NewsFlash 3: Heidi Montag, Version 3.0- To the Youth of America- Don’t Like Your Face? There’s an Answer!

Link to article: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/01/14/heidi-montag-version-3-0.html

As a child, I truly believed that I was living an extremely deprived life, because my parents chose to maintain a cable-free household. I was resentful of this parental decision, and I constantly thought of manipulative plans to sign us up for Time Warner. However, as we have discussed in class via Douglas’ lens, there are certain aspects of the media today that make me tremendously thankful of my devoid-of-cable-childhood.

While I do find reality TV deeply entertaining, it becomes the pinnacle of toxic media flow, further enhancing our society’s patriarchal culture. Specifically, I am thankful that I did not witness MTV’s The Hills, until I was at an age where I could disengage from its content, and view it as the complete opposite of “reality.” One character within The Hills in particular, or Heidi Montag, has had a highly influential force on the eyes of intrigued teen-fans in the form of her sex-appeal and glamorous lifestyle. Many find this blonde bombshell of a character to be highly ridiculous (and certainly entertaining to watch). However, many young teens also consider her “real,” and they thus can subconsciously validate her decisions, no matter how ridiculous they may be. Therefore, the idea of Heidi as a social icon becomes highly problematic (especially for the mental health of young girls) in light of her recent quest to become a living Barbie.

In a thought-provoking and clever article for Newsweek, “Heidi Montag, Version 3.0,” Sarah Ball and Jessica Bennett critique Montag’s shocking 10-in-one plastic surgical spree that took place in 2009. By the time Montag was 21 years old in September of 2007 (which is still at the cusp of adulthood, in my opinion), she had received a nose job, collagen lip injections, and breast implants (A cups to C cups). Montag was determined to get these procedures done because of extreme self-proclaimed insecurities due to criticisms of her appearance in her youth (she admitted to being teased for her looks as a child), and in the media as an adult (a high price of fame, I’m sure).

This self-loathing reached an unhealthy extreme at age 23, when she decided to completely surgically reconstruct herself in order to reveal her “inner beauty.” In November of 2009 Heidi received a grand total of 10 plastic surgeries at once, including further breast augmentation (she admits that she eventually wants “H’s, for Heidi!”), a brow lift, liposuction of the thighs, and even an ear pining, among others. As Ball and Bennett point out, one of the most disturbing aspects of Heidi’s surgeries is that certain ones focus on the minutest details of herself (i.e. the ear pining). Heidi discusses this specific surgery with People in which she states that it was mortifying to view herself on TV with ears sticking out like “Dumbo.” Speaking about her post-op body she adds, “For the first time, I have sexy ears! I can wear updos, instead of hiding them behind my hair.” Unfortunately for Heidi, I’m pretty sure that her viewers will be distracted by her new DDDs before noticing at her newly pinned ears.

One of the major problems with Heidi’s overall transformation is the underlying social constructs of cosmetic surgery that objectify all women today, and that surely planted the seeds of self-loathing within Heidi to begin with. As Douglas states in her “Sex ‘R’ Us” chapter, our society has clear physical standards of acceptable beauty. As is reiterated in this chapter, perhaps one of the most unfortunate consequences of the achieved strides of sex-positive feminists is the over-exposure and over-emphasis on female body parts that has become the norm in society today. Women are constantly reminded of the need to be “perfect,” physically, given that the consequences of not following this expectation are seemingly unsuccessful lives, devoid of love and happiness. Thus, women like Heidi choose to deprive and hurt themselves by flocking to dieting companies and plastic surgeons in order to look like our own formulated constructs of perfection. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Heidi’s surgeries is that she was considered to be socially beautiful pre-operating table, making this quest for perfection even more pronounced.

Further dangers of Heidi’s elevation of plastic surgery in the media are related to the known risk of psychopathologies within young women that stems from their social comparison of themselves to Hollywood figures. Similar to Douglas’ thoughts on female self-objectification, Joan Brumberg discusses what happens when women over-analyze their own bodies in, “Body Projects.” She explains that today, women view their bodies as the ultimate expression of themselves. She further highlights the idea that with more freedom to expose their bodies throughout the ages, women have become more anxious about certain parts since they are required to mimic the “norm” presented in the media. Thus, often women fall to certain pathologies such as depression and eating disorders due to their personal unwanted deviation from the norm. Heidi too, ironically falls into this media-created trap of idealized perfection by going under the knife to be fully accepted by the public. Unfortunately by doing so, she also further perpetuates this dangerous cycle by becoming an icon for our youth to observe, admire, and copy.

In fact, as is discussed by Ball and Bennett, many young girls already view the extremes of plastic surgery as normal, and as a mode of gaining power in society. This mindset becomes extremely dangerous in our world of standardized beauty in that as more young girls view Heidi’s transformation as the “norm,” they will be more apt to choose this action as a quick self-esteem booster, thus mutilating themselves in order to rise from a place of self-loathing. As is stated in the article, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery shows that the amount of cosmetic-surgery procedures performed on those 18 and younger have nearly doubled over the past decade, and that nearly 14% of Botox injections are currently given to those in the 19-34 age group. Nora Ephron, a screenwriter and director, comments on this issue in the article, further elucidating this twisted social attitude: “I think it’s a very interesting time for girls, in that what we all grew up believing -that you have to play the hand you’re dealt- is no longer true. In some sense, you really can go out and buy yourself a better face and a different body.” Hence, by watching Heidi (the life-sized Barbie) on MTV, young women learn that they will only be happy once they are changed from their natural selves (if they can afford it), thus fully supporting female objectification and marginalization for our future generations.

It is important to note another issue with Heidi’s seemingly insane slew of plastic surgeries: the role of her husband in her feelings of self-hatred. Spencer Pratt is portrayed as a pure misogynist (at least within the media); chasing playboy bunnies while dating Heidi at the same time. One can only wonder how much of an influence this subordination had on Heidi’s decision in choosing to undergo these surgeries, especially when it was revealed in the article that Spencer videotaped her on a handheld camera while a doctor marked off her “problem areas” pre-surgery. This incidence feeds into Brownmiller’s idea that we live in a culture that endorses male persecution against women. Spencer constantly degrades Heidi on The Hills, and receives no consequences, making male-viewers assume that this is how to appropriately treat their female colleagues.

While I am avidly against Heidi’s decision to undergo such an extreme transformation, I can understand her reasons behind this behavior (extreme media judgment, male partner criticism, the psychopathology behind self-hatred beginning at moments of childhood teasing, etc.). Even though it may promote our inherent social belief that all self-confidence should be attached to one’s physical attractiveness, I think that at times, plastic surgery can be highly beneficial to both men and women facing extreme self-loathing. Most importantly, similar to what we have discussed in class regarding “designer vaginas,” plastic surgery is a CHOICE. It can be life-saving when it comes to certain physical medical problems (such as 3rd degree burns), and definitely can act as a mental healer as well in that it heightens self-esteem.

Heidi Montag holds the freedom of choice, and who are we as a society to judge or to disallow any of her actions? While I disagree with the extremes of Heidi’s surgical procedures, and while I think that as a public figure, she should have thought more deeply about the effects that this personal choice may have on her young viewers, I can only pity her eventual decision to Barbie-fy herself. Overall, I think that the social problems behind Heidi’s surgeries overwhelm her short-term newfound happiness due to these bodily changes. I believe that Heidi, and society as a whole, both have the responsibility to heighten the importance of positive self-esteem within the media so that our youth are not mentally harmed via pop culture’s idealized norms. Moreover, I think that as a society it is time to regulate content of reality TV as to prevent psychopathology within young women. Lastly, I think that the dissolving of such intense female objectification within the media needs to occur for the sake of celebrities and for that of all women. Only when changes such as these are made can we slowly be let out of consumer-ized cages of inferiority and self-loathing, into a world where natural faces and bodies are not only accepted, but are perhaps appreciated more so than ones filled with silicone.

*Attached is a video that demonstrates the psychopathology surrounding the want for multiple plastic surgery procedures. Some experts would claim that going through numerous plastic surgeries is related to addictive behavior, thus further translating to the motivation behind Heidi’s actions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eojGbmyYmhQ

Works Cited
Ball, Sarah, & Bennett, Jessica. “Heidi Montag, Version 3.0.” Newsweek 15 Jan 2010: <http://www.newsweek.com/2010/01/14/heidi-montag-version-3-0.html>.
Brownmiller, Susan. Excerpt from Against Our Will. In: The Essential Feminist Reader. Modern Lbrary, 2007.
Brumberg, Joan. “Body Projects” from The Body Project.
Douglas, Susan. Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism’s Work is Done. New York: Times Books, 2010. Print.