Impossible standards

Sarah Taryam, Arts Editor

The cosmetic beauty industry is absolutely huge with new treatments being offered regularly. This week we are taking a look at the dark side of this industry and the subject of “pretty privilege” after 90s supermodel Linda Evangelista recently came out and spoke about her botched fat-freezing procedure which has kept her in hiding for the past five years.

It cannot be easy for ageing supermodels. There are younger models taking up their places on magazine covers and on the runways, so you can’t really blame them for wanting to grasp on to their youth. The stunning 56-year-old Linda Evangelista’s attempt to do so unfortunately backfired and she was left “permanently deformed.”

Evangelista comes from a group of women who have what has been described as “pretty privilege.” This means that regardless of how much culture has advanced when it comes to the acceptance of ageing and the definition of beauty, there is always this pressure to conform to the conditions which are deemed attractive by society. And that more or less equates to youth.

I am sure that most of us feel this to some degree. We buy
make-up and skincare and spend a small fortune on skin pampering sessions. You have to wonder why and where the need to do so stems from. Is it because we are constantly being bombarded by the filtered images of the likes of the Kardashians and the Hadids on social media?

I feel sorry for Evangelista, in an attempt to retain her youth she has in fact destroyed her looks. Her story should serve as a warning to those who rush out to try all these cosmetic procedures without realising that there is a big chance something may go wrong. If only ageing gracefully was the “in” thing to do.