Her sister Kim Kardashian regularly contorts her appearance for photo shoots and the red carpet, from her corseted looks for the 2019 and 2024 Met Galas (created by Mugler and Maison Margiela by John Galliano, respectively), shrinking her waist to inconceivable proportions, to her dramatic weight loss to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s dress for the Met Gala in 2022 – a process documented for ‘entertainment’ purposes in their series The Kardashians. Heck, even Kim’s inspiration Marilyn underwent cosmetic facial surgery to transform her from Norma Jean to become Ms Monroe. And if I continued listing the number of celebrities that have had work done, we’d be here until 2057.
What these women choose to do with their bodies is absolutely their prerogative. So perhaps, instead of us looking at what they’re doing to themselves, we might ask why.
For women in the public eye, it’s clear the pressure to look ‘good’ is intense. And it’s easy to forget that they are real people, too, with real feelings. OK, not quite as ‘real’ as the rest of us – admittedly, while most have whatever is left in their bank account at the end of the month to pay for the odd shopping spree or trip to the salon, they have huge sums of money and teams of people to help curate their image at all times. But we also don’t have our faces blown up on billboards in HD, or have cameras following our every move.
I was a girl growing up in the diet-obsessed culture of the ’90s and ’00s, in which thin was in and anything else was out; in which straight hair, pale skin and a distinct lack of curves was the only way to look. I know what it’s like to not physically fit into this toxic narrative, and for people to comment on your weight and your hair and your overall appearance in an overwhelmingly negative way. And I know the toll it takes, hearing people critique you over and over again – and how it can make you feel the need to change your appearance as a result.
It’s this kind of lingering pressure that leads to naturally beautiful women, such as model Bella Hadid, admitting to getting a nose job aged just 14 – one that she now regrets. Kylie herself has also revealed that getting her breasts enlarged aged 19 was a mistake – and has even been seen crying over the negative comments she receives in the media about her appearance during the most recent series of The Kardashians.
I think many of us can relate to wanting to alter our appearance every now and again. It’s something I do myself – albeit on a smaller, less extreme scale. I wear contouring body suits to smooth down my stomach rolls, laser away the unwanted hair on my body, conceal the veins on my legs with foundation and sometimes use false lashes and nails to create a more ‘desirable’ appearance. So the pressure of looking ‘good’ as a celebrity is something I, for one, cannot imagine. And I can’t help but think that if I were in their position, I’d probably be looking to curate my image, too.
However, there’s a point where this goes beyond ‘curation’ and becomes damaging. Extreme beauty standards have frighteningly become the norm. Over the past year alone, Ozempic has become a part of our everyday lexicon, and seeing celebrities shrink and squeeze themselves into tight red-carpet gowns for no perceptible reason other than aesthetics is worryingly normalised.
