Fail: Mary Rambin Compares Cosmetic Surgery To Abortion

Mary Rambin, part of the “three-headed blogging Hydra” that is Non Society (which, cheekily, made our list of the best female bloggers of 2008), is arguably the most absurd and vapid of the bunch. While her fellow “lifecasters” have moments of ingenuity, intelligence and creativity, Mary bugs me because her sole contribution to the Non Society platform are blog posts about what she’s wearing, occasional commentary about celebrity style, and thinly veiled endorsements of weight loss juice cleanses like Blueprint. But she just hit a new low. In a blog post entitled, “My Body, My Botox,” Rambin actually compares a women’s “right” to have cosmetic enhancements to the right to have an abortion. Rambin writes:

“I site Roe v. Wade because it serves as a marker of people accepting (maybe not respecting) a woman’s right to choose.  Although abortion is still an issue at the forefront, it’s notable the Supreme Court recognized women should be able to do what they feel is right for themselves. Cosmetic procedures should be viewed in the same light.  Not to mention the procedures are in no way effecting another human being, so the severity of the issue is considerably less.  But as with breast implants, time will have to pass before others view cosmetic procedures as acceptable.  I won’t say ‘the norm’ because I do think artificial enhancement should carry with it serious consideration before you undergo any sort of procedure.  Other things like manicures and pedicures, dental work, highlighting your hair, are all ‘procedures’ that are completely unnatural but we consider normal.”

Look, I’ve had Botox. I got it for free, because I was writing a story about twentysomething women getting the procedure as a preventative measure for Marie Claire U.K. Coincidentally, this is why Rambin gets Botox.

“...In my opinion, and very close friends concurred, the wrinkles in my forehead and between my eyebrows were continuing to deepen as the years passed….Friends and family agreed that [Botox] was a luxury, but I should seriously think about it. So I took a good look in the mirror. My face below my eyebrows looked 24 (in my opinion), but my forehead was at least 35.”

For starters, Mary needs to get some new friends and family members. Friends don’t encourage a 26-year-old woman to get cosmetic surgery. They just don’t. They tell you you’re gorgeous and wonderful, even if you look like a shar pei.

That said, I don’t care if the chick annihilates her forehead with botulism—whatever, in that sense, it is your body, do what you want with it. But given that Rambin writes for a blog that speaks to young women, I do think the avid attention she pays to her own looks, the looks of others, obsessively maintaining those looks, even in potentially dangerous ways, is okay. But even THAT is not the point of this post. Neither is the fact that she tans like crazy, you know, which causes wrinkles and, uh, cancer.

People—women—do have the right to do what they want with their bodies, cosmetically—get breast implants,  fill your lips with Restalyne, make your vag as tight as the day you were born. Fine. But it’s always a good idea to think of the reasons WHY women are so compelled to change what has been given to them naturally, why there’s an industry that profits off women feeling bad about themselves, and why giving into those self-esteem issues may just be a quick fix, one that doesn’t result in long-lasting psychological improvements. That said, it is a choice a woman has the right to make—although, when you’re a member of the media, as Rambin claims to be, people have the right to judge you for it.

And people can especially judge you for making absolutely insane and ridiculous and insulting and disturbing correlations between cosmetic surgery and the right to choose. Other bloggers on Tumblr (through which Non Society publishes their content) were quick to jump on Rambin for her words.A blogger named Joy posted in response to Rambin, “Your cosmetic surgery is a luxury. Nobody fought or died to bring you the ability to inject hormones into your face.” 

She’s right of course. Before the passing of Roe Vs. Wade, women were having back alley abortions—unsanitary, dangerous procedures that could result in severe illness, the inability to conceive again, even death, not to mention the shame associated with the procedure among many. The passing of Roe Vs. Wade also led to women attaining control of other aspects of their health—access to birth control and quality sex education, to name just two. Women fought for the right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy, and that fight is still be challenged today. Abortion clinics are protested and bombed; doctors have been murdered; anti-choice lawmakers are constantly chipping away at the rights Roe V. Wade has afforded women.

Will all the negative responses to Rambin’s post inspire her to think deeply about her position and her statements? Something tells me the forehead wrinkles she so loathes are about as deep as this chick goes.

[UPDATE: As of 8:30, Rambin hasn’t coughed up a response to all the hullaballo. Then again, she’s been very busy shopping at Tory Burch.]