The world winced last week when the once youthful-looking Renee Zellweger faced the cameras to reveal a dramatically different look.
Pictures appear to show the Hollywood actress with a slimmer face, taught cheeks and narrowed eyes.
Since the pictures of her strained face emerged rumours have begun to spread across Hollywood that the Bridget Jones actress may have gone under the knife.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American public spent $13,828,726 on plastic surgery in 2011, a figure that has been growing since 2000.
So with celebrity culture, reality television, and our fascination with good looks seemingly on the rise, MM took to the streets of Manchester to ask the following question:
Do celebrities feel pressure from society to go under the knife?
|
Option |
Result |
|
Yes |
96% |
|
No |
4% |
The result of MM’s poll was fairly conclusive, as 96% said they felt society and fame placed an untold amount of pressure on celebrities to look good, and as a result they turn to cosmetic surgery to retain their youthful looks.
Nick Archer, 22, a bar worker from Stretford, said: “Yes, it’s self-evident.
“Renee Zellweger has been in the news recently, a beautiful face, in fact her trademark was her facial features, Bridget Jones, but now she’s ruined her trademark, she’s still a beautiful woman.
“I think woman are affected by reading magazines like Heat and all that, women are pressured into it by other women, they are pressurised by the media, and it’s also women’s nature.
“Since the birth of plastic surgery women have felt the pressure.”
UNBALANCED: Melanie Evans believes there is more pressure on women to look good
Sophie Aston, 22, a student from Manchester, said: “I think it’s ridiculous because celebrities are in the public eye and they should be setting an example to the rest of us not to bother with all that crap, but they’re doing the opposite.”
It seemed to remain a theme across Manchester’s residents, who all agreed that women underwent more pressure.
Melanie Evans, 28, a Refugee Resettlement worker from Macclesfield, said: “There’s an image in the media of women looking youthful forever.
“It definitely affects women more than men because there is not the same pressure on men to look smooth skinned.”
PUBLIC EYE: Niko O’Reilly believes men are also increasingly under pressure
Jennifer Wright, 22, a spa manager from Rossendale, works in the cosmetics industry and has worked with the rich and famous in America.
She said: “I have worked in that area myself and I know what it’s like, I was working on ships in Florida, working on cruises with wealthy people from New York.
“I think it’s just the culture in Hollywood, even the kids, perhaps not plastic surgery, but from the age of five or six they are into that sort of thing, and concerned about the way they need to look.”
Even Manchester’s men agreed that their female counterparts had it much worse.
Niko O’Reilly, 18, from Manchester, a Community Support Officer, said: “I think there’s a growing pressure on celebrities now days than there used to be, with constantly being in the public image.
“There’s more pressure on women than men, but more of a growing pressure on men than what there was.”
Nigel Burtles, 57, a pharmacist representative from Stafford, said: “It depends what sort of celebrities you mean I suppose.
“If your face is your selling point then yes, I understand why they get the pressure.”
LAND OF OPPORTUNITY: Lindsay Parkinson says Hollywood is far worse than in the UK
Ethan Pinch, 18, a painter and illustrator from Manchester Met Art School, said: “We live in a culture which pretty much puts everyone under pressure to look a certain way and fetish-izes.
“If you’re in the limelight 24/7 you will feel that pressure. It affects women more, because women have been socialised to accept men’s flaws.
“The male gaze is really scrutinising and harsh.”
Another student, Andrew Taysum, 19, a classical guitarist at the Royal Northern School of Music, living in Manchester, said: “Everyone’s under scrutiny to look perfect, I wouldn’t want to get plastic surgery, even as a commoner, I wouldn’t want to change who I am.”
Perhaps surprisingly, even Liverpool’s women agreed there was even more pressure on women over the pond to look a certain way.
SEX SELLS: Nigel Burtles believes a star’s looks is part of what they are
Lindsay Parkinson, 31, a shop manager from Liverpool, said: “Celebrities definitely feel the pressure, especially the older ladies, they’ve got to keep up with the younger ones, get the rolls and all that.
“Women without a doubt feel more of a pressure than men.
“It does happen here, but people in the UK probably don’t feel it as much as you would in Hollywood, they’re in that higher part of the market.”
Jamie Bailey, 40, an electrician from Hull, agrees there iss a lot of pressure for celebrities to look good, and proposed it is probably because of the ‘sagging’.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures, via YouTube, with thanks.
