It Will Put The Botox In The Forehead
Reader Nichole sends in this story about Pat Wexler, a "cosmetic dermatologist" in New York. Here are some quotes from Wexler:
"People think that exercise will give them the body they want... Exercise won't give you the body you want. It will give you a firm body you still don't want."
On doing liposuction, here's a very Silence of the Lambs quote:
"I like my patients to stand up for the contouring... It's like a seamstress draping fabric -- you can't do it on someone lying down."
And her idea about self-acceptance:
"'You see, I never got that,' she says flatly. 'No one ever told me about that.' ... 'When I was little I had this really curly, really curly red hair, and when I was 5, my mother was taking me to Kenneth, where Jackie O. went, to all these beauty salons all over the city... I think she thought I was going to come out with straight blond hair. I still think I'm going to come out with straight blond hair.'"
I'm not like "plastic surgery is always bad and evil" but this article did creep me out nonetheless. Especially, for some reason, the fact that she hates her curly red hair. What's wrong with curly and red?
"People think that exercise will give them the body they want... Exercise won't give you the body you want. It will give you a firm body you still don't want."
On doing liposuction, here's a very Silence of the Lambs quote:
"I like my patients to stand up for the contouring... It's like a seamstress draping fabric -- you can't do it on someone lying down."
And her idea about self-acceptance:
"'You see, I never got that,' she says flatly. 'No one ever told me about that.' ... 'When I was little I had this really curly, really curly red hair, and when I was 5, my mother was taking me to Kenneth, where Jackie O. went, to all these beauty salons all over the city... I think she thought I was going to come out with straight blond hair. I still think I'm going to come out with straight blond hair.'"
I'm not like "plastic surgery is always bad and evil" but this article did creep me out nonetheless. Especially, for some reason, the fact that she hates her curly red hair. What's wrong with curly and red?
posted by mo pie at 9:19 AM
3 Comments:
I'm a little torn about the scalpel-free cosmetic options available. I must say I was pretty scathing of them as I first started to hear about them, thinking "oooh, slippery slope to face lifts and perma-suprised look", but since then I've had two abnormal and one cancerous mole removed from my face, and I have a little bit of scarring... suddenly mini-peels and the idea of laser later when I can afford it are a Godsend.
I was still a bit miffed when my dermatologist looked at my belly-fuzz and commented that she *does* do laser hair removal too, as well as mole patrol and other medical neccessities.
The botox thing still seems really effed up, it's a TOXIN, and repeated use wil eventually permanently damage those muscles. Perhaps that's easy for me to say since I come from a family who suffer from pimply noses, but smooth foreheads.
Ultimately I think the real danger is if doing these things becomes the absolute norm, like shaving your legs and pits is now in the US. Imagine a world where people snigger and look sideways at a woman who has a little crease on her forehead, the same was a really fuzzy woman might get sideways looks now. This article is a really good glimpse into the socialite world, which has always been far les forgiving of variation from a strict idea of beauty and self presentation. One of my cousins is on the edge of that world, and I think it would drive me absolutely crazy to try to adhere to the rules she sets for herself.
MAN, where do I start.
She's clearly a brilliant saleswoman (I think I'd be scared to death to let Donna Karan know anything, even "nicely"), a brilliant doctor (otherwise the Park Avenue socialites wouldn't let her near them) AND a borderline obsessive-compulsive (since she's had them bolted together, I think I'd have to move the WHOLE ROW of chairs - just B'CUZ. *Snerk*).
We also have the blunt monetization of society just right for our current climate -
"investment counselor in the twin currencies of beauty and youth" -
- and as a bonus, the power of FEAR - aptly described by La Wexler herself -
"... her procedures have their critics -- usually men, in her opinion, HYPOCRITES who ''think it's draconian for women to be doing these things, but leave their wives when they hit 50 for a woman who's younger and has breast implants."
And someone else will have to parse the cognitive dissonance HERE -
"... need Botox, too. ''Well, try to wrinkle your forehead,'' she says. ''See, you've got wrinkles!'' she says, pointing excitedly, and then she laughs, as if suddenly remembering the obvious. ''Which is NORMAL.''"
/rant
P.S. Wendy, hopefully there is another way. I see a brilliant dermo doc who told me bluntly not to consider cosmo surgery because as a professional woman I didn't have time for the downtime. Take that, socialites!
And she looks astounding, as she adheres to her own rigorous regime -- I'm working up to her discipline, and the line I've drawn for myself (and I'm not 17) is if it's healthy for my skin, I should be doing it anyway.
I still haven't figured out how to escape the possibility that with the exponential growth of the maintenance level, I'll have to get up the night before just to keep up by the time I'm say, 65 (and I know that's the REAL issue, but as long as we're still judged by our looks at work (*&^%$#@!) as well as by boys, I wrestle the conundrum) ...
/rant (really)
P.P.S. Mo, I'm so grateful you provide a forum for us to deconstruct these things so we're not just swallowing them whole.
It is a bit creepy, but I rather like the journalist's attitude; like what she said about liposuction - "That this does not induce a level of pain requiring more than local anesthesia suggests some serious flaw in the design of the human body."
Mmmm-hmmm.
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