On the ethics of injecting a teenager’s face with botulism toxin in an attempt to conform to someone else’s definition of beauty
Greek statues, the British Museum, June 2010.
So Charice Pempengco went and got botoxed in order to change the shape of her naturally round face, said her cosmetic dermatologist Vicki Belo, although a later statement from the singer’s rep said the injection was not for cosmetic purposes but for the treatment of lower jaw pain.
While wading through Edsa traffic this afternoon we wondered aloud what Oprah—who has been instrumental in the rise of Charice—has to say about the botox incident.
– Should she read Vicki Belo the riot act for subjecting someone so young to this procedure and possibly dooming her to a lifetime of cosmetic surgery addiction?
– If Oprah does, then she would be acknowledging her awareness of Vicki Belo and her clinics…
– And if Oprah is angry then she would be setting up Dr Belo as a nemesis or even someone who occupies the same level of fame as Oprah…
– And that would be the best possible advertisement for the Belo clinics.
Ah.
Earlier post on Charice: I hadn’t realized the Philippines was in Scandinavia.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
July 26th, 2010 at 08:39
You’re spot on. I think the reasons why Filipinos were so bothered about it are: a) it was televised b) it was acknowledging that “native” (not mestiza, no perjorative intended) Filipino features will not appeal to white Americans.
July 26th, 2010 at 15:17
There was an Oprah episode where she was upset about Koreans trying to change their ethnicity by having eyelid and nose surgeries. While Charice’s procedure wasn’t exactly to alter her ethnicity, Oprah would be disappointed. She’s so anti- botox and calls out guests for having unnatural facial expressions, even the non- celebs.
Face narrowing??? Wth. I too have a naturally round face that would make Charice look like Keith Richards. I thought I look fine, until this. What’s wrong with having a round face? Dr. Belo meet Miranda Kerr.
July 26th, 2010 at 18:08
boltravolta: And Johnny Depp tries to look like Keith Richards, and Miranda Kerr married Orlando Bloom. So there.
August 3rd, 2010 at 13:50
Charice needs to be Charice. A Filipino girl we are so proud of. Never mind if her nose is not like that of Taylor Swift (or her other Western contemporaries). Never mind if her face is rounded (based on one of the thesis I have read way back in UP there are 1 out of 5 Filipinos that has a round face). She needs to be herself and not be like someone else she is definitely not. With all the talent she got she doesn’t need any body alterations/modifications. Grrr…