Against my better judgement, I often find myself perusing TikTok. The other day, I was doom-scrolling in bed (as we all do) and came across a video that caught my eye. Not because it was particularly funny or unique, but because it made me stop in my tracks and reevaluate my whole worldview for a hot second. The clip starred this gorgeous young girl, cheerfully talking to her followers about her journey with plastic surgery and describing all the procedures she’d undergone with a smile plastered on her face.
Albeit the content of her video being by no means unusual on social media, what stood out to me was the way she was talking about it. She described her decision to get Botox and a nose job as “empowering” and “feminist”, and said she wanted to be transparent about getting work done because “we need to normalize cosmetic surgery”.
Her comments made me raise both eyebrows. On the one hand, how could plastic surgery be feminist? After all, isn’t it the result of women feeling so pressured to adhere to patriarchal beauty standards, to the point that they decide to undergo painful medical procedures just to fit in? But on the other hand… how could plastic surgery NOT be feminist? At its core, it’s about women exercising agency over their own bodies—what could be more feminist than that?
With this dilemma pounding my head, I exited TikTok and opened a blank Word document on my laptop, deciding to tackle the problem myself and come to my own conclusions.
Through the looking glass of choice feminism
The most basic answer to the question “Is plastic surgery feminist?” is that it depends on which definition of “feminism” you are using.
According to choice feminism, cosmetic surgery IS feminist, since it is all about women choosing to do something to their own body.
People who claim cosmetic plastic surgery is feminist do so based on something called “choice feminism”, a facet of third-wave feminism and arguably the most popular feminist ideology these days. The main idea of this rhetoric is that everything women do is inherently feminist simply because it’s a woman’s own choice. And according to choice feminism, cosmetic surgery IS feminist, since it is all about women choosing to do something to their own body.
It’s easy to understand the appeal behind choice feminism: it requires pretty much no effort whatsoever. No need for marches or protests or doing anything substantial to push back against the patriarchy and fight for women in any way—a woman can do literally anything and call that feminism.
As a matter of fact, it is likely the most inclusive type of feminism to date, since it encompasses everything a woman could decide to do with her life, from one extreme to the other. You can be a powerful CEO or you can be a stay-at-home tradwife—as long as it’s your choice, it counts as feminism.
Choice feminism is neither about choice nor feminism.
And it goes without saying, but uplifting a woman’s agency is no doubt a GREAT move these days, given how our society still tries to control women in all aspects of their lives. Unfortunately, not all that shimmers is gold.
If you take a closer look, you’ll notice that choice feminism is neither about choice nor feminism. We need to remember that feminism is a political movement, working towards collective liberation and emancipation. Recasting each woman’s individual behaviour as “feminist” waters down feminism and minimizes the work of actual feminists, since it claims every woman’s action has political value solely because it was done by a woman. Plus, this logic seemingly absolves women from any feminist critique whatsoever, acting as if women were innocent bystanders of the patriarchy, incapable of misogyny.
“Fixing” just means changing their features so that they adhere more closely to beauty standards set by the male gaze and Eurocentrism.
To make matters worse, this perspective ignores the significant question of WHY women make certain choices. Which is, to put it simply, in response to the world we continue to live in and the patriarchy therein. Calling every woman’s individual decision “feminist” (just because she is a woman) doesn’t take into account that her choice was influenced by external factors. And by doing so, it ignores the root of the issue and what the movement is trying to eradicate (i.e., the patriarchy).
Most women say they chose to undergo plastic surgery to “fix” certain features that bring them unhappiness. And nearly every time, “fixing” just means changing their features so that they adhere more closely to the beauty standards set by the male gaze and Eurocentrism that they see in all the magazines and Instagram models. According to choice feminism, as long as those women are acting out of their own volition, deciding to undergo cosmetic surgical procedures is completely feminist. That belief, however, disregards the patriarchal socialization underlying a woman’s wish to change her appearance.
Women don’t just wake up one day thinking their perfectly functional nose needs to be fixed with scalpels and chisels.
One of the favourite party lines of the pro-cosmetic-surgery bunch is that “Women get cosmetic procedures for themselves, not for other people (men)”. That is one WILDLY reductive statement. It completely fails to account that a woman choosing to surgically alter features—say, nose or breasts—for non-medical reasons is a symptom of the internalization of patriarchal beauty standards. Standards which delineate when a woman is deemed lovable and desirable (read: worthy) according to the criteria set by men eons ago.
Let’s not kid ourselves: Women don’t just wake up one day thinking their perfectly functional nose needs to be fixed with scalpels and chisels. Something (or someone) got them to that idea.
An aside: Why be happy when you can be beautiful?
A common argument brought up to defend cosmetic surgery is as follows: Cosmetic surgery can bring happiness, as it is a vehicle that can allow women to break free from any unhappiness caused by their features.
This point is both sound and important to mention, as the pursuit of individual happiness is but a noble one and doesn’t necessarily have to be righteous (in this case, feminist) to be worthwile. And not every single woman’s action must be feminist—a flawed behaviour can still be a valid one.
But upon hearing this argument, one should immediately ponder: Is that really happiness, or is it just a fleeting sentiment of self-fulfilment depending on external validation? Does plastic surgery foster real confidence in oneself, or does it encourage a vicious cycle seeking after others’ acceptance of one’s appearance? Is cosmetic surgery the solution to one’s problems, or is it a flaky shortcut to happiness? Those questions are very difficult to answer, yet they are essential to ask in this conversation.
Back to the point: The misleading beauty of normalization
When an individual chooses to undergo cosmetic surgery, that gives more power to the system that made them feel the necessity to get the procedures in the first place.
Criticism of cosmetic plastic surgery should not be directed towards the individual themselves, but rather towards the social system that encourages the need for cosmetic surgery among women. Still, it’s important to keep in mind that what we do as individuals does not happen in a vacuum.
You may think that getting a nose job is an entirely personal journey and does not affect those around you. But when an individual chooses to undergo cosmetic surgery, that gives more power to the system that made them feel the necessity to get the procedures in the first place. It upholds the singular ideal standard they were trying to meet and actually intensifies the pressure on other women to meet it. In other words, getting cosmetic plastic surgery directly and indirectly empowers patriarchal structures within society that make women feel inadequate for their appearance and lead them to seek plastic surgery in order to “fix” themselves. And in turn, that allows the cycle to be perpetuated.
The increasing popularization of cosmetic surgery is making these procedures seem so easily accessible and common that an individual may get FOMO if they can’t get it.
A great deal of people claim that the answer to breaking the pattern is normalizing plastic surgery. They argue that being forthcoming about the procedures you get takes away the power from patriarchal institutions and makes women feel less pressured to adhere to beauty standards. Some studies, however, show that the belief that transparency has positive outcomes is misguided. Multiple experts have concluded that understanding how someone has artificially altered their features to resemble an ideal does not actually assuage the pressure on others to do the same.
Some studies even found that transparency may have the opposite effect, making people feel more pressure rather than less. The increasing popularization of cosmetic surgery is making these procedures seem so easily accessible and common that an individual may get FOMO (or FOBU, Fear Of Being Ugly) if they can’t get it. That is until they do get it… but then, they’ll just want more and more and more and… you get the gist. Sure, the hefty cost of most cosmetic procedures still stands in the way for a lot of people, but I believe that won’t be an issue for much longer since treatments are getting cheaper by the minute.
The rising normalization of cosmetic surgery poses a threat especially to the younger generations, who are growing up in a society where getting work done is considered the norm. These days, a lot of women start getting Botox for non-medically necessary reasons in their early 20s (!!) and that age will most likely become lower and lower if we continue at this pace. With that in mind, I think that cosmetic plastic surgery does not need to be increasingly normalized. If anything, it should be increasingly stigmatized, until the need for it has been fully eradicated.
Plastic surgery: The feminist dilemma
This does not mean that one is a bad person for getting plastic surgery. Nor are they any less of a feminist per se.
And now, let’s revisit our main question: “Is plastic surgery feminist?”
Choice feminism says that cosmetic surgery is a tool that women can use to free themselves from unhappiness caused by any of their features, therefore perfectly in line with feminism. I believe that to be a reductive and overly simplistic rhetoric. Sure, cosmetic surgery can bring you a (brief) sentiment akin to happiness, but it is merely a quick fix to a larger societal issue.
But this does not mean that one is a bad person for getting plastic surgery. Nor are they any less of a feminist per se. Each individual has the freedom and agency over their own body to decide for themselves what to do with it and what to have done to it. Still, denying the harm done by cosmetic surgery is just putting your head in the sand. Nobody should stop you from getting whatever procedure you desire, but you shouldn’t act like getting a nose job is some feminist crusade against the patriarchy. If anything, by getting a nose job you’re fighting on its side.
So, here is my answer: You can get plastic surgery and still call yourself a feminist, but getting plastic surgery is not feminist.
