After sitting down to speak with Abigail, a smiley, easy-going 21-year-old, I learned a lot about what skincare and plastic surgery means to a young, confident woman who invests in her appearance.
I asked Abigail to explain why she invested in cosmetic products such as lip fillers and Dr. Devgan’s Scientific Beauty Platinum Lip Plump. Right from the get-go, it was abundantly clear that the rationale does not involve others; she told me that she does not do it to look better than other women, as attractive as some particular supermodel, or to be more appealing to her boyfriend. She is investing in herself, for herself.
Far from mutilating herself to look like Jessica Rabbit, Abigail explained that she adopted Dr. Devgan’s medical-grade skincare routine and indulged in plastic surgery to feel like the best, boldest and prettiest version of her own self - not somebody else. She went on to compare her engagement in beauty-enhancement to self-care and physical fitness: “It’s just like how my boyfriend and I work out to feel strong, healthy and comfortable looking at our reflections in the mirror or Zoom screen.”
Far from stating that she was uncomfortable or somehow disappointed with her outward presentation prior to a rigorous skincare regimen, Abigail emphasized that she wasn’t doing it out of a sense of self-loathing: “When I woke up in the morning, I wasn’t upset with my natural appearance - I just knew it could be bolder, like, I wanted to see myself and think, ‘Yeah! You go, girl!’”
Given that Hollywood and social media inundate women of all ages non-stop with idealized female forms and sky-high beauty standards, I asked Abigail if she believed that seeing these images somehow pressured her into feeling obliged to artificially augment herself. Far from evading this reality, Abigail responded candidly and acknowledged the impact that seeing women like Kylie Jenner has had on her self-image:
“So I do feel like Kylie Jenner and everyone on social media made [fuller lips] popular, and I never felt the need to get them until I saw the confidence that it would give other girls… I had used lip plumper for years, then I had the money one day and just decided, why not try it?! Not as a way to be better, or have people look at me and think, ‘Oh, she’s so beautiful.’... It was just, I wanted to wake up in the morning everyday and look at myself and say, ‘Oh, wow. You look good today!’ and that’s what I thought would help me.”
I understand that there are many well-meaning, thoughtful people who believe that society writ large applies standards to women who then feel pressured to look a certain way and get plastic surgery to do so. However, when I directed this line of reasoning to Abigail, she rejected it and expounded even further on the intrinsic motivation that undergirds her decision to receive the services of a plastic surgeon: “The plastic surgery is more of like, what you want want yourself to look like and what do you want to feel like every day… I think that, it’s something you’re doing for yourself that inherently gives you confidence.”
For women -- and men -- to have access to a service which makes them feel like they do on their best day, every day, is a boon to body positivity, not its enemy.
