Dermatologist Debriefs

Media Pressure and the myth of Perfection

• Stefanie Williams

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What happens when social media tells us that 50-year-old women should look like Sandra Bullock or Jennifer Aniston? As a dermatologist and aesthetic doctor in my 50s, I'm pulling back the curtain on the harmful comparison between the Golden Girls of the 1980s and today's celebrity women in their fifties.

The truth? Those flawless celebrity images aren't reality—they're the product of professional styling teams, carefully controlled environments, and sophisticated digital editing. When we present these images as "normal aging," we create impossible standards that lead to real psychological harm. Body dissatisfaction, anxiety, and depression are the direct results of these unrealistic comparisons, yet some practitioners in my field continue reinforcing these damaging messages.

If you're tired of impossible standards and want treatments that celebrate your unique beauty, remember that true beauty is diverse, evolving, and deeply personal. 

www.eudelo.com

Speaker 2:

Hello, this is Dr Stephanie. Today I'd like to speak about a social media post I saw recently and that really annoyed me. So in this Instagram post it said this is how women in their 50s looked like in the 80s, and it showed a poster of the TV series the Golden Girls, where three of the main characters on the show Rose, dorothy and Blanche were in their 50s. Versus this is how 50-year-old women look today. And then they showed celebrities along the lines of Jennifer Aniston, sandra Bullock and Elle Macpherson. I'm sorry to break it to you, but that's not how women in their 50s look like. I'm in my 50s and I do not look like Sandra Bullock. Do I have to feel bad now?

Speaker 2:

Yes, the portrayal of women in their 50s in the media has dramatically shifted, but the images of celebrities like Sandra Bullock or Elle Macpherson or somebody like that are not representative of the average woman. These are highly curated, professionally managed appearances, often enhanced by a whole team of experts, not to mention digital editing and AI-driven software to enhance these women's appearance in movies. Even those types of social media posts really amplify unrealistic beauty standards. This leads to increased bodyset, dissatisfaction, anxiety, even depression amongst women, who then compare themselves to these absolutely unattainable ideals or AI-altered images in both still images and movies creates a completely distorted sense of what is normal these days or achievable, and some of my own colleagues happily reinforce this message. But that is not real life and I hate to put that pressure on women and it's not what I stand for as a dermatologist and an aesthetic doctor and also as a woman, and I'm sorry to say, but my patients will never look like Sandra Bullock or Elle Macpherson, nor will I, and why should we?

Speaker 2:

Aesthetic medicine, when practiced ethically, is not about making somebody look like a celebrity, but about helping individuals become the best version of themselves, enhancing features, restoring confidence and aligning outer appearance with inner vitality. That's what we stand for at Udelo and that's what we are really good at, because maintaining truly natural results over years of aesthetic treatments takes much more skill than achieving a short-term wow effect, and that's ultimately what you pay for. The most meaningful outcomes in aesthetic medicine, in my my opinion, are those that improve self-esteem and well-being, not those that chase a homogenized or celebrity-driven ideal. I strongly feel it's crucial for practitioners of aesthetic medicine to set realistic expectations, to educate patients about the limits of aesthetic medicine, to make patients appreciate their unique features and the natural changes that come with age and emphasize that true beauty is diverse, evolving and personal. Runt over you.