Transparency is the new Botox Why stars like the Kardashians are suddenly talking honestly about beauty procedures
The Kardashians are suddenly talking about their plastic surgery. They show how the way we deal with made bodies is changing.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The Kardashians have recently started talking openly about their plastic surgery - albeit in passing, in comment columns on social media.
- Reactions to the new openness are mixed: while some celebrate it as an act of female solidarity, others criticize it as too late and far from complete.
- In the past, obfuscation was part of the Kardashians' strategy: they denied or concealed procedures.
- Nose correction
- Laser treatment for the hairline and everywhere else 🤭
- Botox and Sculptra where my facial tumor in my cheek was removed
- Ultrasound treatment for skin tightening
- Fillers in the past but not in recent years 🙏🏽
- Lost 80 pounds (about 36 kg) over the years (slow and steady)
- Collagen threads under my chin and on my neck
- Salmon sperm facial treatments
This is the list of beauty treatments that Khloé Kardashian (41) has had. Source: herself. She commented on the list on Instagram under a post in which a plastic surgeon speculated about her procedures.
Khloé Kardashian is following the example of her sister, Kylie Jenner (27), who made details of her breast augmentation public a month ago - also in a comment on social media.
And the matriarch of the family, Kris Jenner (69), has also recently confirmed that she has had plastic surgery. In May , she surprised everyone in Paris with a new, younger face at the court hearings for the assault on Kim Kardashian. After much speculation, the word was out: yes, she had a facelift.
After Kylie and Khloé's revelations about their plastic surgery, the comments were that they were "girls girls" - women who are honest, supportive, there for other women - finally speaking out about the reality behind their looks.
But not everyone found it so empowering. Alongside the positive feedback, we also read critical voices. "Too little, too late", they said.
"Too little" because it remains to be seen whether Khloé's list is even exhaustive. And "too late" because the strategy the Kardashian-Jenners have pursued so far in terms of publicity for their beauty interventions can be summarized in three words: Gaslight. Gatekeep. Girlboss.
At first, the Kardashian-Jenners denied their beauty procedures, then they gradually opened up a little, but in a foggy, vague way. A little Botox and filler here, they said, but certainly nothing more. And then they built a whole empire on their looks. Their faces and bodies became the blueprint for a certain ideal of beauty. And they capitalized on it: Kylie's lip kits, Kim's sculpting wear, Khloé's sportswear.
Would Kylie's lip kit have been as successful if she hadn't denied her lip filler? Would Kim have built one of the most successful shapewear brands with Skims if she had revealed that her body might not just be the result of workouts? (To this day, there are persistent rumors that she had a Brazilian butt lift).
And now transparency. While some celebrate them and others criticize them, Khloé and Kylie's revelations are also exciting because they happened in passing. Quite casually. In a comment column.
Changing beauty culture
Is it a change in society? Are cosmetic surgeries already so established and de-tabooed that transparency about them can just happen in passing?
Yes, according to various beauty experts who have spoken to various American media outlets. "Talking openly about body modifications makes perfect sense to me in this day and age," expert Elise Hu told CNN.
"We've gone from secrecy and stigma to empowerment and ownership," plastic surgeon Lara Devgan tells People. "Celebrities have realized that being honest can increase their credibility instead of damaging it."
And "Harper's Bazaar " writes of a "new era of transparency in plastic surgery". It is no longer about whether someone has had something done, but what and who the doctor was.
Other stars are also increasingly talking about plastic surgery. "Everyone does Botox", said Lindsay Lohan recently, for example, or the American businesswoman and "Shark Tank" investor Barbara Corcoran, who presented an overview of her cosmetic procedures on Instagram. "Heard the cool kids are now sharing the secrets of their beauty procedures," she wrote below.
But the question also arises: do celebrities have a responsibility to be honest about their procedures - especially when they use their bodies to sell products and ideals?
Because even if Khloé, Kylie and co. are now becoming more open, they remain part of a system that capitalizes on beauty. As Elise Hu told CNN: "Kylie giving a guide to her breast augmentation shows how the beauty and image industry is creating a market for solutions - for problems it created in the first place."
The Kardashians stage appearance as a question of freedom of choice and resources - as something you can afford if you have enough money. "It also problematizes bodies whose breasts don't exactly conform to the norm," Hu continues.
Is the fact that the Kardashians are now talking openly about their plastic surgery a step forward? Perhaps. But is it still highly calculated? Also yes.
Plastic surgery has long been mainstream. And perhaps the Kardashians have simply recognized once again where the zeitgeist is heading. They live from selling the perfect body. The fact that they are now talking about how this body is created does little to change that.