Khloe Kardashian has been forced to deny further plastic surgery accusations yet again, after posting a series of pictures on Instagram with a clip-in fringe that she says ‘changed the shape’ of her face.
‘Fun fact: I wore clip on bangs for this shoot,’ Khloe said of her Sorbet magazine cover. ‘It was fun to give a different look and not be committed. I am surprised with how much I liked the bangs even though they changed the shape of my face. Would you ever get bangs?’
As is the nature of trolling, few took her caption seriously. ‘I don’t think it was the bangs that changed your face,’ one Instagram user commented. ‘Ohhh it was the bangs that changed your face so much in these pics?’ another added sarcastically.
In a now-deleted post, Khloe responded with the following message: ‘I openly talk about my nose job and anyone who “looks up” to me must know I’ve lost over 60 pounds over the years. So recently the only change is the bangs. I didn’t know I had to do a running list.
'Either way, attacking someone is sad in my opinion,’ she continued. ‘Unprovoked is the saddest part. If you are offended or don’t like what you see, you simply don’t have to say anything. I hope you have a great first week of the new year. Thanks for making mine so jolly.’
It’s not the first time Khloe has responded to backlash about potential plastic surgery on Instagram, and it likely won’t be the last. Her changing appearance, as well as many other celebrities, often raises the same debate: Do celebrities really owe us an explanation about their cosmetic surgery changes?
Some would argue yes, that these are people in an influential position looked up to by countless young girls who might compare themselves to their beauty and feel worth less by not measuring up to ridiculous standards. If it wasn’t achieved naturally, they argue, we should know. But this argument deserves more analysis.
Is there actual value in young girls' knowing that the beauty they see online is natural or not?
First of all, is there value in girls knowing whether the beauty they 'don’t measure up to' is natural or not? Yes: knowing it’s fake means they can better understand that it simply isn’t physically possible for them to look like that, but even if it were natural that would be true, too. Knowing it's fake of also means they know they can achieve a certain look themselves with plastic surgery, but will that do anything other than encourage young girls to seek out cosmetic tweakments?
We often use the argument of ‘transparency being key’ when it comes to celebrities’ plastic surgery, but whether or not being transparent about what created your facial changes actually changes young girls’ opinions of that celebrity – or themselves – is still up for debate. Does it actually stop them comparing themselves? Or does knowing it’s ‘fake’ just give young girls a lesser view of a certain celebrity – one shrouded in misogyny that preaches ‘natural is better’ – or simply encourage them to change their own face?
It's important to add that this debate, and the pressure that comes with picking a side, disproportionately affects women. You rarely see male celebrities asked to explain their suddenly plumper face or more chiselled jawline, despite the many examples of them also seeking plastic surgery.
We chastise women for seeking plastic surgery, then chastise them for either choosing to be open about it and potentially encouraging other women to do so, or choosing not to and 'hiding' how they achieved their look. Then when more young girls seek cosmetic tweakments, we're asking why - as if the problem has anything to do with women and not the obscene beauty standards that are pushed on us from an early age. We're all just as victim to the system as we are contributing to the cause by conforming to it. Celebrities might have influence but they are as human as we are, under a spotlight we could never imagine, trolled more than ever.
Ultimately, these are all things we must consider when we ask celebrities to detail their plastic surgery changes. Because what we’re really asking is for an invasive list of their deepest insecurities – that will no doubt be used against them by trolls – all in an effort to stop girls comparing themselves to celebrities, which may not even have the desired effect.