A few months back I got a nose job. The week before the operation I told my Editor I was having it done and she took one look at me said, "great story – write it'. Gak! I wasn't overly keen to share the fact that I was undergoing cosmetic surgery with more than two million readers but I'm a journalist at heart and, just like my editor, I know a good story when I see one. So I put my misgivings aside and did what she said – wrote about the experience in detail.
The story ran in our March issue over four excruciatingly long pages, one of which featured nothing more than a terrifyingly close up picture of my face. On the day the magazine hit the stands I felt queasy. How would people react? What would they say? I strode into the office that day, shoulders squared, ready to cop the flak. But something truly unexpected happened – nobody said a word.
I would have assumed that nobody had seen the story, or they had but weren't the slightest bit interested (which I'm totally comfortable with – promise), but I knew that wasn't the case. How? Because when I raised the topic absolutely everybody within earshot heaved massive sighs of relief then raced over to drill me for details. People weren't just curious – they were utterly enthralled. So much so they wanted to know every gruesome detail and then some. I get that. I really do. Lord knows I'm fascinated by the topic of cosmetic surgery too so I understand. What baffles me is why so many people feel they can't just inquire about your cosmetic surgery – even when you've just shouted it to the world via the country's biggest selling magazine.
Let me paint you a picture. Just this week I had my hair blow-dried by a positively gorgeous hairdresser who had clearly read the article. He badly wanted to talk about it, but just couldn't quite bring himself to raise the topic. He came close several times but lost courage. Eventually he told me he'd seen some recent pictures of me with straightened hair… then he paused. And paused some more.
"Oh," I said, grinning.
"Do you mean the pictures of me in the story about my nose?"
"Yes, yes, yes," he said, just about falling over with relief.
"How was it? When did you have it done? Was it painful?"
He asked me question after question and as he did everyone in the room gathered closer. The salon assistant (male), the PR executive (female), the PR assistant (female) had questions of their own and soon we were all chatting and laughing about ‘good' cosmetic surgery Vs ‘bad' cosmetic surgery, what we'd be willing to do and what we'd never consider and so on. This was true sharing and the vibe in the room was warm yet positively thrumming with intensity. For a good 10 minutes we were shrieking and giggling and talking over one another. Every one of us had passionate views and we were happily sharing them. So what was it that stopped everyone from simply stating they'd seen my article and wanted to talk about it?
Is it shame? Overt shyness? Do we feel that raising the topic of improving yourself constitutes bad manners? As I said earlier, it baffles me. We live in a society that is rabidly obsessed with looks and accordingly cosmetic surgery is a hot topic and while we're entirely comfortable discussing the topic in general, the underlying rule seems to be that if you actually have cosmetic surgery then you must keep that to yourself. Do anything else and you're somehow embarrassing yourself and along the way, everyone else. Well, in the quest for a good story I'm afraid I've bucked that trend. Because bottom line - I'm okay with my having had cosmetic surgery – so why aren't you?
Read more of this story in the March issue of The Australian Women's Weekly.
Your say: Would you confront a friend or colleague if they had plastic surgery? Why do you think people don't like to ask, even when it is obvious someone has had "work done"?
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Video: The truth about cosmetic surgery
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