Fabulous article from Victoria Smith on plastic surgery and women's bodies

[ArabellaScott]

https://thecritic.co.uk/the-female-body-is-the-new-short-skirt/

'For so many of us, it is impossible to feel comfortable. I don’t feel comfortable. I know — having had various body shapes in my childhood and adult life — that breasts are read as an unspoken “yes”, an agreement to be objectified, an indicator of intellectual inferiority. That the body itself is not to blame is something about which feminism used to be clear.'

Moving and very insightful.

Brilliant, thoughtful article. Thank you Arabella

She's an incredible thinker.

I find it confusing that so many women who feel they need to have their breasts removed pose topless afterwards. It's a really common trope in certain fashion brands and amongst celebrity non binaries. It seems a divergence from the comparison to eating disorders: n my experience of having known a lot a girls with EDs, the most serious would shroud themselves in layers and baggy clothing.

She is such a good writer , brilliant article.

Great piece thanks.

Great article, thanks for sharing. I feel for our girls with all of this on their shoulders.

Defensiveness? Internalised anger? I'm not wholly sure these acts are rational. I mean, who would surgically remove healthy body parts?

Fantastic as always from Victoria, thank you!

I don’t understand why she thinks this is new. The female body has always been objectified, constricted by social mores and even had laws legislated about it.

This “Around 1990, technology introduced the end of the woman-made female body,” wrote Wolf. “A woman began to lose the luxury of taking for granted that she had a face and a body that were hers alone in which she could live out her life.” I cannot comprehend.

We have never had that luxury she speaks of. Yes, we did not have advanced surgery to short cut our way to forcing our faces and bodies into a beauty standard, but the pressures were still there. Cosmetics, exercise, diets, tricks of tailoring, wigs/hair pieces,- our faces and bodies have never truly been our own.

I think she's a brilliant thinker too.

I've often thought that the whole trans movement overlaps a lot with the increased availability and acceptability of cosmetic procedures.

I remember when Victoria Beckham got her boob job in the 90s when I was a teen. I remember thinking, yes she should be able to do what she likes as an individual, and I don't blame her given the pressure she's under to look thin and perfect ... but the trouble is it creates yet another body ideal (stick thin but with biggish boobs) that is literally impossible to achieve without surgery.

Of course it's gone much further now with loads of young women (not just celebrities) having lip implants, botox, bum implants etc etc.

I too feel a bit "factory settings" about being a middle aged woman with no cosmetic procedures done!

Breast implants for cosmetic reasons have been on models since the 1970s.
They became cheap enough for non celebrities in the noughties.
In between and before, there were breast enhancement creams and injections all estrogen based and cancer causing. The female equivalent of the testosterone based steroids that men took, and still take to get muscles.