Bella Hadid has said she regrets her nose job when she was 14 and it reflects the effects of society’s Eurocentric beauty standards.
In a recent interview with Vogue, Bella Hadid opened up about her experience growing up. She explained that she felt like ‘the uglier sister,’ and ‘wasn’t as cool as Gigi, not as outgoing.’
Bella said: ‘That’s really what people said about me. And unfortunately when you get told things so many times, you do just believe it.
‘I always ask myself, how did a girl with incredible insecurities, anxiety, depression, body-image issues, eating issues, who hates to be touched, who has intense social anxiety—what was I doing getting into this business?’
Cosmetic Surgery At 14
When Bella was just 14 years-old, she had a nose job. The model explained she regrets this choice and wishes she had ‘kept the nose’ of her ‘ancestors.’
‘I think I would have grown into it,’ she told the publication. Bella’s father is Palestinian-Jordanian and she often talks about her pride of her heritage.
In 2021, Bella posted a video on her Instagram of her father, which she captioned: ‘My Baba. Him speaking Arabic is like music to my ears. I could listen on a loop all day.’
Conditioned Beauty Standards
The altering of facial features to fit Eurocentric beauty standards is nothing new in our society. Unfortunately, society has long conditioned women into believing that they are only beautiful if they have traditionally ‘white’ features such as a small nose, long, straight hair, and light skin.
However, many people argue that this has only gotten worse with the increased popularity of the internet.
The rise of filters, on apps such as Snapchat and TikTok, have also made the issue more prominent. Many of the ‘beauty’ filters alter user’s features by lightening their skin, making their face thinner, and their eyes bigger.
This issue is complex, and ironically is intertwined with the wave of cultural appropriation taking place online, predominantly by social media influencers, who tan their skin and adopt traditionally Black hairstyles to alter the perception of their race and be seen as more ‘exotic.’
However, Bella remained adamant that she has never gotten filler. The model brought up one particular picture of a tween Bella Hadid that is often used as ‘proof’ that she has had filler.
She said: ‘People think I fully f***ed with my face because of one picture of me as a teenager looking puffy. I’m pretty sure you don’t look the same now as you did at 13, right? I have never used filler.
‘Let’s just put an end to that. I have no issue with it, but it’s not for me. Whoever thinks I’ve gotten my eyes lifted or whatever it’s called—it’s face tape! The oldest trick in the book.’
Fans react to Bella Hadid’s interview
Fans took to Twitter to react to the interview, and particularly Bella’s discussion about her nose job.
Many pointed out the fact that the model was so young when she decided to have surgery to change an ethnic facial feature is a sad reflection upon the crippling beauty standards of our society.
Another fan questioned the fact that Yolanda Hadid, Bella’s mother, allowed her daughter to undergo surgery at such a young age.
They wrote: ‘Yolanda let her daughter get a nose job at 14, meanwhile my mom wouldn’t even let me pluck my eyebrows until my junior year of high school.’
Other discussed their own experience with self-love along with placing the blame on Bella’s mother.
