The Plasticizing of Women’s Beauty: Why are we trying to look inhuman?

Yesterday, I saw a billboard for microdermabrasion. I assume that they chose the woman in the picture because she is beautiful. But the first thing I thought when I saw it was, “Why would they use a mannequin for a billboard?”

Her skin was so smooth that she looked like a plastic doll. There was no indication that she was human at all. On realizing that it must have been a live model, I felt like I had been living in the forest for 100 years and had returned to a strange land where some people were humans and others were robots with plastic faces. This might seem like an extreme thing to say… but it felt that surreal to see this billboard.

Why do we want to look like plastic dolls?

This is a very strange direction we have taken in the world. It’s one thing to put a bit of makeup on to accentuate the eyes or cheekbones. But something has gone crazy here. We are no longer supposed to have pores in our skin. We are not supposed to have laugh lines or any kind of line on our face.

We must have bodies that look like a Barbie doll. We must have “abs of steel”… What in the world is going on?

We are trying to look like machines and dolls. It is upsetting when we look like humans. We cannot have wrinkles or fat on our bodies. We cannot have different shaped mouths or eyes. There is one look that we must go for… and that is all. (A friend was telling me that she hung out with a group of women who were all into plastic surgery and other augmentation practices. My friend is not against anything like this but simply mentioned that bit by bit, all the women in the group are simply beginning to look identical to each other.)

The unending process of de-humanification

Obviously, we can look to the money that can be made by simply convincing humans that it is ugly if we look like humans.

The marketing gurus have brilliantly convinced the world that the very process of aging is unattractive. The presence of wrinkles or unique markings is a turn-off. If we have had children, then the breasts that fed our babies are no longer perky enough and our vaginas should be lifted. And even if your body is taught, lean, and muscular, you should really change the shape of your face or make your lips puffier.

Essentially, they are selling faulty umbrellas in a rainforest. And because they understand the nature of human fears, all they have to do is convince us that being human is a problem… and they have the solution.

Luckily for them, the aging process allows the solutions to have no expiration dates. This is a life-long money-maker — as long as they can keep convincing the humans that looking human is a problem.

Is this a movie?

I’m going to get a little weird here. But honestly, we’ve all watched so many movies where machines took over the world, it does make a girl wonder. Who is actually in control?

Let’s imagine that the machines have taken over. It would make sense that we ideally would look like soulless dolls and machines. This would make the machines happier… that we are more like them.

Perhaps the machines don’t understand the wonderful uniqueness, complexity, and beauty of the human form… and therefore, we are simply being re-sculpted in their image.

Hmmmm….

Back into reality

Yes, the machine theory might seem out there. But regardless, whether we are ruled by soul-less machines who are sculpting us to be the same as them or a soul-less beauty industry is capitalizing on the fact that we are ever-changing humans, the results are the same.

We are feeling bad about ourselves because we don’t look plastic enough. We can’t show signs of aging. We can’t show signs of having lived.

We can’t show signs of being human.

So, what is the solution?

Love being human.
Love wrinkles.
Love our uniqueness.
Look in the mirror every day and embrace the fact that we are here having a fascinating human experience.

Because in the end, being human is pretty interesting. You can buy dolls at Walmart every day.