Tabloids and Legitimatizing Plastic Surgery

Popular tabloid magazines normally glorify the way cosmetic surgery reconcile the way celebrities  are viewed by others as well as themselves. Earlier, when The Hills star, Heidi Montag shared her account of getting her first breast augmentation US magazine quoted her on the cover to introduce the article: “Boys used to always make fun of how flat I was.” Montag smiles on the cover beside the quote, glowing that she now has enough cleavage to escape verbal abuse from males. More recently, Teen Mom’s Farrah Abraham was featured on the cover of inTouch magazine which boasts that the reality star has undergone 3 surgeries by age 21.

 The same issue vaguely criticizes plastic surgery at a young age by highlighting pictures of Miley Cyrus, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Swift on the cover who are rumored to have had plastic surgeries as well.

This hypocritical view is not uncommon among the tabloid industry. When Heidi Montag proceeded undergo 10 plastic surgery procedures in one day, People magazine promoted the story with an exclusive photo shoot and coverage on the cosmetic splurge while including underlying critical language directed towards Montag such as “addicted” and “obsessed.” The tabloid industry shames female icons into looking their best, but does not hesitate to reprimand them for becoming possessed by the pressures to be superficially “perfect.”

Ultimately, celebrities like Abraham and Montag are airbrushed, perfected and encouraged by funds for their drastic actions toward their bodies. The inTouch article covering Farrah’s story quotes her saying, “I no longer have to hate on my nose!” Women look at female figures featured on tabloid magazines closely because they dictate certain standards for beauty and success in our culture. If these messages continue to endorse plastic surgery, than they are neglecting the major issue women and men face to accept the appearances of others and themselves.  

The Hated Female Leader Icon

According to the Miss Representation documentary, women make up 51% of the entire US population. The same source declared that females also make up 17% of the 535 seats in the US Congress, 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs , 3% of clout positions in mainstream media and a mere 18% of the country’s leadership titles.

Here is a closer look at the detailed chart of Love Social's Women in Numbers which I accessed through Miss Representation's website.

So why doesn't half of the US population want to contribute to country’s major business and political guidance?

While there are many cultural and social factors we are face that weigh on this issue, the depiction of female leaders in mainstream media is a particularly critical phenomenon. The images we see on television and in movies mold our attitudes toward societal norms and the choices we make; consequently, if a certain occupation or lifestyle is repeatedly portrayed as unattractive or objectionable, we are more than likely to discriminate against it. Today, the reality is that when a female protagonist assumes a powerful role in leadership in the TV or cinema, there is a common formula that her success will diminish as a positive result.

          An early example of this method is found in Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Melanie Smooter (Reese Witherspoon) reinvents herself by taking on a successful position in the fashion career in New York City. When she returns to her Southern hometown to finally get her divorce papers (after 7 years of waiting) signed by her imbalanced ex, she is gradually persuaded to resign from the career she worked for and go back to her husband. The plot develops to illustrate that by abandoning her role as a leader, she retrieved her morals.

           Typically, these female protagonists like Melanie are introduced as icy, insensitive and disliked. A common idea is that a woman in such a powerful position has no capacity for love, friends or a family in such a rank. Routinely, they are initiated into the picture as “the bitch.” These women in authority in movies are unlikable and are gradually tamed as before the picture concludes.

           Another female “boss” is “tamed” (by a man in this case) in The Proposal (2009) where Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) driven, ambitious and diligent; however, according to Hollywood, the wonderful qualities are rarely given to a woman unless she is also distant, aggressive and widely despised by her inferiors. Margaret is a chief editor at a New York Publisher and a classic “bitch” we see in such influential female positions that Hollywood offers. New in Town (2009) with Renee Zellweger presents the protagonist specifically as CEO and the enemy turns out to be her career.

       Beyond the cinema, girls are punished for possessing qualities of a leader in television as well. In the popular television series Gossip Girl (2007-2012) best friends, Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen are our female leads. Blair is ambitious, hardworking and is a born leader. On the other hand, Serena is charismatic and adored by men but not especially driven-often taking time off to party and “figure out” what she wants to do. Unfortunately, Blair is represented as frustratingly bossy and disliked in the end; however, the drama’s plot never fails to reward Serena for sexually objectifying herself and gliding through life thanks to her greatest asset: her appearance.

        So who wants to be the boss now? If the female leader is repeatedly doomed to be that “bitchy” girl who is despised and unpopular than obviously no girl will want to be her when they “grow up”. Through these repeated images we are constantly discouraging girls from cultivating their ambitions and leadership abilities.

Everyone needs people skills to be leaders in reality. We can inspire young women though the media and tell them just that. We can also tell them that as “the boss” they will be still be loved, esteemed and admired.