's particular eye candy he's enjoying is falling into the "not how I want my daughter to dress or act" category. Thus, many women don't bother to say anything.
K. Herman:
What do you care what other people think?
Have you seen the way most girls dress today for their 8th grade graduation? I rest my case.
When your daughters are happily married and all these other loony women are watching their daughters' lives fall apart with their wacky men, what will you think then? Will you feel pity? I doubt it. You will politely listen and thank the Lord almighty that your daughters had good judgment… which you developed in them.
And please tell your sons the same thing. Young men are just as much at risk of their good judgment being inoculated by their hormones.
I know it's hard to be a lone voice in the woods standing for the most obviously sensible thing on earth. Can you bear it?
Most "conservatives" are morons. They're also human. Taken together, they're lost. Stop paying attention to the moralizing monologues and watch how they behave. You'll find they're not "conservatives" at all.
Your daughters are not victims. They're more than the ignorant, impressionable, clueless damsels they pretend to be. They're impressionable young people looking for guidance so they don't screw up their lives. And that's true no matter how much they scream at you demanding to be left alone.
Again, women are normative creatures. They will subscribe to the norms of the other women around them. Take inventory of the women you surround yourself with, and the young women they surround themselves with, and you will get a picture of what's going on. The greatest threat to women's liberation is other women.
Most women are cowards. Just like most men. It's the human condition. Choose for yourself.
I'm off to the local Christmas ball tonight, where the young ladies will prance around. If it is just like last year, most of the young men will act like they don't know what to do (which the vast majority of them don't). And the young ladies will compete for the lot of them (which is sad). It is wise to walk home alone realizing what you have and they don't, rather than to walk home with them and find out later what slugs you thought they were in the first place.
Merry Christmas,
Tip
Post a Comment