I don't judge anyone who wants to improve their appearance. I mean, who doesn't?
But as a society, I think we've gone far enough with the obsession to make plastic into perfect.
I should say right up front: after my own bouts with breast and skin cancer- -- I don't want any surgery I don't need. In 2010 that means I'm swimming upstream -- but lately there are signs from the stars, pointing towards the pendulum swinging back-
Kate Hudson started a tempest in a B-cup -- scrutinized and criticized for getting breast implants --notably by supermodel Paulina Porizkova, who claims to be more accepting of her own saddlebags and cellulite.
Sharon Osborne plans to remove her implants and give them to Ozzie as paperweights.
Don't even get me started on Heidi Montag.
Most encouraging, the New York Times reports that Hollywood casting directors are rejecting actresses with breast implants, fish-lips or immovable faces -- in favor of those who look less cookie-cutter and more "real."
I'd like to believe it's a Botox backlash -- but I'm not so sure this "trend" will prove any more real than "reality" television. Our standards of beauty have altered as much as the faces and bodies of people who alter them. Plastic surgery has become pervasive across all generations -- and it could take generations for any return to the "natural" look.
My major gripe is the message we're sending --- insidious insecurity invading every age group -- girls at ridiculously young ages already obsessing over their ability to attract; young moms worrying about getting their bodies back before getting the baby home from the hospital. No one seems immune -- even those of us who are older and wise enough to know better.
Though I feel committed to age "naturally," it's not easy to hold off while around me people are getting lipoed, injected, scraped and stitched. It's a moment of truth we all face every day, every time we look in the mirror. Do we or don't we?
I have my moments -- when I look in the mirror and want to call a plastic surgeon's emergency hotline. But so far I've watched the lines on my face -- and held the line. Although sometimes I wonder if I'll be the last woman standing to document what aging looks like. Thanks to high definition TV and websites devoted to celebrity cosmetic surgery , people like Jane Fonda are starting to admit having work done. Still, you don't find many role models out there for aging gracefully.
Then -- the other night I saw a sliver of light at the end of the scalpel, in a movie no one else seems to be seeing, (The Joneses). It was almost shocking to see a female face on a movie screen that wasn't altered by fillers or filters.
I don't mean Demi Moore, the star of the film -- (too stunning at 47 to use the word "age.") I mean another actress in the film who is 20 years older than Demi Moore, and looks it.
And this isn't just any woman; this is Lauren Hutton -- the woman who defined beauty for a generation. In the movie she's as elegant and willowy as ever, playing a sophisticated and successful businesswoman. She looks like a real woman of 67 would look.... if she aged for real. Assuming she started out looking gorgeous in the first place.
I'm doubtful even an iconic face can break other women out of the Botox box. Unless or until we reach a tipping point, Lauren Hutton once again defines beauty for a generation -- a supermodel who is a super model for the rest of us.