11 ઑગસ્ટ, 2026

"Now, I’m 13 days post-op. Only one of my friends has been negative about it."

"Before the surgery, he said, 'It’s weird to me that you’d do this, because you’re someone who preaches embracing who you are.' The confusing thing is that he’s very 'black pill,' which is a trend that says you need to be beautiful in order to get a job or find a soul mate. I hate black pill, because it’s pushing the narrative that hurt me as a little girl: that looks are the only things that matter.... Maybe I’m contributing to that narrative by getting this procedure. But I looked in the mirror after my surgery, and I thought, Wow, this feels like the real me. It sucks that I have to change a part of me to truly like myself."

Said "R., 18, is an incoming college freshman from Colorado who got a deep neck-lift and rhinoplasty," quoted in "Three People on Why They Wanted New Faces" (NYT gift link).

That realization "Wow, this feels like the real me" is so "Twilight Zone."

41 ટિપ્પણીઓ:

RideSpaceMountain કહ્યું...

Plumbing the depths of a woman's vast ocean of justifications is like dropping a lead line into the Challenger Deep.

tim maguire કહ્યું...

The "real" me is much more handsome than the real me, but I've managed to go through life living the lie anyway.

rcommal કહ્યું...

[start virtual italics]Plumbing the depths of a woman's vast ocean of justifications is like dropping a lead line into the Challenger Deep.[end virtual italics]

One of the three post-surgical profiles is of a male (53, an engineer from Idaho). He's looking forward to his co-workers telling him that he look better. I guess that's part of his "vast ocean of justification."

rcommal કહ્યું...

With any luck, at least some of his co-workers will have read or heard of this article! That way, they'll know what to say.

RideSpaceMountain કહ્યું...

"One of the three post-surgical profiles is of a male. He's looking forward to his co-workers telling him that he [look] better."

How very 'male' of him. He probably smokes Marlboros.

Aggie કહ્યું...

Justification is the huge grey area that provokes all of the conversation on this. Correcting a harelip? Botox injections for puffy lips? Boob job? Breast reduction? Where does pure unnecessary vanity transition into a reasonable self-image boost?

Spiros કહ્યું...

Seems like young people have more to gain, in terms of self-esteem and confidence, by getting plastic surgery. If a nose job reverses social withdrawal, it's a big win any way you look at it. We don't need to look at plastic surgery from the same vantage point as that of an early-twentieth-century eugenicist or a modern day liberal. If these people want to get rid of their big "Jewish" noses, they should just go ahead and do it.

baghdadbob કહ્યું...

Spiros said "If these people want to get rid of their big "Jewish" noses, they should just go ahead and do it."

Nose job is a popular Bat Mitzvah gift.

tcrosse કહ્યું...

One of our commenters mentioned knowing Marlo Thomas before she got rid of her big "Lebanese" nose. Her Dad kept his.

Sydney કહ્યું...

Interesting that only the man shows us his before and after face. Makes wonder if the women are still unhappy with how they look.

Jamie કહ્યું...

I certainly didn't appreciate my 18yo physical being. Plastic surgery never occurred to me - probably because that's something aging women did (and, of course, money). If I'd been born thirty years later, I wonder how I would've dealt with (or wanted to deal with) my physical shortcomings.

Basically I'm glad I wasn't born thirty years later.

Jamie કહ્યું...

I just watched the Twilight Zone clip - how DID they get those women's waists so tiny, without foundation garments showing through the costumes?! Did they have their floating ribs removed? How tight were girdles?

Fred Drinkwater કહ્યું...

In about 1958 my eldest sister, then about eight, had surgery on her external ears, to add a missing fold. Otherwise she looked like she had a couple of seashells sticking out. Seems like a reasonable fix.

Quaestor કહ્યું...

In the summer of my seventeenth year, I asked my parents for a nose job; that's how I put it, "a nose job".

The top of a horse's head is called the poll. (The term poll as in "poll tax" and "opinion poll" is etymologically identical.) Anatomically. it's the occipital process, and it's as hard as a brick. A rearing horse hit me square in the nose with its poll, causing me to see stars and many other swirling lights. How I managed to stay in the saddle, I don't know, but I recovered my wits and carried on. The next morning, I noticed something odd. The tip of my nose now pointed slightly to the right rather than straight ahead, but my nose was still sore, and I assumed healing would fix everything. Weeks passed, and the pain ended, but my schnoz still pointed to the right. I also noticed the airflow through my left nostril was a fraction of the flow through the right. I was set to start my freshman year in just a few days. My father told me to put aside my concerns about my nose, at least for a while; otherwise, I might miss registration. Consequently, the subject was dropped until Thanksgiving, when the family decided that after exams I would see a plastic surgeon. The appointment was made, and the consultation took place the day after my fall semester grades were posted. Dean's List -- good. Maybe I'd get a fully operational honker as a reward. Not so. The surgeon seems less than desirous of a new patient. He said he could give me a pug nose, as if that was the only option, which was not what I had in mind. The rhinoplasty didn't happen, and my nose still points to the right.

RCOCEAN II કહ્યું...

The people who need face jobs the most never get them - cf: Bill Maher.

RCOCEAN II કહ્યું...

The NYT's part of the article on the 53 y/o male engineer was hilarious. Imagine wanting a "neck job" as a man. Spend a lot of time looking in the mirror, guy?

He must have money to burn. To go from OK looking, to OK looking with a nice neck.

Whiskeybum કહ્યું...

“…black pill,' which is a trend that says you need to be beautiful in order to get a job…”

Unfortunately, there is a whole lot of truth to that viewpoint, especially in this day and age of electronic images and social media. Think “Mamdani” or “AOC” etc. Do you think Abraham Lincoln could get elected today if his face was plastered all over the internet during the primaries?

RCOCEAN II કહ્યું...

Here's an idea - grow a beard. Then someone wont look at your neck.

RCOCEAN II કહ્યું...

You can understand women, especially women with big jaws or big noses getting them reduced. And also older women who want to look younger and don't want a turkey neck or whatever.

I saw barbara eden on some TV about 10 years ago, and she looked pretty good for 75-80, but she obviously had tons of plastic surgery. When you're beautiful it must be tough to accept old age and move on.

RCOCEAN II કહ્યું...

BTW, the original Twilight zone was always pushing the message - don't be a conformist. Don't accept authority without question. Be open to new ideas.

Today Hollywood and the MSM has the exact opposite stance. Gee, I wonder what changed.

rcommal કહ્યું...

"Grow a beard."

Yeah, I'm not a fan of yet another phase of male facial hair. I think this is the third go-round of it being in style in my lifetime. I've never been a fan, at all, in most (though not all) cases. I'll be happy when this latest phase passes.

Just a personal preference. I certainly do think men should do what they want and that it's fundamentally none of my business. (Except for chefs and line cooks; I really dislike seeing all that excess facial hair in a kitchen. Again, just a personal quirk that I don't expect to carry an weight.)

rehajm કહ્યું...

Looks aren’t the only thing but important. Sorry it’s wired. Not all our wired predispositions have caught up to modern ideals…

rehajm કહ્યું...

Jerry says ninety five percent of the population? UNDATEABLE!

rcommal કહ્યું...

I might consider some relatively minor work, but there are other surgeries I need, so I don't think I'll go with electives on top of all that. (Though, who knows what the future will hold?) It's more likely that I'll go with "she looks like a senior citizen." Well, after all, I am!

Joe Bar કહ્યું...

I found this:
"From 1998 to 2021, the average nominal price for the 16 most popular cosmetic procedures increased by 31.3%, which is significantly lower than the 66.2% increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the same period. "

So, plastic surgery is getting more affordable over time. This confirms the theory that anything the governement is involved with gets more expensive.

tcrosse કહ્યું...

Years ago the large company I worked for was acquired by another larger one. Suddenly none of our executives had a trace of grey hair.

D.D. Driver કહ્યું...

The NYT's part of the article on the 53 y/o male engineer was hilarious. Imagine wanting a "neck job" as a man. Spend a lot of time looking in the mirror, guy?

Is it that much different than getting a "scalp reduction"?

RideSpaceMountain કહ્યું...

The world is filled with beautiful, insecure people. There's also a minority of ugly (subjectively), but confident people. Confidence gets Henry Kissinger Jill St. John. Insecurity turns Ellen Page into a poor imitation of a man. Choose wisely.

Maynard કહ્યું...

If these people want to get rid of their big "Jewish" noses, they should just go ahead and do it.

Jennifer Grey did that and her movie career went kaput. She went from a cute ethnic type to a bland WASP type.

loudogblog કહ્યું...

The thing about getting plastic surgery on your face is that you don't see your face most of the time. You're going through all that expense and risk so that other people will see you differently.

William કહ્યું...

Sexual magnetism is the currency of youth. I wouldn't have minded being good looking when I was young. I think it becomes less important as you get older, but vanity is a part of who you are........I have always used my moral grandeur rather than my good looks to attract women. As part of my moral grandeur I would refuse such duplicitous tactics as plastic surgery to improve my looks. However there's nothing duplicitous about going to the gym and behaving prudently in the presence of BBQ.

Tom T. કહ્યું...
આ ટિપ્પણી લેખક દ્વારા દૂર કરવામાં આવી છે.
Tom T. કહ્યું...


A colleague had a massive heart attack and was saved by open-heart surgery. He then joked that he wished it had happened when he was younger, because when he came back to work, everyone kept telling him, "you look great!"

Smilin' Jack કહ્યું...

That TZ clip just reminds me again of how disappointing the future has turned out to be.

Lazarus કહ્યું...

Was Nora Ephron's book title, "I Worry About My Neck" or something like that? First world problems.

The Twilight Zone also had the episode where the pretty lady kept going back for plastic surgery and nothing worked. [Spoiler Alert] At the end of the episode we see the doctors and nurses talking about her unfortunate fate and the cameras pull away to show us that they are all hideously ugly by our standards.

Rod Serling was ahead of the curve when it came to plastic surgery.

Mr. O. Possum કહ્યું...

"Dr. Rex sends her to Professor Sigmund Friend, who claims that the Transformation is justified as it has led to the end of war and hate in society, along with many health benefits, in addition to the change in appearance. When Marilyn protests that she still does not want the procedure, he has Marilyn confined to a hospital room against her will, ostensibly to psychologically examine her and cure her of her reason for refusing the procedure. Marilyn suspects that despite not being legally required, the Transformation is not optional, and is being maintained by the leaders of society to ensure conformity. Her best friend Valerie, who has already undergone the Transformation, shows no emotional reaction to Marilyn's protests, even when she is driven to tears. Marilyn realizes that no one who has undergone the Transformation remains capable of any empathy for or understanding of her. She tries to escape from the hospital, but ends up in the operating room to undergo the Transformation.

Dr. Rex, who operated on Marilyn, comments that some people have problems with the idea of the Transformation but that "improvements" to the procedure now guarantee a positive result. Marilyn reappears, looking and thinking exactly like Valerie. "And the nicest part of all, Val", she gushes, "I look just like you!"...Wiki...

Josephbleau કહ્યું...

The girls in the Twilight Zone had weird boobs.

ALP કહ્યું...

I didn't go to the link so I'm just guessing but I don't blame anyone born with extremely odd facial proportions having plastic surgery. I've said it before: let plastic surgery be a free public service to everyone and we'll have no choice but to rely on our personalities.

Ann Althouse કહ્યું...

“ Was Nora Ephron's book title, "I Worry About My Neck" or something like that? First world problems.”

It was called “I feel bad about my neck.” She felt bad that she looked old at all, and then shortly after that, she died. At least she got old — as judged by the look of the neck — before she died. She was 71.

Michael Fitzgerald કહ્યું...

I wonder how Mickey Rourke and Vince McMahon felt when they ran to the mirror to see themselves after their facelifts and found that they looked like Dr. Phibes.

Old and slow કહ્યું...

71 should not old. 81 is old.

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