For the past few days, people online have been adoring not just the love story and age-appropriate relationship of Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson, but also the former coming out onto red carpets without any makeup, and flaunting her signs of natural aging with grace.
This has also sparked a conversation not just about Anderson’s own journey with cosmetic surgery and her now evolved attitude towards her appearance, but also about how our society still places so much emphasis on physical perfection, which leads people, especially women, to take extreme measures to achieve it.
Pamela Anderson And Aging Naturally
Pamela Anderson has been in the news recently for actively challenging the traditional beauty standards propagated by the media. She has been vocal about her choice to go makeup-free to various events, encouraging others to embrace their natural selves and not feel pressured to conform to unrealistic ideals.
Her journey from a pop culture icon to a vocal advocate for self-love and social change makes her a compelling figure for many.
From being the face of 90s glamour as the star of the show Baywatch, to now standing tall at the age of 58, appearing at red carpets with a face clear of any makeup, and showing her reality, Pamela Anderson has gone through a journey. She has been very vocal about not just going makeup-free but also avoiding surgery.
Speaking at Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast in 2023, she said, “I always said I’d recognise myself when I was old in the mirror. I don’t want to chase [ageing] and I don’t want to do all the crazy s**t to myself.”
The former Playboy Playmate has had some trysts with cosmetic surgeries in her youth, though, getting breast augmentation surgery done, and as per a 2015 People magazine report, tried Botox as well; however, she ended up discontinuing both.
She told People that “I am the last person to try Botox, but I did. I felt like my eyes sunk into my head so far that I didn’t look like me anymore! I’m not into all that stuff.”
In another interview, she admitted to experimenting with Botox and filler, but revealed she’s been “free and clear” of them for over three or four years.
She said, “My skin is very sensitive… I’ve done Botox where my eyebrows just fall immediately… I thought, why am I doing this shit? So I’m free and clear… and I look like myself again.”
While Anderson might be in the news recently, it is not just her who is embracing the ageing revolution and choosing to skip any skin enhancement surgeries to retain some semblance of youth. Sex and the City’s Sarah Jessica Parker has also chosen to appear more authentic and less polished in recent years.
Her willingness to let lines and age show on screen shows the broader trend among actresses embracing roles that reflect real, lived experiences and choosing to break expectations society has of women to only have worth if they are young.
During a 2023 interview on The Howard Stern Show, Parker also said, “I think about all of it. I ask people all the time ‘Is it too late?’ Now people would be like ‘Well you don’t not only look rested, you look like an entirely different human being’… but I do understand why people make the choice because there is so much emphasis put on, especially women and primarily women, about looks… I think people should do whatever makes them feel better walking out the door, frankly.”
She also confirmed that, though she never got any cosmetic procedures done, she does regularly go to the dermatologist to get other non-invasive treatments done, like peels and more.
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Madness Around Fixing Up Oneself With Surgery
The beauty industry keeps churning on, promoting the mindset that women must have certain features if they are to be considered beautiful. Kylie Jenner’s looks and many procedures are not hidden from anyone and have been the topic of much conversation. Her decision later on to dissolve her fillers and not go for any more corrections was also cheered on by many.
In India, the likes of Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor have faced scrutiny over alleged enhancements, fueling debates about authenticity in Bollywood.
If one thought it was such celebrities doing this, then one would be wrong. If we look at the numbers and data related to cosmetic procedures, it is alarming indeed. According to reports, in 2023, the US witnessed almost 1.6 million surgical cosmetic procedures, with the top ones including liposuction, breast augmentation, tummy tucks, and eyelid surgery.
Over 20 million cosmetic procedures were performed in 2022, with liposuction (1.8 million) and breast augmentations dominating the list. Reports have also estimated the value of the global aesthetic medicine market to be around $49.5 billion in 2022, with growth projected at 8–10% annually.
So clearly, this is a sector that is just rising at an alarming rate. With more and more clinics and establishments popping up, promising the perfect face or everlasting youth to women, celebs, and regular women, both are falling victim to them.
Why Anderson’s Attitude Is Heartening And Brave
The ageing and, more so, signs of ageing have always been held harder against women than men. This is especially prevalent in the entertainment industry, where, for men, their careers just seem to get stronger as they age, with them still getting main lead roles in movies, and expressions like silver fox, zaddy, and ageing like fine wine used for them.
However, women in the entertainment sector get the much shorter stick in this regard, with many powerful people in the industry still considering the age of 40 to be the end of their career, opting to choose younger actresses for lead roles.
While older actresses are eventually relegated to the role of older sister, mother, or aunt roles, with even their appearance getting insensitive comments about them looking old, a hag, grandma, and more.
Sarah Jessica Parker, in a 2021 Vogue interview about the Sex and The City’s spinoff show And Just Like That, also addressed this, saying, “There’s so much misogynist chatter in response to us that would never. Happen. About. A. Man.”
She added, “‘Gray hair gray hair gray hair. Does she have gray hair?’ I’m sitting with Andy Cohen and he has a full head of gray hair, and he’s exquisite. Why is it okay for him? I don’t know what to tell you people! Especially on social media. Everyone has something to say. ‘She has too many wrinkles, she doesn’t have enough wrinkles.’
It almost feels as if people don’t want us to be perfectly okay with where we are, as if they almost enjoy us being pained by who we are today, whether we choose to age naturally and not look perfect, or whether you do something if that makes you feel better. I know what I look like. I have no choice. What am I going to do about it? Stop aging? Disappear?”
Andie MacDowell has also been recently praised for showing off her grey hair in a chic, fashionable way, instead of trying to cover it up. Closer home, actresses like Neena Gupta, Dimple Kapadia, and Zeenat Aman are names that come to mind when it comes to actresses who are not shy about their natural aging and instead embrace it bravely.
While it might be something that has come to many of them at a later stage in life, with these examples at the forefront, there is hope that women of today can have better examples that there is nothing wrong with ageing.
It can also be the way of the future, for women to become comfortable embracing the signs of aging instead of trying fruitless attempts to hold onto some made-up version of youth and beauty by society at large, such as getting cosmetic surgeries, enhancements, fillers, injections, and whatnot.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Elle, Hindustan Times, Forbes
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Pamela Anderson, Pamela Anderson look, Pamela Anderson surgery, Pamela Anderson no makeup, Pamela Anderson red carpet, Pamela Anderson aging, sarah jessica parker, sarah jessica parker surgery, plastic surgery, plastic surgery craze, kylie jenner, janhavi kapoor, khushi kapoor
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