A Lesson for the Ladies

Yesterday the Barstool gals & gays took a field trip to Neinstein Plastic Surgery. It was a lovely outing, but there was a joke I made while we were there that got me thinking…

When we got to the office, everyone was going around taking pictures and I was anxiously waiting to receive my first ever cosmetic procedure. Alex came into the room and went to take a picture of me and I jokingly said that “I didn’t want my picture taken there because I wanted people to think that my new lips were real.” Then we laughed it off and we kept firing off candids. But that’s all it was, a joke. 

I’m not a betting woman, but I would bet that I am not the first person to say that at their office. I may have just been the first person to be kidding.

A lot of people will deny ever having touched their face or body and it creates an unachievable beauty standard for people like you and me. I mean fuck, look at the Kardashians. 

I wrote a paper about this in college (before I dropped out) but I won't bore you with my scholarly peer reviewed take on the matter. I completely understand wanting to change the way you look to feel better about yourself. But at the same time not everyone can do that. (Shit, the only reason I was able to pump my tiny lips up with filler is because it was free.) 

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I was really excited with my new pair of smoochers but I started to notice the other procedures everyone else was getting and began to second guess things about my face / body that I never even knew I wanted to change. Half because I didn’t know you could fix them and the other half because I never even noticed these “flaws” for myself. 

Everyone always says that when you first “get work done” you become addicted, much like tattoos. You fix one thing you don’t like about yourself, and then you find 8247 more things you wish you could fix. It’s a vicious unforgiving fucked up cycle, and I found myself at the beginning of it. 

My whole point is, it’s important for “influencers” and “celebrities” to be honest about the work they get done and the facetune they mangle their feed with. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the direct correlation between what we see in the media and how we perceive ourselves. It’s also really easy to get lost in the idea of wanting to change yourself both physically and mentally to “fit in” with societal “norms” and “standards.”

That being said, I’d like to take this moment to say something truly corny and 2012 Tumblr-esc but… try to never compare your character and looks to the people you see online. Once you stop comparing yourself to others and stop caring what other people think it truly is a freeing relief on your mental.