Althouse: "When [Grok] produced a 'corrected' version of my face, unrecognisable yet eerily similar to every airbrushed influencer..."

May 6, 2026

"When [Grok] produced a 'corrected' version of my face, unrecognisable yet eerily similar to every airbrushed influencer..."

"... I closed my laptop and laughed. In my thirties I have enough context and confidence to know I don’t need to remodel my face like it’s a damp two-bed riddled with asbestos. But at 16 I’m not so sure I would have found it funny. I might have taken it as a blueprint, a glimpse of how I was supposed to look, and chased it down into the rabbit hole."

Writes Lydia Veljanovski, in "The new rise of female looksmaxxing/I tried AI apps suggesting surgery and rating young women who want to be 'Staceys'" (London Times).

29 comments:

imTay said...: Female looksmaxxing was never a thing... (eye roll)

We could look a the harm done to young boys, but nobody would care.; 5/6/26, 5:58 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Remember when all the makeup advertising talked about “the natural look?” Seems like a million years ago.; 5/6/26, 6:20 AM
Enigma said...: AI guidance may be a step up for teen girls, as they often take the "adult woman" look to a cartoonish extreme. They sometimes apply thick foundation when their smooth skin actually requires nothing.

By age 30 women have no excuses left for anything. You are a product of your choices, and can emulate Tammy Faye Bakker if you like.

https://www.historyhit.com/culture/who-was-tammy-faye-bakker/; 5/6/26, 6:26 AM
Howard said...: The real issue with one's perception of looks is that you see yourself in a mirror and tend to disaggregate the face into isolated parts while scowling in analytical mode. Others see the gestalt of your face that is also responding to the looker usually in a happy optimism.

The best you can do for looks maxing is to lose the resting bitch face and or the resting prick face.; 5/6/26, 6:41 AM
Not Illinois Resident said...: Plastic Barbie Look.; 5/6/26, 6:52 AM
Kai Akker said...: --- the vitriol received by many adolescent girls, who offer photos from every angle to be rated out of 10

Good way to learn not to ask the question if you might not like the answer.

As for Lydia, she omits to mention her lips. 1/10; 5/6/26, 7:02 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I'm afraid women have become overly focused on their nose. It's the least interesting part of the face. Compared to eyes and lips, the nose seems like it's mainly there to be overlooked. Only bad noses get attention, but now it seems that EVERY nose will get criticized, as if it's never thin and small enough. These apps are going to give everyone the delusion that led Michael Jackson to get his nose whittled down to nothing.

Aside from surgery, there is the obsessive use of makeup. Not that long ago there wasn't a thing to draw dark lines on either side of the nose and a bright line down the center to give the illusion of thinness.

To my eye it looks dirty and stupid. It's like stage makeup, meant to be seen from a distance but now right up there in front of a high-definition camera. I've been averting my eyes, listening but not looking, but I'm fed up with the ugliness — ugliness in the pursuit of beauty.; 5/6/26, 7:16 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "--- the vitriol received by many adolescent girls, who offer photos from every angle to be rated out of 10"

I get served these videos on TikTok that show famously beautiful actresses critiqued and rated and absolutely no one gets a 10. There's a rule against it. I don't even think they give 9s. There will be someone like Natalie Portman and she's only an 8.5.

I see video of women on the street interviewed and asked to rate themselves. They usually say 6 or 7, but plenty of them just claim 10 — bucking the system, I think. I'm 10 to myself so fuck you and your stupid little game. Then we're told, in these videos, that these women are delusional and they're really only a 4. Or worse. It's sort of fascinating and funny. These videos get engagement and they rise in the algorithm. The trick is to look away. Actively swipe them away as soon as you see what they are.; 5/6/26, 7:22 AM
Temujin said...: I agree with Ann. Eyes and lips are the thing when I see a woman's face. I've known beautiful women with larger noses or crooked noses. On the right face, with stunning eyes and natural lips (not artificially puffed out), it's simply a part of the overall good.

Remember, the rating of women has been around for a long time. Probably forever. It's a thing men do. But doing it online, for the world to see- that was Mark Zuckerberg's offering to humanity.; 5/6/26, 7:30 AM
boatbuilder said...: She's an attractive woman without the AI. She knows it. The article is what is known as a "humblebrag."; 5/6/26, 7:36 AM
Big Mike said...: The AI version makes her resemble Iryna Zarutska, which is not a safe look!; 5/6/26, 7:42 AM
Enigma said...: Female eyes are 50% of "beauty", with skin quality and average proportions making up the rest. Lots of research shows that average proportions = beautiful. Clear skin is associated with youth (fertility) and attractiveness, if not beauty per se.

The plastic surgery industry is partly responsible for facilitating and encouraging pointless "sidegrades" in appearance. Someone got rich performing dozens of procedures on Jocelyn Wildenstein, Michael Jackson, and the Asian "Superman" guy.; 5/6/26, 7:44 AM
Aggie said...: If we already have Big Pharma, can we name this industry Big Phoney ?; 5/6/26, 8:00 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: I agree that unless the nose gets in the way, its not the most important feature. A bad nose can ruin a face though. Imagine how much better Babs Steisand would've looked without that huge honker.

If you're a woman, its better if you overrate yourself beautywise. It breeds confidence. You don't want to think yourself ugly when you're not.; 5/6/26, 8:02 AM
narciso said...: Then again look how jennifer greys career evaporated; 5/6/26, 8:03 AM
Wince said...: Althouse said…
I'm afraid women have become overly focused on their nose. It's the least interesting part of the face. Compared to eyes and lips, the nose seems like it's mainly there to be overlooked. Only bad noses get attention, but now it seems that EVERY nose will get criticized, as if it's never thin and small enough.

Did FoxNews’ Julie Banderas get a nose job? Too much taken off. My eyes go right to it every time.; 5/6/26, 8:33 AM
mikee said...: An ugly woman - or man - can have a great personality and be a great person, but a beautiful woman - or man - with an ugly personality is still just ugly. That said, age "remains a primary driver for the type of treatment chosen, as different stages of life bring different aesthetic concerns and physical changes." Or so says Google AI.

The demographic of the readership of the London Times tends to be women, it seems, with enough young women to make such an article worth publishing. Either that or the article has enough pics of pretty young things for the male readership to enjoy it, too.; 5/6/26, 8:48 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I don't like to criticize particular individuals after they've gone a done it, but I wish there was a strong message getting out there to stop people from paring down their nose.

Some people should do it. Example here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amazing/comments/1la6eou/now_thats_a_nose_job/

But most should keep the nose that came with their face. It's probably proportional. Barbra Streisand is much better with that nose than without it. Don't take the risk!; 5/6/26, 8:53 AM
narciso said...: She looks fine

Did miss birdwell have a nose job; 5/6/26, 9:02 AM
Enigma said...: FWIW, nose size is roughly correlated with ancestry in warm places (large nose = better cooling) versus cold places (small nose = freezing avoidance).

Compare Scandinavian and East Asian noses versus African and Middle-Eastern noses. The ever-shrinking Jackson family surgery noses (Michael, Janet, LaToya) suggests they wanted to resemble white people -- or perhaps their hyper commercial father pushed this hard.; 5/6/26, 9:20 AM
Not an oldster. said...: Mind your business?

And for heaven's sake? Stop dying your hair!

It's unattractive, not healthy for your hair, and someone should tell you you will look much better without the chemical help...

Dont take the risk! Keep whatever color hair came with the head. Can you run a poll??; 5/6/26, 9:20 AM
Not an oldster. said...: I think jews who get nose jobs aare like jews who anglicize their surnames.... it can to hide who they are. No?

Like jews marrying goys hoping their children pass...; 5/6/26, 9:22 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Want to post some people that look worse with a pared down nose?; 5/6/26, 9:31 AM
Sydney said...: It's long been known that girls who grow up with family members who are highly critical of their own bodies, tend to have body image issues. Imagine what is happening to these girls who put themselves through these online critiques. Terrible. I wonder how many end up driving themselves into the trans movement, convinced they can never be an acceptable woman.; 5/6/26, 9:32 AM
bagoh20 said...: I find the before much more attractive. A natural look is more friendly and accessible. You can imagine such a face being a fun and relaxed person. The after looks like someone who would be distant and difficult.; 5/6/26, 9:40 AM
bagoh20 said...: The trends over the last decade have made most women look more ethnic or Asian than they used to look. I don't think it's demographics. I think it's a look women are going for, and I think it will soon wear out and some new ideal will come.
I'm not sure how it happens. It may be women liking it, and then men start looking for it, or the other way around, but it eventually gets both sexes on board liking the same thing. I never liked it, myself, but I see that young men do.; 5/6/26, 9:46 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Want to post some people that look worse with a pared down nose?"

I said I didn't want to point at individuals who've already made a mistake. You keep an eye out. You'll see them. Generally, the people who are supposed to be beautiful look more and more alike, which is bad in itself, and now they are worse because they've lost track of nose proportionality.; 5/6/26, 10:06 AM
Levi Starks said...: Theirs a local newscaster (Mobile) who clearly didn’t know when to stop. And probably hasn’t. Without linking a photo the best description I can give is that Picasso would be proud.
And what makes it even worse is that her counterpart has a natural and adorable face that while probably not perfect, you’d never get tired of walking up next to.; 5/6/26, 10:48 AM
Levi Starks said...: Waking up next to.; 5/6/26, 10:49 AM