POP CULTURE

NEWS | ENTERTAINMENT | HEARSAY

JLO-GLOW

The media Attack on JLo: an Attack on Us All

The constant, day in day out commentary on the physical appearance of celebrities is sadly the norm. Despite how hurtful it can be for individual celebrities and how harmful it is to impressionable young minds, it is a rampant and seemingly acceptable practice. Many, especially those young minds so receptive to ideas and direction, have no defense against it’s insidious poison.

Jennifer Lopez, also known as JLo, recently took to Instagram to promote a new cosmetic face mask from her JLo Beauty line. In the widely seen video post she shows off the effect she says the face mask has had on her skin. Given her huge following, the video has generated over 17.5 thousand comments. Among these are comments that support JLo, comments that are understandably cynical of the product and, disappointingly, comments that are a little mean. "Holy SH... no makeup.. wow 🤮 so blah"; "You definitely have Botox. And tons of it," one Instagram user wrote. "And it's all good. Just saying.".

JLo responded, "for the 500 millionth time...I have never done Botox or any injectables or surgery!! Just saying. Get you some JLO Beauty and feel beautiful in your own skin!! And here is another JLO Beauty secret: try spending your time being more positive, kind and uplifting of others, don't spend your time trying to bring others down that will keep you youthful and beautiful too!!! Sending you love. #beautyfromtheinsideout #beautyhasnoexpirationdate.".

Media sources have picked up on the Botox accusations and, in typical tabloid fashion, have run with it. JLo is now being attacked from every direction. The rhetoric is rife and the narrative conflicting. Common messages include ‘Botox is shameful’ and “wrinkles mean failure”, both often found in the same articles.

There is definitely a problem with celebrities presenting themselves as having totally simple and natural skin care routines, when in fact they do use expensive and sometimes extensive cosmetic surgery and Botox. This leaves confusing, unhealthy and unrealistic impressions on people who then see this as a benchmark to reach.

This culture for “perfection” doesn’t, however, start with these celebrities. It starts with and is propagated by profit-making industries, and society at large, who set the benchmark and aim to control and commodify women for their own gain.

Furthermore, if we put Botox to one side for a moment, even the obsession over the use of anti-wrinkle face creams is problematic. As one Instagram user rightly asked: “Why is it so wrong for so many women to have wrinkles on their faces? Think about the message you through in young girls faces when they see things like this.”.

If our aspiration is to meet the superficial standards set by the media, women will never succeed. When it comes to ageing, we are either old and wrinkly, fake and plastic or ‘mutton dressed as lamb’. Whatever we do, they disapprove. Itruns much deeper and is more pervasive than just celeb culture. It’s systemic and sets a precedent for the way society as a whole looks at and values women.

For more on this topic, see our related article ‘What is Internalised Misogyny and How is it Affecting You?’, also in this month’s magazine

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JOJO SIWA

BEST. GAY. COUSIN. EVER.

17-year-old JoJo Siwa recently came out as gay and received a very positive response from her fans and the public in general. Not everyone, however, was so supportive. One parent posted a statement on JoJo’s Instagram account promising, “My daughter will never watch your videos again”.

Joelle Joanie "JoJo" Siwa, US entertainer and popular YouTuber, made it onto Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world last year. She came out as gay last month by posting a photo on Instagram of her wearing a t- shirt, bought for her by cousin; it read: “BEST. GAY. COUSIN. EVER.”.

JoJo says she has “never, ever, ever been this happy before” and, since revealing her sexuality, is feeling more secure with herself than ever. And why wouldn’t she be? She has nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of. This sense of security ties in perfectly with her reply to the homophobic parent who said their child would never watch her videos again. She simply replied: “Okay!”, a reply that that has been applauded and shared far and wide.

JoJo has gone on to say that she does not want to rush to “label” her sexuality as it something she is still figuring out. But “Right now what matters is that you guys know that no matter who you love, that it’s OK. It’s awesome and the world is there for you.”. We definitely have come a long way in terms of the world’s acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, but we still unfortunately have a long way to go.

We must never be complacent, and usually do need a strong response when confronting discrimination and hate, but sometimes, an undermining and dismissive response like JoJo’s is all that is required. Well done JoJo!