Love Island stars mocked for ‘changes’ – women don’t mind beauty ideals

June 30, 2024

Bwhen a candidate registers for Love Islandthey know their appearance will be the topic of conversation inside and outside the villa. You could say it’s an inevitable side effect of taking part in a televised mating ritual for the genetically blessed. But a recent TikTok post put the inclusion of female islanders this summer under new and uncomfortable scrutiny.

In the video, which has been liked over a million times so far, Beverly Hills-based plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Barrett examines promotional images of four female Islanders who recently joined the ladies (you know the kind – the infamous, embarrassing swimwear photos that have become a rite of passage for any new arrival in the villa). He lists the parts of their faces that he believes have been enhanced by surgery or cosmetic “tweaks,” before finally trying to guess their age.

“She’s 38, lips, nose… In my opinion, she’s obviously had something done,” he says of one contestant – and then reacts with shock when a disembodied voice tells him she’s only 25. In fact, all of his guesses are completely off the mark. “This is crazy,” adds Barrett, shaking his head. “Plastic surgery and injectables can make you look older if you do them wrong, so boy was I really wrong there.” He’s not the only one commenting on the plastic surgeries the female islanders may or may not have had. Quite the opposite. On Twitter/X you can find viewers who claim that the fillers they see on screen have put them off plastic surgery forever.

Whether intentional or not, there is a hint of mockery in many of these posts. It’s quite disturbing to watch someone whose livelihood is inextricably linked to promoting a certain aesthetic ideal, judge and scrutinise these women’s attempts to achieve that ideal, only to find that they have failed. The islanders are essentially being criticised for receiving the wrong treatment, which is too obvious and therefore in poor taste. It’s a sentiment that reminds us that women just can’t win when it comes to our looks.

Young people in their twenties and thirties are opting for “preventive” Botox – even though they may not yet have wrinkles (Getty)

It’s now widely accepted that social media has a pretty damaging effect on our collective self-image. Those with access to Instagram and TikTok have a constantly available, seemingly never-ending stream of photos and videos of people who seem to better conform to conventional beauty ideals once promoted primarily in movies and fashion magazines. Unless you have a staggering sense of self-worth, it’s hard not to feel like you’re missing something: not thin enough, too much cheek fat, too many fine lines. And then the algorithm will seemingly find a way to resurface videos that explore what you can do about those perceived flaws.

It’s hardly surprising that “tweakments” – often used as an umbrella term for non-surgical facial rejuvenation procedures such as Botox and facial fillers – are on the rise. In 2022, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons reported that demand for Botox had increased 124 percent year-on-year, and the total UK injectable market is set to reach £11.7 billion in just two years (our insecurities, it seems, are making other people rich).

In the years since its release on ITV2, Love IslandCasting producers in 2018 are increasingly choosing their future candidates from a pool of influencers who are likely to be very conscious of their own image and appearance on screen – be it on iPhones or our TVs. And even those who have a “normal” job may believe that a few millilitres of filler could give them more confidence in front of the camera.

Naturally, Love IslandThey also help to maintain a certain image in others: they are both victims and perpetrators. “There is really a terrible, unrealistic expectation on women that they have to look perfect, but they have to look perfect by nature,” said former Islander Sharon Gaffka. “I had these procedures, went on Love Islandand then to make another young woman feel that she needs these interventions to be considered attractive.” Advance optimizations are part of the Love Island narrative, with tabloids vying to place older “before” photos next to newer, souped-up photos.

I performed these procedures, went on Love Island and then made another young woman feel like she needed these procedures to be considered attractive.

Former Love Island star Sharon Gaffka

So, essentially, women are given impossible standards to meet in terms of their appearance, and then they try to achieve those standards through adjustments. However, when those adjustments are perceived as not being enough, those women are ridiculed for even trying, and for that effort being too obvious. Because another insidious requirement is that female beauty requires effort.fewerWe don’t want our celebrities to remind us how hard it is to live up to beauty ideals.

Mocking the islanders doesn’t really help to break down these standards or ask Why They may have felt the need to change their appearance from the start. It only unhelpfully berates them for not opting for ‘better’, more subtle treatments. There’s also a not-so-subtle dose of classism at play here. Young women who may not have the huge disposable income required to see a doctor on Harley Street, for example, are criticised for opting for cheaper treatments with more noticeable results.

Rather than simply and cruelly attacking these women, it would be far more sensible to question the multi-billion dollar industry that makes money off them and many others like them. Why, for example, is the injectable drug sector still so shockingly unregulated? Why don’t the practitioners who inject fillers and Botox require a license or some other recognized level of qualification? Ridicule will not get us out of this impasse.