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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
V (formerly Eve Ensler), Arwa Mahdawi, Laura Barton and Kate McCusker

Surgery, shame and self-erasure: four female writers on the tyranny of impossible beauty standards

CJ Hauser Demi Moore
A true reflection … Demi Moore in The Substance.
A true reflection … Demi Moore in The Substance. Photograph: Christine Tamalet/© Universal Studios

This Friday, one of the most shocking films of the year opens – a blood-drenched body horror with an unusual theme for the genre: Hollywood’s impossible beauty standards. The Substance stars Demi Moore as a 50-year-old actor who tries a mysterious procedure that claims to “unlock your DNA and a younger version of yourself”. Literally. It’s an extreme take on a universal theme. Here, four women write about how beauty standards have affected their lives.

‘I met a woman who had 26 plastic surgeries because she believed she would one day be perfect’

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