Jamie Lee Curtis says there has been a "genocide of a generation of women by the cosmeceutical industrial complex"

[Just_Vote_Dem]

Jamie Lee Curtis understands that using the word “genocide” to describe plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures might not go over well for some, but she’s not backing down.

“I’ve been very vocal about the genocide of a generation of women by the cosmeceutical industrial complex,” the actress told The Guardian in a recently published interview. “I’ve used that word for a long time and I use it specifically because it’s a strong word. I believe that we have wiped out a generation or two of natural human (appearance).”

The “Freakier Friday” star caused a stir years ago when she posed for a magazine cover in her underwear and no makeup to show the reality of what she looked like at the time.

Now 66, Curtis told The Guardian that “the concept that you can alter the way you look through chemicals, surgical procedures, fillers – there’s a disfigurement of generations of predominantly women who are altering their appearances.”

More at https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/29/entertainment/jamie-lee-curtis-plastic-surgery-aging

[hlthe2b]

1. Men teach their own sons (by example) to ignore women over a certain age, excepting their own mothers (usually)...

Thus, the obsession with looking young--cosmetic procedures-- among women celebrities and adopted by their fans and other insecure women.. Yet, when you look at comments in male-dominated online publications, it is clear that the contempt extends to these women as well.

I might add that not all these men are a-hole conservatives. There seems to be a subconscious pattern.

Even during our most progressive period, the absence of a woman president (despite far more conservative countries having had one or more) and a representative percentage of women in Congress and other power centers, including business, has only continued, enabled, and reinforced this pattern.

[LisaM]

36. That is so true. I hate being invisible.

It's annoying and it's dehumanizing. I can stand at a deli or coffee stand and not get waited on for ten minutes. I get pushed past by people boarding trains or buses. I stand with bags and barely able to reach the strap while much younger and fitter people sit or block the seats. It's maddening.

We were in the Delta Sky Club in Atlanta a few days ago and my partner told me that when he was at the bar, a middle aged woman told the bartender that they waited on two people that she was ahead of before they waited on her. There were apologies, but WTF?

[Demobrat]

42. I love being invisible.

I had enough unwanted attention when I was young to last several lifetimes. Now I can walk down the street without being catcalled or followed, or sit alone in a coffee shop without some weasel slithering into the seat across from me. I think it’s great.
Of course if I was ignored in a business or pushed ahead of in a line I would just say “Excuse me I was next.”But I haven’t noticed anything like that. Maybe I’m oblivious.

[LisaM]

47. Every time I say it, someone says how great it is. That bothers me

It's a real hindrance in my life and sometimes a little validation helps.

[Maru Kitteh]

59. You're right Lisa. It sucks when we share a vulnerability, something which

hurts us, and we are met with someone telling us why we should be pleased about it. I happens too much. I’m going to try to incorporate that into.a more mindful approach myself in how I respond to others, particularly the other women in my life.

[Skittles]

53. same

when I was younger I used to scratch my crotch to get rid of the guys who could not take a hint

and I don't really notice being "overlooked now"

[GenThePerservering]

55. It took me a while until I realised that being invisible

because I'm older is like a super power. I generally don't get passed over to get waited on, though - most of the servers here are pleasant and wait on everyone, but I do understand how that works in other situations. Also I've always been kind of a oddball misfit so I don't really understand the 'fitting in' thing and don't care what men think of me except my men friends (I care about a lot).

I do strongly feel that many older women do get a very bad deal, though, particularly in medicine, but one has to BE the bitch, and not act like it's a dirty word.

[kimbutgar]

58. I like being invisible but sometimes I still get noticed and I get upset.

[TheProle]

40. Fortunately the Internet is a cornucopia of women supporting each other

right?

[GenThePerservering]

56. Yes, right. NT

[Jilly_in_VA]

2. I have never had any kind of cosmetic surgery

I also don't wear makeup any more. I figure if men don't like me the way I am, screw 'em. My husband likes me just fine, and he's the one I care about. (He's also 9.5 years younger than I am and he says I look great!) I will admit to coloring my hair, but I do that for me, not for him, because my hair is an icky dishwater color and the gray is an even worse color, so I boost it a little---not much.

[senseandsensibility]

3. Ha! You sound exactly like me!

No makeup and color my hair. My hair is naturally dark blond but with the grays coming in it was starting to look "platinum". Don't like that look, so I try to darken it with a root touch up occasionally. Try to watch my weight (and I have lost 25 pounds since retiring) so I think I look okay. And if someone disagrees, who cares?

[ProfessorGAC]

9. My Wife Doesn't Either

Though she does still get her hair colored. But, that's her decision. I've never commented on her hair other than complimenting a new "do".
She stopped wearing make up a while ago. 50 or 55?

[Bettie]

15. Me too! My DH and my boys love me the way I am

I am thinking about coloring my hair, because I don't like the halfway gray thing. When it goes all the way, it will be fine, but until it gets there, I'll either do bright colors or go to an actual salon and have them give me back my very dark brown color.

I also dare to not be thin. I'm fat. I look like my grandfather's sisters, after they had kids. I've had four full term pregnancies, I'm never going to be a size zero, since I've never been that anyway. I'm a big boned, tall, broad shouldered woman. I've never been dainty or tiny. I exercise, not to lose weight, but to maintain my mobility as I age.

Makeup is a thing that if I feel like I need to wear it for a function (my middle son is going to be getting married soon, so I'll probably slap some on for that occasion) I have to purchase it new, since my old stuff is either dried up or separated or whatever.

[Skittles]

29. that's something I learned a long time ago

exercise to FEEL better, not look better.......the beauty of it is, when you FEEL better you LOOK better

[Bettie]

31. I'm still coming to terms with aging

not super happy about it...but, I also had my kids in my mid 30's, last one at 42, so all the other moms are 10-15 years younger than I am. Gives a skewed perspective!

[Ritabert]

4. One thing about getting older is less interest in what other people think

I haven't had any cosmetic procedures and hubby likes me just fine. I'm skinny due to being a vegetarian for 25 years.

[Deuxcents]

5. I have a dear friend I've known almost 50 years. She and her sister were the two most attractive women

When I first met them..fashionable, very pretty and smart..then about 25+ years ago, the sister got a job at a plastic surgeon's office and an esthetician license. Then came face lifts, breast augmentation, lipo, permanent eye and lip makeup, fillers and all kinds of goop to fight the inevitable signs of aging. If I pull out a picture of us from the past and compare it to today, they’d be unrecognizable. My friend wears a wig because her once curly hair has been damaged so badly, it only grows in patches. Watching them go thru these sometimes painful techniques without being judgmental has been tough because I love my friend but no thanks, none of that for me..

[Ritabert]

6. Wow that's a shame.

[Deuxcents]

10. It really is. The push to look the way the newest trend is has been a big marketing blow to many people

[Ritabert]

37. And permanent eyeliner and lip liner are a real mistake

[oregonjen]

7. The comments I read regarding women not coloring their hair anymore is so frustrating and sad

I joined several going gray fb groups during my transition to going gray. Yes, support groups. They’re needed because of the rude and awful comments women receive, letting their natural hair grow out.
Women not only get rude comments from strangers, but also close family members, including their spouses.

The pressure to look younger is not as intense for men. Men look “distinguished .” They’re “silver foxes.”

[senseandsensibility]

8. That's terrible that support groups are needed

I remember that my grandmother was in her eighties when she finally stopped dying her hair. My mother was probably in her seventies. I complimented them both when they took the plunge because I could tell it bothered both of them.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. Let's apply positives, let's call women distinguished. . . . . nt

[Bettie]

16. I've always had very dark hair

now, with it going gray, it looks washed out. Once it goes all the way, I'll be good, but this mid stage is bumming me out!

So, I go with purple or pink, though during the summer, I'm in the pool a lot, so there's no point in coloring.

[oregonjen]

18. I think mid stage looks so cool!

During my transition to all natural, it felt like an eternity! It was exciting to see my natural hair. I feel regret for missing out on how my hair would’ve transitioned naturally, had I not colored my hair for many years.

[Bettie]

21. I occasionally use a temporary color

as I said, purple or pink, for fun.

I want to get it dyed my natural color, but I find it difficult to spend the kind of money a good dye job costs and then the appointments to keep it up...so, It will probably never happen, but I do feel utterly invisible at my current age.

I just tell myself that I can be as ornery as I want to once it's fully gray (and it seems to be coming in shiny and silvery, so that's cool).

[Ritabert]

38. I gave it up due to maintenance on the roots

[Unwind Your Mind]

46. Me too

I lightened my blah brown hair from early teenage years. Including expensive regular weaves once I was a grown up 😉

Anyway I gave it up over covid and surprisingly my natural color is a nice chestnut with very little silver. It was strange at first but now I like it.

I don’t miss those long and pricey appointments

[Ritabert]

63. Wow. You lucked out.

[Mossfern]

45. I stopped coloring my hair during Covid

The hairdresser I had been using kept telling me that I wasn't "ready" yet. Then I found out that he was a Trump supporter, so I stopped going to him. My new hairdresser just poo-pooed what he said and told me that by the color of my roots, my hair would look great natural.

I had been dying my hair brown - which always faded and became what I called Old Lady Brown, and I was sick at looking at that stripe if I waited too long between colorings. It turns out that my hair is a beautiful shade of silver with dark streaks that give it a dimensional look.

My friends who were discouraging me from going natural were quite surprised at how fantastic it looks. My husband was concerned that I would look "old", my friends were concerned I would look "washed out". I cut my long hair and now rock an edgy short hair style. BTW, I told my husband "I AM old!"

I do wear make-up every day though because I have red blotches that are kind of like a birthmark that make me look like someone slapped me in my face, and I got tired of people asking me about what happened to my face.

[Hekate]

61. Same here. My hairdresser was terrific & I went to her for about 35 years. Great auburn color...

The color suited me well for a long time, but when I was about 65 I kept asking her to “fade it out” and somehow she never did. I moved away at the age of 70 — then Covid happened — and I said wotthehell take advantage of letting it all grow out. The biggest problem I have is not having found someone in my new town yet who knows curly-wavy hair. You can’t just whack it off straight at the bottom and sides. I’m trying someone new on Friday, and feel optimistic.

As for any other modifications, I wouldn’t mind having my eyelids lifted for my 78th birthday, especially if my eye doc would tell my insurance company that drooping lids were obscuring my vision. That is a real thing for many older people, but I’m not sure if I qualify yet.

And for whatever reason (age, ancestry) I have almost no eyebrows or eyelashes to work with by now, and when I look in the mirror I see a white, white ghost (Irish ancestry) with dark eyes looking back at me. Would I like permanent eye makeup? Yes, yes I would. Do I know anyone who could be trusted? Well, probably not the Tattoo Parlor next door to Biker Bail Bonds (a real place in my town) . Maybe I’ll get over my hesitancy and find someone by the time I’m 90 or something. Ha.

Never in my life wanted anything surgical done whatsoever that didn’t have a medical reason. DH has always liked my body the way it is at whatever age — he’s a mensch. (My first husband, not so much — he would have been soooo happy to have me attach a pair of big bazooms to my chest. I departed at 32)

What a world.

[Mossfern]

62. About the eye thing .....

About 10 years ago I noticed that my vision was weird and I thought I was going blind even though when I went for my check-ups there was little change. Even in my dreams I was blind! Then one evening I was watching TV with my husband, getting that blind feeling, and I realized that I was looking at the back of my eyelids! I ended up having the surgery (repairing the levator muscles). It did help a bit, but I still often look like I have a permanent squint unless I remember to open my eyes. I have prominent eyes so suffer from chronic dry eye.

I hear you about the eyebrow and eyelash thing!
I've always had scant body hair - a blessing inherited from my father who was the only one with dark brown hair in a large family of redheads. He passed down his abundant freckles and curly hair to me as well. It's a look.

I developed severe ventral hernias due to pregnancies - I have a very small frame and needed 4 c-sections. It turned out that I had a 4 inch wide abdominal diastasis from my pelvic bone to my sternum in the fascia supporting my abdominal muscles which also lead to my really bad back problems. So it was recommended that I have abdominoplasty - so now I have a very flat belly. However, the surgeon had never done that procedure on someone so small and thin - and I ended up with wound necrosis..... and then about a year later wound revision surgery because my belly looked like I had stepped on an IED.

Now I look like I was once a magician's assistant and the trick where he cuts a lady in half went horribly wrong. LOL
BTW, they found that my bad hernia was partially incarcerated and if we had waited any longer, I would have been facing a bowel resection.

My, my - aren't I chatty today!

[MagickMuffin]

22. I stopped dying my hair in 2008, I thought if men can let their hair become gray

So can I and I came to that conclusion from a male client of ours. Attract man, and a beautiful head of grey hair.

That’s when I stopped. I’m so glad I did. My hair isn’t grey (which there are various degrees of grey. Mine is more of platinum grey, however, it’s just the top the underside is still a darker brownish. It looks pretty good when I twist my hair, you can see the color changes.

And I never ever wore much makeup except for my eyes.

[WhiteTara]

34. Sometimes, I'm tempted to put "low lights" in my silver hair

to make my face be more defined. My hair cutter always laughs and says, women pay so much money and spend so much time to look like me. I have never done it. I sometimes wear makeup, but it's so rare, my makeup lasts a couple of years or so.

[BigmanPigman]

43. I have the opposite problem

My mother and sister went grey when they were in 50 but not me for some odd reason. I'm 63 and don't have a single grey hair on my head of dark brown hair.

I go to family dinners and they mistrust me and accuse me of lying. I actually have to show them my roots to convince them it's real but even after doing that they still give me the stink eye.

I used to dye my hair black then I blonde chunked it so I have colored my hair in the past for "fashion"

My wrinkles and Botox are also doing the same thing. I have terrible migraines and I get Botox injected into my scalp, neck, and forehead. My forehead is smooth from the Botox but the rest of my face I have sagging wrinkles. I look like I have 2 different faces, one above my eyes and the rest below my eyes. I've worn bangs so that I don't look like a freak.

[SocialDemocrat61]

11. Is it me?

Or does she seem a bit out of touch?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. Killing the spirit, at least partially, on such a large scale is, at least partially, a genocide of sorts.

Genocide is a harsh word and a harsher accusation, but regardless of whether the word is too extreme or not, ... she does have a point.

When society exerts such extreme pressure on half its members to change their bodies and having to overcome their own natural reluctance and resistance about doing so, ... that's destructive of spirit on an industrial scale.

[Bettie]

25. The pressure to be very thin is also

a part of this.

Not everyone is genetically programmed to be extremely thin or even thin at all.

Some of us are simply larger, even with a healthy diet and exercise...so, we get on that diet roller coaster and become much fatter than we'd have been if we'd just accepted that we were never going to be a size zero. Now, they will amputate our stomachs and give us drugs that will make us thin, but carry a lot of risks, with no thought to maybe accepting that human bodies are maybe not meant to all look the same.

Now that's the third rail of our culture: fatties (especially women) existing in society.

[SocialDemocrat61]

51. Very true

But I was thinking that most can't afford plastic surgery.

[Skittles]

12. don't care for the word genocide here

that's a bit much

cosmetic surgery is fine for tweaking to look better, but if you're trying to look 20 years old it will never work.....the problem with a lot of celebrities is they have a lot of money and will always be able to find docs who will do procedures not in their best interest

as far as women feeling "invisible", I suspect a lot of these gals are the ones who went out of their way to get that attention in their youth.....those of us who don't wear makeup or color our hair never really gave a crap if we were "noticed", then or now

[oregonjen]

17. To pushback a bit, it's the societal pressure that women face to look as young as possible

We are not allowed to grow old naturally without pushback from society. It’s not just the wanting to look younger, it’s the feeling shame and embarrassment to show wrinkles, body fat, and gray hair, to just be natural.

[Skittles]

20. well I guess that pressure never worked on me and many others

WHO says you're not allowed? I've never done the makeup and hair stuff and I feel just fine - I don't feel "shame and embarrassment" with my natural self, never have.

[oregonjen]

23. It's everywhere in the media

There are so many ads for wrinkle creams, makeup, hair color, cosmetic surgery, weight loss, shapewear, all targeting women. It’s been that way for decades. People have body dysmorphia, trying to look like models we see in ads.
Girls go on diets so young now. Fillers and Botox are gaining popularity amongst teenagers!

You may not have been influenced, but it’s out there.

[Skittles]

26. no one says you have to pay attention to it

NOPE

and there will ALWAYS be people easily swayed by all kinds of crap - heck, just look at MAGAts

[oregonjen]

28. Of course, you're right, I'm trying to teach my kids that.

[Skittles]

30. EXCELLENT

that is the way to do it

[maxsolomon]

49. Probably because it's the wrong word.

There aren't a lot of DEATHS from cosmetic procedures. There are some (Joan Rivers is the only one I can think of).

Curtis' use dilutes the meaning of the term.

[Mossfern]

52. Joan Rivers died during surgery

but it was not cosmetic surgery.

[maxsolomon]

60. Laryngoscopy I see

Sorry, I don't know where I got that from. Rumor, probably.

[ToxMarz]

19. Women (and men) for as long as there have been women and men have obsessed over physical appearance

and youth. Their own and others. Corsettes and lower rib removal, foot binding, hair straightening, perms, piercing, tattoos, lipsuction, steroids, toupee's, hair transplants and on and on and on. Plastic surgery has gotten more mainstream because of advances in procedures and more affordability. I don't care for many of the results, but I have the choice not to partake. Others may choose differently. To each their own.

I know Jamie NEEDS to have a cause, but to choose this as her 'genocide' to take a stand on makes her look foolish.

*** ( 'I’ve used that word for a long time and I use it specifically because it’s a strong word.') ie. not because it's appropriate but to get attention for herself.

[Hekate]

24. She says she means it's "disfigurement" -- in that case she should bloody well say so

“Genocide” has a specific meaning, and we here all know that. She’s lost my respect for this.

By all means, argue the case that we should all age without trying to look younger or better. Or better yet, argue the case that we should all know when to quit when it comes to surgery. Whatever floats your boat.

However, Jamie Lee Curtis is a film actress and lives in a world most of us do not inhabit — some of her cohort ends up looking grotesque due to too much unwise surgery. This is NOT equivalent to mass murder.

[twodogsbarking]

27. There are procedures that are less invasive that may be better. To me, many woman celebs who get them look maybe

better for a few years and then not natural looking. Others lose their real look right away. I am not a woman so not my choice. You know, like, well, personal health issues. Being healthy can help your appearance. Kind too.Women and men.

[jrthin]

33. There is a saying: you can either look old or look weird. Still I believe

she should get off her soap box and mind her business. If she doesn't want to do cosmetic procedures, she doesn't have to. For the people who choose to, leave them the hell alone and let them do what "they" feel is good for them. She's always been a bit too sanctimonious.

[Johonny]

35. What will be biologically possible in the future

Would seem to indicate the trend will only continue. If it isn't for you . . . That's okay.l, but I don't doubt this won't continue.

[niyad]

39. Stealing "cosmeceutical industrial complex". I have long pointed out

the debilitating and deleterious effects of Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue. Clearly, I did not go far enough.

[H2O Man]

41. Recommended.

[Ms. Toad]

44. I wore makeup occasionally in a very brief period as a new lawyer -

mostly for job interviews or when I was in court. And when I'm on stage.

I've never dyed my hair for age-related reasons - I've been going gray naturally since sometime in my 40s.

Recently (since retirement), I've been using a blue pigmented conditioner - which colors the salt part of my hair bright teal. Just because it's fun. I've been using the same $27 bottle for 3 years.

The thing I didn't expect is that virtually everyone who comments on my teal hair is black. I can recall 1 neutral comment (just an observation) a tease from my sister the cosmetologist (Who did that to your hair?), and maybe two recent compliments from white folks - and at least 30 compliments from black women.

My mother never dyed her hair - although she did wear a wig when she was in nursing school because she hated how her hair looked when she got out of the pool. One grandmother never dyed her hair. The other dyed hers a pink/purple for nearly as long as I knew her. In her mind, she had brown hair - and scolded my mother once for buying light purple hairnets (which she always wore), because she had brown hair. (She had macular degeneration and couldn't actually see the color.)

[appmanga]

48. I've thought Jamie Lee Curtis was beautiful...

...from the first time I saw her in the movie "Halloween". I've also thought she's brainy as hell, and I can understand if she doesn't feel like using the term "genocide" is trivializing the term by using it as an analogy in this case, but I disagree with her. Genocides involve real death, and most often incredible suffering before that death happens, and is in no way voluntary.

The vast majority of people who get cosmetic surgery make the choice to do so of their own volition. Some people are pushed into it by partners or the industry in which they work, but the ultimate choice is theirs. I feel just as strongly as she does about how some people wind up disfiguring themselves, and I believe we should focus on the ethics of some of the people who perform these procedures on people who may be addicted to plastic surgery itself, but regardless of our feelings, this is a personal choice and framing it as genocide while an active genocide is going on is misguided.

[Luciferous]

50. I disagree with the use of the word

genocide, but she's not wrong about women doing crazy things to their bodies in an effort to look younger.

[Raine]

54. I had to quit coloring my hair about 5yrs ago. I developed a very bad allergic

reaction to it. I wish I had known about the coal tar in black hair dye. I'm afraid to use any coloring again. Oh well I'm getting use to my brown hair, it's not so bad.

[3catwoman3]

57. I've had one plastic surgery procedure and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Both our kids were delivered by C-section for medical reasons, and I was left with an very unattractive thing known as C-section overhang - a flap of skin that drooped over the scar. Not weight related, not muscle tone, not muffin top. Not even any stretch marks. It showed thru my clothes if I wore any sort of lightweight fabric. I hated it.

After I retired, I treated myself to a scar revision, and I've been thrilled with the results. For those who might not know what C-section overhang looks like, see below. Those pictures are not of me.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=c-section+overhang+on+fit+body&fr=mcafee&type=E210US1641G0&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.harleymedical.co.uk