Source: Stephane Cardinale – Corbis / Getty
We all know that women in the entertainment industry face immense pressure to keep themselves and their bodies fit, sexy, and as curvy as possible as an industry standard that is largely centered around the male gaze. This, of course, often causes female celebrities to feel their natural beauty simply isn’t enough and that they need to go under the knife in order to keep up appearances both figuratively and quite literally.
This isn’t a judgment call on women (or men, for that matter) who choose to get plastic surgery or implants simply because it’s what they want to do; it’s just an acknowledgment that sometimes the reason people alter themselves is due to unfair societal pressure, not just personal preference.
During their most recent episode of Red Table Talk, Jada Pinkett Smith and her daughter, Willow Smith, revealed that they almost got Brazilian butt lifts—a procedure that “transfers excess fat from the back or thighs to enhance the shape of the butt,” according to BuzzFeed, and also tends to give a person a thigh-to-butt ratio no one with two eyes will ever believe is real anyway—but ultimately they both decided against it.
“I think let’s be real, OK. I considered getting the tiniest little bit, but then I just got in the gym and got it anyway,” Willow said.
Pinkett Smith then chimed in, saying, “I told her, ‘You want a butt? One thing your mother knows how to do is build a butt,’ and you built it, to the point that people thought you got surgery.”
Apparently, Willow agreed that was a better alternative than getting actual surgery, and she let her mom, who, frankly, has been fine fine since A Different World, show her the way.
Jada’s mother, Gammy, also shared her thoughts on the subject and offered insight as to why so many women in and out of showbiz make decisions to get surgery.
“I just feel like there’s always been so much more pressure on women to look a certain way. It’s all about youth,” she explained. “So for somebody like me, the struggle has been extremely real. Like, I had Botox — then you get to the point where, how much are you gonna do? Then it almost becomes addictive.”
“I just want women to feel empowered,” Willow said in response. “And I feel like there’s a slippery slope with empowerment on this trajectory of changing the way your body looks.”
Jada said that while she’s never had any surgeries yet, she’s not opposed to it and certainly hasn’t ruled it out in the future.
“Both of y’all know, I’ve been collecting my little surgeons for that inevitable moment,” she said. “[The] inevitable moment that this grill right here is gonna get a little snatch, even though people think I have done it already, but I haven’t.”
