It seems that there are only two things in this world that are guaranteed: First, that Love Island will be on our screens every summer and, secondly, that every year there will be vile discussions about the physical appearance of the contestants.
The infamous dating and reality TV show has returned to our screens. But before the 11th season had even begun, commentators online were making fun of the female contestants for their performances. When the Love Island The Instagram account first released the highly anticipated photos of the Summer 2024 contestants. Nicole Samuel, Harriet Blackmore, Jess White and Samantha Kenny (all women aged between 24 and 26) were inundated with comments about their fillers and Botox treatments and how they make them look older instead of younger. “They look like they’re in their 50s. What’s going on here?” writes one Love Island Viewers of X. These comments come not only from casual viewers of the show, but also from plastic surgeons and doctors.
Dr. Daniel Barrett and his Beverly Hills practice went viral on TikTok this week when his staff had him guess the ages of the women listed above. In the video, he estimated the candidates were between 32 and 42 years old. When his staff told him their real ages, he laughed, embarrassed but mostly shocked, and remarked, “This is crazy! Plastic surgery and injections done incorrectly can make you look older.”
Dr. Barrett’s video highlights the fundamental problem with the discourse surrounding these women’s appearance. Instead of criticizing our culture for making young women believe that they need plastic surgery to conform to today’s unattainable beauty standards, commentators are more concerned about the fact that these women’s procedures are noticeable and “don’t” make them look younger. Dr. Barrett’s comments suggest that the problem is that these women had bad surgeons, rather than the predatory nature of the cosmetic industry that tells 20-somethings they need to get injections in the first place. Instead, he encourages women to find a better plastic surgeon (i.e. him).
The last thing we should do is mock these women. While popular liberal feminist rhetoric suggests that plastic surgery is simply a woman’s choice, we live in a society where those who are considered physically attractive treated better than othersThey also have a better chance of getting a job because they are friendly and trustworthy. For so many women (and all genders), plastic surgery doesn’t feel like a choice, and it especially doesn’t feel like a choice for those who participate in dating shows like Love Island.
In her video essay “Love Island: A flirtation with surveillance‘, film critic and podcaster Maia Wyman, best known on the internet as Broey Deschanel, argues that the candidates at Love Island have become increasingly sterilized and self-disciplined. “Because the powers that punish and reward contestants are invisible and omnipresent, contestants are hyper-aware that they are being watched from all sides – by producers, audiences and their families. They can no longer deliver the authentic entertainment that a truly thrilling reality requires.” Their level of self-discipline extends beyond their behavior on camera and extends to the discipline of their bodies before entering the villa.
Kenny, who had just been thrown out of the villa, told HELLO! Magazine that her beauty regime before the villa included fitness, exercise, skincare and Botox: “I’ve had Botox, a facial and changed my skincare but that’s about it. I’ve got my lips done but I haven’t touched them since Christmas so other than that I haven’t done much,” she explained. Tiffany Leighton, another Love Island 2024 contestant who has been mocked for the size of her veneers, has lost 25kg ahead of entering the 2024 villa. Love Island Villa, with the Daily Mail and described it as a “stunning transformation.”
In her book Trophy Lives: About fame as an art object, Philippa Snow claims that there is something “self-denying” about the desire to be a very famous person, as it “requires a sacred level of devotion to personal transformation, sometimes reaching the point of self-mutilation and self-sacrifice.” The actions of celebrities mirror the actions of women of Love Island. In their pursuit of fame and love, not only from their male counterparts but also from the 2.2 million people who regularly watch the show, they turn themselves inside out – mutilating their bodies through plastic surgery and denying themselves food in order to have the “right” body for the show.
These actions are dangerous, as beauty critic Jessica DeFino Dazed in a interview from earlier this year: “All of these procedures, Botox and fillers, come with a long list of potential complications and health problems. Some of them can become chronic and long-term. I mean, people literally die from cosmetic surgery. I don’t want to spread panic, but beauty standards are psychologically damaging to almost everyone.”
It may seem harmless to make fun of these women for their plastic surgery, but the situation as a whole is no laughing matter. The fact that women in their early twenties are having plastic surgery at all should give us pause. While many commentators have suggested that these women simply need to “naturally” and “undetectable procedures,” this is not an adequate response or solution to the problem. It should also be noted that these types of comments are often steeped in a type of classism, insulting working-class women for not keeping up with evolving beauty trends.
Nathalie Olah writes about this in her compelling book Bad Taste: Or the Politics of Ugliness, and explains that “every aspect of our material life is judged by the extent to which it conforms to the aesthetic preferences of the powerful.” What is currently “in” among the upper class is “pretty,” “more natural-looking” and in many cases “virtually undetectable” cosmetic surgery, said celebrity cosmetician Shani Darden Elle. Although more obvious cosmetic surgeries such as fuller lips and bigger butts were the aesthetic preference of the upper class in the 2010s, this ideal of beauty has shifted. Still, only those with disposable income can keep up with the speed at which these trends and standards are changing.
We should support the women of Love Islandor any woman to switch from one beauty trend to the next. It is an endless and vicious cycle that harms us rather than helps us. Instead of encouraging people to “better“Plastic surgery is a proposal that only brings more money into the beauty industry. We should rebel against the industry that gives us incentives to harm ourselves physically, mentally and financially.”
