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George Orwell once said that, by 50, everyone has the face he deserves. These days, most 50-something female celebrities seem to have exactly the same face, which they paid for. Cheeks are stuffed like upholstery. Foreheads are stretched taut as timpani skins. Once in a while, a definite expression struggles to emerge before collapsing back into nothingness, defeated.
At the moment the artist still somewhat recognisable as Kylie Minogue has a new single out, and it’s being touted as the song of the summer. It is indeed great. Padam Padam is spooky, shivery, synthy, and insanely catchy. Its rhythm is basic enough to make your hips twitch even while you’re imploring them not to.
The title is a vague tribute to a 1951 song by Edith Piaf of the same name. But whereas Piaf’s voice is unmistakably distinctive, Kylie’s vocal is delivered with all the bland anonymity of a virtual assistant. The song is just short and sweet enough to edge the listener into mindlessly clicking and re-clicking the back button, desperate for an aural climax that never comes.
The whole experience is gloriously artificial: fake instruments, fake voice, fake emotion. So perhaps the extension of this theme into the realm of the physical shouldn’t matter too much. But it does. Once the home of extravagant youthful mobility, Kylie’s facial muscles now seem confined to tiny asymmetric movements — disdainful lip curls or slightly demented eyebrow arches.
Memories of freer, more playful earlier selves — Kylie from Neighbours, “SexKylie”, Indie Kylie and so on — seem full of suppressed pathos and are almost painful in their recollection. This is surely the wrong way round. Youth was supposed to be the relatively blank slate, not the moment of peak self-definition.
MailOnline says of the accompanying video that “the quinquagenarian sizzles in a series of racy red numbers” and calls her “every inch the vixen”. And indeed, within the highly controlled context of a music video or publicity shot, the imprisoned celebrity face can still look reasonably normal. It can even look quite hot — at least, as long as everything is carefully posed, expertly lit and retouched afterwards.
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SubscribeBrilliant laugh out loud article. Crinkled and wrinkled with a spine like wonky lego, my old mum died last year at 96. She earned every one of those saggy lines and crevices which seemed to cement her into a paragon of a life well lived. None of us would have had it any other way.
A Las Vegas prep school was apparently forced to recall its yearbook after it was revealed that a senior had used a quotation from a Nazi supporter.
‘Being prepared to die is one of the great secrets of living,’
Nothing wrong with the quote though
“Tomorrow belongs to me”!
I think one of our problem is that we have tried to banish death so everyone lives as though they are going to live forever which magnifies an personal difficulties or problems
Prefer the Spitting Image version.
Agreed, brilliant!
Agreed, brilliant!
I think one of our problem is that we have tried to banish death so everyone lives as though they are going to live forever which magnifies an personal difficulties or problems
Prefer the Spitting Image version.
We live in a terrible society. Nuance is dead. Grace is dead. Nobody bad can ever say anything good. Good people are a hair’s breadth away from saying something that will instantly transform them into mass-murderers. Forgiveness has departed.
Four legs good, two legs bad.
I wish we could all grow up.
It may be that Hitler once remarked that 2 + 2 = 4.
Shockingly racist – the new non-white racist free maths means 2+2 = whatever you want it to be. Just don’t go into rocket science and expect to aim for Mars and reach it without the white racist maths.
Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.
Love is the power to see similarity in the dissimilar.
Shockingly racist – the new non-white racist free maths means 2+2 = whatever you want it to be. Just don’t go into rocket science and expect to aim for Mars and reach it without the white racist maths.
Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.
Love is the power to see similarity in the dissimilar.
“Tomorrow belongs to me”!
We live in a terrible society. Nuance is dead. Grace is dead. Nobody bad can ever say anything good. Good people are a hair’s breadth away from saying something that will instantly transform them into mass-murderers. Forgiveness has departed.
Four legs good, two legs bad.
I wish we could all grow up.
It may be that Hitler once remarked that 2 + 2 = 4.
Why does every intellectual woman
go out of her way to look like a dowdy, slatternly, frumpy, pedantic
man with bad hair & no make-up ?
A Las Vegas prep school was apparently forced to recall its yearbook after it was revealed that a senior had used a quotation from a Nazi supporter.
‘Being prepared to die is one of the great secrets of living,’
Nothing wrong with the quote though
Why does every intellectual woman
go out of her way to look like a dowdy, slatternly, frumpy, pedantic
man with bad hair & no make-up ?
Brilliant laugh out loud article. Crinkled and wrinkled with a spine like wonky lego, my old mum died last year at 96. She earned every one of those saggy lines and crevices which seemed to cement her into a paragon of a life well lived. None of us would have had it any other way.
Kylie, Madonna, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Amanda Holden…all once beautiful women who have wrecked their faces with too much work. It is so depressing. And patients are indeed getting younger and younger. I was recently in Istanbul and our hotel was full of young ladies, no older than 25, who sat at breakfast wearing baseball caps pulled low over their bandaged, post-nosejob faces. You can’t swing a makeup bag these days without hitting a woman with massive, platypus-like lips and those weird Russian eyelashes. They look awful.
We ladies need more positive ageing models. The late, great Tina Turner got it right. I thought things were going to get better but the celeb world now seems to have gone full throttle in the direction marked “Plastic? Fantastic!”
There’s an equivalent ‘look’ popular among young women in much younger age groups (research done among my children’s friends, of course..!) where plastering on so much make-up and huge (Russian?) eyelashes just made them look ridiculous and also very much the same as each other, despite different characters and most of them of above average intelligence. It had a similar effect as using botox, but for the purpose of ‘aging’ their faces. The effect was ghastly. I suppose there’d be no qualms about the use of more permanent measures in later life; or as you’ve observed, whilst still young. So much can go wrong, too.
KS skewers this trend more expertly than a surgeon’s knife. Some of her turns of phrase deserve to be preserved for posterity; a searing intellect applied in a way which includes bringing aspects of our popular culture into a more profound reflection on our existence.
What gets me is the huge lips
The subliminal message of the puffy lips is that they resemble the engorged l***a, which says I’m hot and ready for sex whenever and with whomever.
I had no idea that body part would be subject to the unherd censor.
I understand what it is supposed to represent but it still looks ridiculous
Precisely, in fact ‘they’ look like Grouper fish.
Agreed it’s unsightly. I just wonder how many people know what the puffy lips are supposed to represent, particularly the young women having the procedure.
Precisely, in fact ‘they’ look like Grouper fish.
Agreed it’s unsightly. I just wonder how many people know what the puffy lips are supposed to represent, particularly the young women having the procedure.
The fake plastic look is not attractive to most men, plastic surgery is a Veblen good for women
They want you to know that they had the money for the op
I do wonder what men think about the engourged lips, inflated tits and arse and black widow, spider eyelashes.One would think it must appeal to the majority of men because, surely, the goal is to have power over them. Funny how women do all this stuff to get a mate, when in the rest of the animal world it’s the males who must strut their stuff.
Most males I know think it looks simply ridiculous, not attractive at all.
Doesn’t impress me.
But how do you know this isn’t about gaining power/marking position over other women rather than men ? It could be either – or both. Or simply something to boost flagging self-esteem.
Difficult to know because when done well then can we tell. personally I hate the fake huge lips, long eyelashes etc but obviously in some cases the lips are not too big or the lashes too long and may look better. And of course in real life women with plastic look much worse than they do on film. Kylie looks odd and definitely unKylieish now which is sad.
Most males I know think it looks simply ridiculous, not attractive at all.
Doesn’t impress me.
But how do you know this isn’t about gaining power/marking position over other women rather than men ? It could be either – or both. Or simply something to boost flagging self-esteem.
Difficult to know because when done well then can we tell. personally I hate the fake huge lips, long eyelashes etc but obviously in some cases the lips are not too big or the lashes too long and may look better. And of course in real life women with plastic look much worse than they do on film. Kylie looks odd and definitely unKylieish now which is sad.
I do wonder what men think about the engourged lips, inflated tits and arse and black widow, spider eyelashes.One would think it must appeal to the majority of men because, surely, the goal is to have power over them. Funny how women do all this stuff to get a mate, when in the rest of the animal world it’s the males who must strut their stuff.
For a generation that is so sensitive to the offences of the spoken word, they are stunningly crude in their body language, the language that is probably the most effective at an emotional level, has been around far longer than any spoken language and they appear to have no concept as to its potency. Mind you neither do most of the pseudo intellectuals who think science is a ancient religion rather than a rational response to life.
Good point. A face with those power eye lashes, and overly made-up, is an aggressive thing, certainly one lacking in the potential for expressive nuance.
Good point. A face with those power eye lashes, and overly made-up, is an aggressive thing, certainly one lacking in the potential for expressive nuance.
I understand what it is supposed to represent but it still looks ridiculous
The fake plastic look is not attractive to most men, plastic surgery is a Veblen good for women
They want you to know that they had the money for the op
For a generation that is so sensitive to the offences of the spoken word, they are stunningly crude in their body language, the language that is probably the most effective at an emotional level, has been around far longer than any spoken language and they appear to have no concept as to its potency. Mind you neither do most of the pseudo intellectuals who think science is a ancient religion rather than a rational response to life.
I have a weird obsession with them. Every time I see them I need to tell someone. Find it completely fascinating especially when they are on what was clearly a beautiful face to start off with. Have seen some very young women sporting trout pout and it just baffles me. I spoke recently to a young man (early 20s) on it and asked if it’s something guys his age find attractive. He said some guys do. He did until he kissed a girl with lip fillers…said they were hard and not soft, pliable like unfilled lips and didn’t enjoy the experience.
I have a similar strange obsession with mullet haircuts. Every time I see one, I feel compelled to go and ask the owner what they ask for when they go into the salon (“I’d like to look like Chris Waddle circa 1988, please”?). Or whether they ask for a short back and sides and then just make their excuses and leave when the hairdresser is only halfway through.
I have a similar strange obsession with mullet haircuts. Every time I see one, I feel compelled to go and ask the owner what they ask for when they go into the salon (“I’d like to look like Chris Waddle circa 1988, please”?). Or whether they ask for a short back and sides and then just make their excuses and leave when the hairdresser is only halfway through.
The subliminal message of the puffy lips is that they resemble the engorged l***a, which says I’m hot and ready for sex whenever and with whomever.
I had no idea that body part would be subject to the unherd censor.
I have a weird obsession with them. Every time I see them I need to tell someone. Find it completely fascinating especially when they are on what was clearly a beautiful face to start off with. Have seen some very young women sporting trout pout and it just baffles me. I spoke recently to a young man (early 20s) on it and asked if it’s something guys his age find attractive. He said some guys do. He did until he kissed a girl with lip fillers…said they were hard and not soft, pliable like unfilled lips and didn’t enjoy the experience.
What gets me is the huge lips
Well, to be fair, Madonna was never a beautiful woman. And “role models” are for children – ideally, their parents.
Celebrity Norma Desmonds? They can pump all the fillers they like into their faces but they can’t compete with the younger set digitally altering themselves for clicks and cash, who will then find themselves fat, thirty, and coping with reality.
Incidentally, I watched the music video. A bland little commercial pop piece indistinguishable from most of what’s produced, but I was reminded of “Zip”, from Pal Joey, a genuinely clever, funny tune about an intellectual stripper.
Madonna was never a beautiful woman? I’m going to respectfully disagree.
She was attractive, but I would never have called her beautiful. The less said about the way she looks now, the better.
She never troubled the scorers on looks from the very start.
She never troubled the scorers on looks from the very start.
She was certainly photogenic but I don’t think she was beautiful.
She was attractive, but I would never have called her beautiful. The less said about the way she looks now, the better.
She was certainly photogenic but I don’t think she was beautiful.
As a woman ageing naturally, I find it comforting to see other women ageing naturally and still looking beautiful or at least okay. Women like Susan Sarandon and Jill Stein. They are not role models perhaps, but they make me feel more okay about my own ageing.
But there are so few women in the public eye who haven’t caved to cosmetic surgery. It’s sad that those of us who haven’t succumbed, for whatever reason, feel that it’s a brave thing to do. Ageism is more oppressive for women.
Who’s Jill Stein? Oh, was she the Green Party presidential candidate two election cycles ago?
But there are so few women in the public eye who haven’t caved to cosmetic surgery. It’s sad that those of us who haven’t succumbed, for whatever reason, feel that it’s a brave thing to do. Ageism is more oppressive for women.
Who’s Jill Stein? Oh, was she the Green Party presidential candidate two election cycles ago?
Madonna was never a beautiful woman? I’m going to respectfully disagree.
As a woman ageing naturally, I find it comforting to see other women ageing naturally and still looking beautiful or at least okay. Women like Susan Sarandon and Jill Stein. They are not role models perhaps, but they make me feel more okay about my own ageing.
But you women still eat it up. Personally, I find this person in the video nothing more than a figment of someone’s imagination, not a real person. The “music” too.
She is a figment of her imagination of what she thinks a woman should look like, which itself is based on a complete misunderstanding of what men wish to see. The same applies to men who surgically enhance. You don’t see any 6 pack guys having nerdifying surgery to develop say, the Woody Allen look.
I may be in the minority but I find the 6 pack unattractive.
I may be in the minority but I find the 6 pack unattractive.
She is a figment of her imagination of what she thinks a woman should look like, which itself is based on a complete misunderstanding of what men wish to see. The same applies to men who surgically enhance. You don’t see any 6 pack guys having nerdifying surgery to develop say, the Woody Allen look.
And have you seen Cara Delavigne’s new face? Who did she turn into?
“those weird Russian eyelashes”
I started noticing those about five years ago. They reminded me of animals in old Disney movies, and I would stare at the young women, expecting to hear the *blink blink* sound of Thumper’s or Faline’s eyes in “Bambi”.
The absurdly big, black lashes always make me think of a black widow spider.
You are one to steer clear of!
Nah I’m no threat……..anymore.It was just an observation.
Nah I’m no threat……..anymore.It was just an observation.
No woman can look benevolent sporting those.
You are one to steer clear of!
No woman can look benevolent sporting those.
They remind me of a particularly odd baby doll we had when we were kids in the early/mid 80s. It had massive black plastic eyelashes and its eyelids closed when we laid it down as if the doll was sleeping. Those eyes made an unholy scraping noise when they closed and I can almost hear it when I see girls with fake Russian lashes.
The absurdly big, black lashes always make me think of a black widow spider.
They remind me of a particularly odd baby doll we had when we were kids in the early/mid 80s. It had massive black plastic eyelashes and its eyelids closed when we laid it down as if the doll was sleeping. Those eyes made an unholy scraping noise when they closed and I can almost hear it when I see girls with fake Russian lashes.
https://youtu.be/yalM-2ih7RU
this is what Kylie used to look like before she started going under the knife. Of course more than 30 years have gone by, but the good counter example how to age gracefully without butchering yourself and loosing the very expressions that made you so sweet, would be Julianne Moor.
Martha Stewart seems to have done it all pretty well.
Julianne Moore— excellent counter-example.
and how about Susannah Hoffs?
Martha Stewart seems to have done it all pretty well.
Julianne Moore— excellent counter-example.
and how about Susannah Hoffs?
If one has been an attractive, intelligent, sexy woman one would have experienced power in a man’s world. Losing that power because of aging is not a small thing to come to terms with.
Well, again, Julianne Moore is the best counter example. Solid relationship, a family, all of what Kylie didn’t get. the poor thing had a lot on her plate and after chemio was left by her w…..r boyfriend, French actor Olivier Martinez and was left devastated. What is there to hang on to…..if not music and the artificial looks it requires. if you don’t have it inside anymore, no nip is going to save you and make you look any better. Quite the contrary as the authors is pointing out. It goes from within to outside…..not the reverse.
We really don’t know if Julianne moore hasn’t done any cosmetic work, but even so that’s just one celebrity woman, which proves the point.
There is such a thing as good work. Subtle, less is more, undetectable work. But a sine qua non of good work is lower expectations about what can be done to restore one’s looks.
There is such a thing as good work. Subtle, less is more, undetectable work. But a sine qua non of good work is lower expectations about what can be done to restore one’s looks.
We really don’t know if Julianne moore hasn’t done any cosmetic work, but even so that’s just one celebrity woman, which proves the point.
Well, again, Julianne Moore is the best counter example. Solid relationship, a family, all of what Kylie didn’t get. the poor thing had a lot on her plate and after chemio was left by her w…..r boyfriend, French actor Olivier Martinez and was left devastated. What is there to hang on to…..if not music and the artificial looks it requires. if you don’t have it inside anymore, no nip is going to save you and make you look any better. Quite the contrary as the authors is pointing out. It goes from within to outside…..not the reverse.
It seems to me that all BBC World Service female presenters have had their eyes done – they look positively feline.
The thing is women in the media risk losing their jobs if they look old. It’s a brutal double standard. On 60 minutes the men are allowed to age and become “distinguished”,but the women must not show signs of age. Barbara Walters, although a tough feminist, nevertheless fought signs of aging.
The thing is women in the media risk losing their jobs if they look old. It’s a brutal double standard. On 60 minutes the men are allowed to age and become “distinguished”,but the women must not show signs of age. Barbara Walters, although a tough feminist, nevertheless fought signs of aging.
Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty …
Elise Hu
Flawless is a smart, insightful look at South Korea’s beauty culture. Hu explores everything from the intense domestic pressure to conform to set standards
Ask a postie – we see all manner of women and (admittedly at my age most of them don’t look old enough to have left school) the ones who impress on the memory most are those who have left childhood behind (ie they are at least 40)
There’s an equivalent ‘look’ popular among young women in much younger age groups (research done among my children’s friends, of course..!) where plastering on so much make-up and huge (Russian?) eyelashes just made them look ridiculous and also very much the same as each other, despite different characters and most of them of above average intelligence. It had a similar effect as using botox, but for the purpose of ‘aging’ their faces. The effect was ghastly. I suppose there’d be no qualms about the use of more permanent measures in later life; or as you’ve observed, whilst still young. So much can go wrong, too.
KS skewers this trend more expertly than a surgeon’s knife. Some of her turns of phrase deserve to be preserved for posterity; a searing intellect applied in a way which includes bringing aspects of our popular culture into a more profound reflection on our existence.
Well, to be fair, Madonna was never a beautiful woman. And “role models” are for children – ideally, their parents.
Celebrity Norma Desmonds? They can pump all the fillers they like into their faces but they can’t compete with the younger set digitally altering themselves for clicks and cash, who will then find themselves fat, thirty, and coping with reality.
Incidentally, I watched the music video. A bland little commercial pop piece indistinguishable from most of what’s produced, but I was reminded of “Zip”, from Pal Joey, a genuinely clever, funny tune about an intellectual stripper.
But you women still eat it up. Personally, I find this person in the video nothing more than a figment of someone’s imagination, not a real person. The “music” too.
And have you seen Cara Delavigne’s new face? Who did she turn into?
“those weird Russian eyelashes”
I started noticing those about five years ago. They reminded me of animals in old Disney movies, and I would stare at the young women, expecting to hear the *blink blink* sound of Thumper’s or Faline’s eyes in “Bambi”.
https://youtu.be/yalM-2ih7RU
this is what Kylie used to look like before she started going under the knife. Of course more than 30 years have gone by, but the good counter example how to age gracefully without butchering yourself and loosing the very expressions that made you so sweet, would be Julianne Moor.
If one has been an attractive, intelligent, sexy woman one would have experienced power in a man’s world. Losing that power because of aging is not a small thing to come to terms with.
It seems to me that all BBC World Service female presenters have had their eyes done – they look positively feline.
Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty …
Elise Hu
Flawless is a smart, insightful look at South Korea’s beauty culture. Hu explores everything from the intense domestic pressure to conform to set standards
Ask a postie – we see all manner of women and (admittedly at my age most of them don’t look old enough to have left school) the ones who impress on the memory most are those who have left childhood behind (ie they are at least 40)
Kylie, Madonna, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Amanda Holden…all once beautiful women who have wrecked their faces with too much work. It is so depressing. And patients are indeed getting younger and younger. I was recently in Istanbul and our hotel was full of young ladies, no older than 25, who sat at breakfast wearing baseball caps pulled low over their bandaged, post-nosejob faces. You can’t swing a makeup bag these days without hitting a woman with massive, platypus-like lips and those weird Russian eyelashes. They look awful.
We ladies need more positive ageing models. The late, great Tina Turner got it right. I thought things were going to get better but the celeb world now seems to have gone full throttle in the direction marked “Plastic? Fantastic!”
As usual, a fabulous article once again. Love your articles Kathleen.
I feel women’s face’s are the human manifestation of the ‘gentrification’ trend. The narrowing down of all things into one very small bandwidth. Suburbs that are all the same, clothing stores may have different names but ultimately all sell the same gear. In Australia, even the cars now are all SUV’s or all-wheel-drives, all brands now almost identical in looks from a all-wheel-drive Maserati, Porsche to Toyota and Mazda. How utterly boring and repetitive it all is. Clones. Everything is becoming so beige….Ceilings anyone?
Same, Same, Same…..
LOL, the same with the same tattoos.
I don’t understand why women all want to look the same, and tattoos and blindingly white teeth haven’t even been mentioned.And I don’t understand why men seem to like inflated balloon breasts.That’s another mystery to me.
Clare, speaking for myself and men I know, we don’t and we actually find the balloons ludicrous. But many women seem to think it’s what we want. Similarly it’s the fashion for female pop performers to strut the stage wearing very little and shouting coarsely and then describing what they do as “female empowerment” or girl power, when what they are doing is putting themselves under a misunderstood male gaze.
Thanks for the feedback. It would seem that the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand wants, although I suspect you’re in the minority. Men need to speak out on this topic.
It will be interesting to see how Kate Middleton will navigate aging. She could definitely be a high profile role model.
If he’s in a minority, it’s not as small as you imagine.
Not convinced about Kate – she looks dangerously anorexic to me. None of my business of course, but these comments are inviting us to thow in opinions on other people’s appearances …
As long as she has no face-lift, she will navigate it as well as my wife. Both seem blessed with a bone structure that will provide an excellent structure for the aging skin above it. When my wife is relaxed and dozing, her face is as beautiful as it was half-a-century ago when I met her. Though the red hair that caught my attention in those days is no more. But hey, in a certain light she looks like a blonde!
“It will be interesting to see how Kate Middleton” is navigating aging. She is not young anymore but still looks fantastic but no idea what/if work she has had done.
Men who comment publicly on the appearance of women are immediately and viciously attacked by other women. Every smart man knows this.
If he’s in a minority, it’s not as small as you imagine.
Not convinced about Kate – she looks dangerously anorexic to me. None of my business of course, but these comments are inviting us to thow in opinions on other people’s appearances …
As long as she has no face-lift, she will navigate it as well as my wife. Both seem blessed with a bone structure that will provide an excellent structure for the aging skin above it. When my wife is relaxed and dozing, her face is as beautiful as it was half-a-century ago when I met her. Though the red hair that caught my attention in those days is no more. But hey, in a certain light she looks like a blonde!
“It will be interesting to see how Kate Middleton” is navigating aging. She is not young anymore but still looks fantastic but no idea what/if work she has had done.
Men who comment publicly on the appearance of women are immediately and viciously attacked by other women. Every smart man knows this.
Spot on – body language is a foreign language to them and they then go and speak it very loudly and very clearly but get upset when a male understands that language, to discover that the woman speaking it might as well have been coached in ancient greek, spouting it yet know nothing at all about the meaning of what they just said.
Thanks for the feedback. It would seem that the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand wants, although I suspect you’re in the minority. Men need to speak out on this topic.
It will be interesting to see how Kate Middleton will navigate aging. She could definitely be a high profile role model.
Spot on – body language is a foreign language to them and they then go and speak it very loudly and very clearly but get upset when a male understands that language, to discover that the woman speaking it might as well have been coached in ancient greek, spouting it yet know nothing at all about the meaning of what they just said.
Balloon breasts? If we stare, it’s astonishment rather than lust
Quality beats quantity. Always did.
I’ve never seen the balloons in real life so it’s just in the unreal world of Hollywood, and social media. I’m glad I escaped all that growing up, but the message of the double standard still got through.By osmosis I knew what I was supposed to look like.
I’ve never seen the balloons in real life so it’s just in the unreal world of Hollywood, and social media. I’m glad I escaped all that growing up, but the message of the double standard still got through.By osmosis I knew what I was supposed to look like.
Clare, speaking for myself and men I know, we don’t and we actually find the balloons ludicrous. But many women seem to think it’s what we want. Similarly it’s the fashion for female pop performers to strut the stage wearing very little and shouting coarsely and then describing what they do as “female empowerment” or girl power, when what they are doing is putting themselves under a misunderstood male gaze.
Balloon breasts? If we stare, it’s astonishment rather than lust
Quality beats quantity. Always did.
LOL, the same with the same tattoos.
I don’t understand why women all want to look the same, and tattoos and blindingly white teeth haven’t even been mentioned.And I don’t understand why men seem to like inflated balloon breasts.That’s another mystery to me.
As usual, a fabulous article once again. Love your articles Kathleen.
I feel women’s face’s are the human manifestation of the ‘gentrification’ trend. The narrowing down of all things into one very small bandwidth. Suburbs that are all the same, clothing stores may have different names but ultimately all sell the same gear. In Australia, even the cars now are all SUV’s or all-wheel-drives, all brands now almost identical in looks from a all-wheel-drive Maserati, Porsche to Toyota and Mazda. How utterly boring and repetitive it all is. Clones. Everything is becoming so beige….Ceilings anyone?
Same, Same, Same…..
What a great piece. In the instant that I laughed out loud at the bit about Simon Cowell, the sheer tragedy of it silenced me.
On the subject of males having ‘work’ done, i was dismayed to see Dave Coverdale (Deep Purple / Whitesnkake) being interviewed a couple of years ago, sporting a freshly implanted complete set of pearly white teeth which glinted eerily in the studio lights. He could barely close his mouth over them.
The interview included a clip of his latest number; even greater dismay followed as it was obvious his singing voice had changed due to the over-extensive dentistry. Very sad.
Wow. You’re right. He looks like Murphy Brown on a bender.
Wow. You’re right. He looks like Murphy Brown on a bender.
On the subject of males having ‘work’ done, i was dismayed to see Dave Coverdale (Deep Purple / Whitesnkake) being interviewed a couple of years ago, sporting a freshly implanted complete set of pearly white teeth which glinted eerily in the studio lights. He could barely close his mouth over them.
The interview included a clip of his latest number; even greater dismay followed as it was obvious his singing voice had changed due to the over-extensive dentistry. Very sad.
What a great piece. In the instant that I laughed out loud at the bit about Simon Cowell, the sheer tragedy of it silenced me.
You talk about death masks and Madonna, but you forget Nicole Kidman who is utterly unrecognisable. Last time I saw her she was supposed to look like a young Lucille Ball. Talking about eerie caricatures… I was so shocked/terrified, I could never watch that film past the first 10 mins or so.
What surprised me even more is that the press seemed to like it and nobody, that I saw, commented on her grotesque appearance.
One last thing, I have just watched Kylie’s video and I can’t help noticing how little of Kylie you are allowed to see: you get a glimpse only for a short fraction of a second each time. Enough to, kind of, recognise her, but not really enough to *look* at her. The singer’s producers must be fully aware of the “death mask” effect.
Really? There is a 10 second closeup of her face in the first 30 seconds of the video. And she’s centre screen throughout the rest of video.
Really? There is a 10 second closeup of her face in the first 30 seconds of the video. And she’s centre screen throughout the rest of video.
Yes! And now Jane Fonda and Carol Burnett look like twin sisters. It’s weird out there, man.
2019’s miniseries “World on Fire” gave us protagonist Helen Hunt whose actual surgeries had left her, well let’s just say tragically altered.
At first I thought it was make up intended to display some terrible injury intrinsic to the plot. Alas, such was not the case. I could not finish watching the series.
Season two, delayed due to COVID, will premiere in the U.S. soon, sans Hunt.
I believe I know why.
2019’s miniseries “World on Fire” gave us protagonist Helen Hunt whose actual surgeries had left her, well let’s just say tragically altered.
At first I thought it was make up intended to display some terrible injury intrinsic to the plot. Alas, such was not the case. I could not finish watching the series.
Season two, delayed due to COVID, will premiere in the U.S. soon, sans Hunt.
I believe I know why.
Right, Nicole Kidman used to be really attractive. I remember when I first saw her in the movie Calm and was impressed with both her looks and acting. She seems to be very insecure, now, because she’s always all over hubby Kieth Urban in public.
One last thing, I have just watched Kylie’s video and I can’t help noticing how little of Kylie you are allowed to see: you get a glimpse only for a short fraction of a second each time. Enough to, kind of, recognise her, but not really enough to *look* at her. The singer’s producers must be fully aware of the “death mask” effect.
Yes! And now Jane Fonda and Carol Burnett look like twin sisters. It’s weird out there, man.
Right, Nicole Kidman used to be really attractive. I remember when I first saw her in the movie Calm and was impressed with both her looks and acting. She seems to be very insecure, now, because she’s always all over hubby Kieth Urban in public.
You talk about death masks and Madonna, but you forget Nicole Kidman who is utterly unrecognisable. Last time I saw her she was supposed to look like a young Lucille Ball. Talking about eerie caricatures… I was so shocked/terrified, I could never watch that film past the first 10 mins or so.
What surprised me even more is that the press seemed to like it and nobody, that I saw, commented on her grotesque appearance.
From Wikipedia:
“In aesthetics, the uncanny valley is a hypothesized relation between an object’s degree of resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to the object.”
Perhaps people that modify themselves repeatedly approach the Uncanny Valley from the human side. We know they don’t ‘look right’ but cannot usually explain why.
The worrying aspect is many young people see natural as weird and can’t tell when someone has had work done. I don’t watch reality television normally but had to endure it at work. I commented on how every person in the show, had something done and I was asked how I could tell. To me it was obvious because they all seemed to sport an unnatural look, mostly they were all too smooth and largely emotionless.
One aspect not touched upon by this otherwise excellent if depressing article is how the cosmetic surgery obsession is fanned and fueled by the industry that profits from finding yet another way to medically interfere with our bodies. To your point, I am considered weird whenever I inform a doctor I don’t take any medications.
Many young people actually thing that natural equals weird or bad. In trying to explain that grass fed did not mean plant based but organic and therefore good because natural. The young person turned to me with horror, declared it disgusting and demanded we bought the non organic version as natural is obviously the worst!
As they walk around with orange skin, lids weighted down by fake lashes and cleavage enhanced with silicone, I am reminded that of course they think natural is bad.
Many young people actually thing that natural equals weird or bad. In trying to explain that grass fed did not mean plant based but organic and therefore good because natural. The young person turned to me with horror, declared it disgusting and demanded we bought the non organic version as natural is obviously the worst!
As they walk around with orange skin, lids weighted down by fake lashes and cleavage enhanced with silicone, I am reminded that of course they think natural is bad.
One aspect not touched upon by this otherwise excellent if depressing article is how the cosmetic surgery obsession is fanned and fueled by the industry that profits from finding yet another way to medically interfere with our bodies. To your point, I am considered weird whenever I inform a doctor I don’t take any medications.
I had a colleague who had had Botox once. She met my father smoking out the front of the hospital one day. Afterwards he took me aside and asked me very delicately what had happened to “that poor girl’s face”. He had assumed she was a burns victim. When you see it in real life, it doesn’t take much to start looking really odd and wrong.
The worrying aspect is many young people see natural as weird and can’t tell when someone has had work done. I don’t watch reality television normally but had to endure it at work. I commented on how every person in the show, had something done and I was asked how I could tell. To me it was obvious because they all seemed to sport an unnatural look, mostly they were all too smooth and largely emotionless.
I had a colleague who had had Botox once. She met my father smoking out the front of the hospital one day. Afterwards he took me aside and asked me very delicately what had happened to “that poor girl’s face”. He had assumed she was a burns victim. When you see it in real life, it doesn’t take much to start looking really odd and wrong.
From Wikipedia:
“In aesthetics, the uncanny valley is a hypothesized relation between an object’s degree of resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to the object.”
Perhaps people that modify themselves repeatedly approach the Uncanny Valley from the human side. We know they don’t ‘look right’ but cannot usually explain why.
Kylie: bland and anondyne. ChatGPT music. The pre-programmed electronic disco we were warned about in 1980:
“Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to the Universal Amphitheater. Well, here it is the late 1970’s going on 1985. Y’know so much of the music we here today is pre-programmed electronic disco, we never get a chance to hear master blues men practicing their craft anymore. By the year 2006, the music known today as the blues will exist only in the classical records department of your local public library. So tonight, Ladies and Gentlemen, while we still can, let us welcome from Rock Island, Illinois, the blues men of Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues, The Blues Brothers!”
Kylie: bland and anondyne. ChatGPT music. The pre-programmed electronic disco we were warned about in 1980:
“Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to the Universal Amphitheater. Well, here it is the late 1970’s going on 1985. Y’know so much of the music we here today is pre-programmed electronic disco, we never get a chance to hear master blues men practicing their craft anymore. By the year 2006, the music known today as the blues will exist only in the classical records department of your local public library. So tonight, Ladies and Gentlemen, while we still can, let us welcome from Rock Island, Illinois, the blues men of Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues, The Blues Brothers!”
Another great article from Kathleen Stock. What gets me about cosmetic surgery is those godawful giant lips – “trout pout” as it is colloquially known. Put that together with the thick painted eyebrows and spider eyelashes and you have a group of young women who all look the same, not to mention looking like blow up dolls one might purchase in a sex shop.
Another great article from Kathleen Stock. What gets me about cosmetic surgery is those godawful giant lips – “trout pout” as it is colloquially known. Put that together with the thick painted eyebrows and spider eyelashes and you have a group of young women who all look the same, not to mention looking like blow up dolls one might purchase in a sex shop.
What Madonna did to herself was not only awful but hypocritical. She claims to be an anti-establishment, empowered, feminist role-model, calling for young women to be rebellious and strong, but when the chips are down with aging, and the biggest opportunity to walk the talk and be bold and brave comes along, she caves in.
I find it surprising – though it’s easy to say 40 years on – that anyone took her protestations at face value.
I find it surprising – though it’s easy to say 40 years on – that anyone took her protestations at face value.
What Madonna did to herself was not only awful but hypocritical. She claims to be an anti-establishment, empowered, feminist role-model, calling for young women to be rebellious and strong, but when the chips are down with aging, and the biggest opportunity to walk the talk and be bold and brave comes along, she caves in.
“like distressed sideboards” What my husband refers to as “antiqued-up”.
Great writing. These faces are, as she says, designed for photos, selfies and edited media glimpses. In real life, like the the GWR train I sit on as I write this, they would look monstrous, each one playing a character in a dystopian Huxley novel.
“like distressed sideboards” What my husband refers to as “antiqued-up”.
Great writing. These faces are, as she says, designed for photos, selfies and edited media glimpses. In real life, like the the GWR train I sit on as I write this, they would look monstrous, each one playing a character in a dystopian Huxley novel.
Thanks, as always, to the ever-brilliant Dr Stock. These surgical alternatives to Dorian Gray’s portrait seem to have equally disastrous moral consequences.
Thanks, as always, to the ever-brilliant Dr Stock. These surgical alternatives to Dorian Gray’s portrait seem to have equally disastrous moral consequences.
I’ve heard it said that treatments and surgery to hide aging are like deoderant to mask body odour. It turns out there are no absolutes on what is normal behaviour for the techno-species we’ve become.
Body odour isn’t unpleasant until most people stop smelling like that thanks to water engineering and chemical engineering. And before that, our neolithic forebearers thought nothing of having plain skin until a few started painting themselves.
Cost and availability determine what technical adjustments to aesthetics are considered normal or even necessary. Sadly, this means botox, hair transplants, face lifts and the rest will become far more common until they are the new normal. The signs of aging might well become socially unacceptable one day. I’m sure there are some Canadians already offering euthanasia to treat aging…
I wonder down oted this comment, and why.
I wonder down oted this comment, and why.
I’ve heard it said that treatments and surgery to hide aging are like deoderant to mask body odour. It turns out there are no absolutes on what is normal behaviour for the techno-species we’ve become.
Body odour isn’t unpleasant until most people stop smelling like that thanks to water engineering and chemical engineering. And before that, our neolithic forebearers thought nothing of having plain skin until a few started painting themselves.
Cost and availability determine what technical adjustments to aesthetics are considered normal or even necessary. Sadly, this means botox, hair transplants, face lifts and the rest will become far more common until they are the new normal. The signs of aging might well become socially unacceptable one day. I’m sure there are some Canadians already offering euthanasia to treat aging…
Great article. The opening few sentences were brilliant. How sad the angry, self-obsessed students at Oxford are unlikely to read your work. It might, just might, make them laugh.
Great article. The opening few sentences were brilliant. How sad the angry, self-obsessed students at Oxford are unlikely to read your work. It might, just might, make them laugh.
And this is why it is getting more difficult to see a dentist. They have all re-invented themselves as ‘smile clinicians’.
Why don’t the NHS doctors all join in as well?
Mine (NHS, but does private too) had Botox on the menu for a good few years now.
Mine (NHS, but does private too) had Botox on the menu for a good few years now.
And this is why it is getting more difficult to see a dentist. They have all re-invented themselves as ‘smile clinicians’.
Why don’t the NHS doctors all join in as well?
Once again, it’s an external treatment to try to fix an internal problem, doomed to failure. Just like taking mind altering chemicals to fix feelings of dissatisfaction.
I told my daughter that if she didn’t like herself that getting any work done wouldn’t change that, it’d just send her down a bad road. Thankfully she took notice and is a confident, natural, lovely & real person.
Once again, it’s an external treatment to try to fix an internal problem, doomed to failure. Just like taking mind altering chemicals to fix feelings of dissatisfaction.
I told my daughter that if she didn’t like herself that getting any work done wouldn’t change that, it’d just send her down a bad road. Thankfully she took notice and is a confident, natural, lovely & real person.
botox… Botulinus Toxin as in germ warfare!
botox… Botulinus Toxin as in germ warfare!
Grains of sand become a heap when the eye no longer sees the individual grains, only the heap. Retinal ganglion cells respond to particular components of information and the brain finds patterns in them. Among the components of information are lines and the direction of movement. The brain finds patterns in the lines and movements that enable us to read a face, the expressions
and attractiveness. Destroy the movement, destroy what we see in the face.
Grains of sand become a heap when the eye no longer sees the individual grains, only the heap. Retinal ganglion cells respond to particular components of information and the brain finds patterns in them. Among the components of information are lines and the direction of movement. The brain finds patterns in the lines and movements that enable us to read a face, the expressions
and attractiveness. Destroy the movement, destroy what we see in the face.
These days, most
50-somethingfemale celebrities seem to have exactly the same face.It’s not just older women it’s most women, regardless of age, who all look the same right down to the same hair style.
It’s not just older women it’s most women, regardless of age, who all look the same right down to the same hair style.
These days, most
50-somethingfemale celebrities seem to have exactly the same face.If I understood Dr Iain McGilchrist correctly, (The Master and his Emissary), it seems the left brain doesn’t read faces and that this is a specialism of the right hemisphere. Part of his contention is that society is becoming more left brain dominated which will lead us to disaster. So at just the time when we need to give our right brains a little help we either wear masks, as in PPH, or masks as in surgical alteration and tattoos. It seems that our non-verbal communication will suffer.
If I understood Dr Iain McGilchrist correctly, (The Master and his Emissary), it seems the left brain doesn’t read faces and that this is a specialism of the right hemisphere. Part of his contention is that society is becoming more left brain dominated which will lead us to disaster. So at just the time when we need to give our right brains a little help we either wear masks, as in PPH, or masks as in surgical alteration and tattoos. It seems that our non-verbal communication will suffer.
I tried listening to/watching that Kylie Minogue video. I lasted 0:53 seconds. And that was pushing it. The song is monotonous and unremarkable. Her voice, such as it is, is undistinguished. I found myself thinking that if AI could make music, this is the music it would make.
I can’t get past this so that’s the only comment I have about this article.
I must disagree. The song is catchy and clever and the video is stunning and beautifully crafted. Simple does not mean easy. This is Kylie’s best pop song for 10 years. Kylie is not a great natural talent but she makes the best of what she has.
I must disagree. The song is catchy and clever and the video is stunning and beautifully crafted. Simple does not mean easy. This is Kylie’s best pop song for 10 years. Kylie is not a great natural talent but she makes the best of what she has.
I tried listening to/watching that Kylie Minogue video. I lasted 0:53 seconds. And that was pushing it. The song is monotonous and unremarkable. Her voice, such as it is, is undistinguished. I found myself thinking that if AI could make music, this is the music it would make.
I can’t get past this so that’s the only comment I have about this article.
One of my mates sat next to her at a dinner party, and says she was absolutely lovely.
One of my mates sat next to her at a dinner party, and says she was absolutely lovely.
I feel that the best thing about aging is the gradual estrangement from your body. But our materialistic culture places all worth in the body . So we have this frantic attempt to prevent the bodies inevitable decline.
Estrangement, yes. Whenever I see myself in a mirror I exclaim “Who the the hell is that”.
Estrangement, yes. Whenever I see myself in a mirror I exclaim “Who the the hell is that”.
I feel that the best thing about aging is the gradual estrangement from your body. But our materialistic culture places all worth in the body . So we have this frantic attempt to prevent the bodies inevitable decline.
One of our best Australians.
And your richest – after the members of AC/DC.
And your richest – after the members of AC/DC.
One of our best Australians.
Even God can’t create something infinite. By definition. This does not mean however that our free will’s and mind’s ability to apprehend non material universals do not indicate something eternal about us like it or not. And of course our innate lived awareness of purpose and goodness. We are held in being by BEING. Our final causality. Aristotle’s Unmoved Mover.
Unfortunately middle aged women with musical talent don’t sell records and Kylie never had much musical talent.
Cathy Dennis is so much hotter than Kylie.
This one article is enough to make me happy to pay my sub/membership fee – so well written – thank you!
I remember ” Artifice” as a rather good 3 mile ‘ chaser, but certainly not owned by that vulgar hussey..?
Can’t UnHerd to better than this? A chatty feature article about that favourite female topic: ageing and beauty. Take away the intellectual spice and it would fit perfectly into Femail.
Make-up/botox is superficial; the human existence to which it’s applied as KS does is anything but.
I am inclined to agree with you. Kylie Minogue’s song is dross and so is the article.
The only thing wrong with this quite excellent article is that the author doesn’t recognise that the song is dross and seems to rate it.
But it’s a free country and we’re all entitled to our views.
The only thing wrong with this quite excellent article is that the author doesn’t recognise that the song is dross and seems to rate it.
But it’s a free country and we’re all entitled to our views.
Perhaps it is highlighting a reality that’s always been there, which, now due to the tech boom and the omnipresence of the ‘immaterial’ false world constantly being mirrored back, the mirror is reflecting back the growing tragedy of parody in the pursuit of so called perfection.
I find it both horrifying and immensely sad. It is no longer just one or two celebeaties. It is everywhere. We are looking for perfection in the screen instead of the inherent beauty that exists in the real world.
I personally would not like to be constantly in the public eye. I cannot say l would not be tempted myself. However, things are now so surreal, l now find myself delighting in someone’s smile whose teeth are not ‘perfect’. There’s a beautiful Japanese saying, Wabi Sabi – beauty and gold in imperfection.
Make-up/botox is superficial; the human existence to which it’s applied as KS does is anything but.
I am inclined to agree with you. Kylie Minogue’s song is dross and so is the article.
Perhaps it is highlighting a reality that’s always been there, which, now due to the tech boom and the omnipresence of the ‘immaterial’ false world constantly being mirrored back, the mirror is reflecting back the growing tragedy of parody in the pursuit of so called perfection.
I find it both horrifying and immensely sad. It is no longer just one or two celebeaties. It is everywhere. We are looking for perfection in the screen instead of the inherent beauty that exists in the real world.
I personally would not like to be constantly in the public eye. I cannot say l would not be tempted myself. However, things are now so surreal, l now find myself delighting in someone’s smile whose teeth are not ‘perfect’. There’s a beautiful Japanese saying, Wabi Sabi – beauty and gold in imperfection.
Can’t UnHerd to better than this? A chatty feature article about that favourite female topic: ageing and beauty. Take away the intellectual spice and it would fit perfectly into Femail.