This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s senior fall editorial intern Arianna Nahim. Find her on Instagram at @ariannanahim. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Growing up in America, and as much as I hate to admit it, I struggled with the beauty standards. For the most part, the agenda of what beauty is is very Euro-centric. Light and straight hair, light eyes, and a slim nose are the opposite of what I and other minorities look like. So, when the opposite of myself was shown as beautiful, it took a toll on me. Even in major movies and TV shows, ethnic people rarely see themselves on screen, let alone as the focal of admiration for their beauty. This made accepting a feature like a non-European nose complex. In fact, even just rewatching old childhood movies, I noticed many of the villains in these films are designed with hooked noses, a trait frequently seen in ethnic noses. When you really think about it, it’s insane that this is just something many children have taken in subconsciously, a view that a feature of theirs is undesirable or associated with something lesser than.
The more time has passed, the more the idea of a rhinoplasty has normalized within society. I’ve even heard of them being given as graduation gifts. On a day that should be focused on an individual’s accomplishments, it’s almost like that work is being dismissed, and instead, the focus is being shifted onto something totally superficial. At this point, rhinoplasty is basically a dental procedure, thanks to the normalization of this procedure. But normalizing customizing your face is borderline dystopian and takes away our unique character, quickly turning people into clones of each other.
Conformity & Acceptance
So, society tells you your nose is “ugly” and needs to be “fixed.” It’s definitely a difficult voice to ignore, and it’s no wonder so many run to “fix” it as soon as they can. We’re human, and it’s human to want to fit in and be accepted. Society makes us feel like that, and attaining a status of beauty is something that we should aim for. In return, we think that if we achieve that, then we will have accomplished something. With that accomplishment, we hope and expect the spoils from conformity and acceptance. There is a deeply rooted belief in our culture that the trait of attractiveness will improve our lives; we’ll be perceived more as beautiful, and from that, opportunities will come, but that is a short-sighted and shallow belief. Specifically for minorities, this conformity is linked with blending to caucasian standards and culture. It is almost as we are allowing for our ethnicity to be diluted in favor of being closer to Euro-centric beauty standards.
Many have told me when discussing this subject that the individuals going into this specific procedure were already confident. They’ve always wanted to do this; they have always wanted to “fix” their nose. Here’s what I have to say about that. It’s not true. These people have not always wanted to do this. Even if this is a confident person with a strong self-image, they didn’t make a drastic choice like elective cosmetic surgery alone. No matter how much society tries to normalize this, at the end of the day, this is surgery, something people typically try to avoid. But, back to my main point, no one is inherently unhappy with a feature of theirs. You are not born thinking your nose is big and wishing you had a ski slope in the middle of your face instead. Even if you cannot remember a specific moment, subconsciously, when you look at something not accepted by the culture surrounding you, that is damaging and can stick with you. When researching for this piece I even noticed under the comments of video essays many viewers recounted they didn’t notice anything wrong with their nose until it was pointed out. Unfortunately, as I said earlier, the association of features like hooked noses not being desirable is everywhere and hard to ignore. When contemplating voluntarily going under for a rhinoplasty, I think many people should look within and dissect where this desire to change their face comes from, no matter how confident they say they are.
There Are More Sources Of Confidence
Speaking of looking within, many individuals should dissect and understand what exactly is the foundation of their confidence. If you ask most people, I think they’d say something regarding their appearance, how they consistently remind themselves that they are beautiful, pretty, or hot. I don’t think this is beneficial to a person’s self-esteem at all. Rather, what I think is happening is people are reducing themselves down to their looks. In order to have a strong and well-rounded view of yourself, you need to build up other aspects and traits. When you do this, what naturally comes next is less focus on what you don’t have and a secure self-esteem that fails to be shaken by something as trivial as looks. In fact, I urge anyone reading this to shift their focus and remind themselves that they are intelligent, kind, fun, interesting, and many more things besides a pair of eyes, a nose, and lips.
If you are an ethnic person, especially, do not see your nose as an operation waiting to happen. It is a representation of your history and where you come from. You carry the nose of your ancestors, who prove that that nose has been fallen in love with for generations. A rhinoplasty is almost like a gateway drug; you do it once, and suddenly, you notice other things you don’t like. Or, because you have altered a feature you were born with, it may feel like you need to modify other features to match what is new. A rhinoplasty has a 5-15% revision rate, meaning patients, especially patients of color, must go under again to adjust the procedure’s work.
Additionally, a study showed that 40% of patients regret their nose jobs. External beauty and conformity are fleeting. If these statistics show us anything, it’s that when we truly accept ourselves and authentically lift ourselves, we are our most beautiful.
Have you ever contemplated a nose job? What do you think about nose jobs on wide noses? Let us know in the comments!
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