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Plastic Surgery's Double-Edged Knife

Donda West and the pressure to be perfect

By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 18, 2007 11:19 AM CST

(Newser) – The American public that slammed Britney Spears for daring to show a little cellulite is just as rabidly eviscerating Donda West as vain for succumbing to our culture of perfection, reflects Robin Givhan of the Washington Post in the wake of West's death. Our dysfunctional relationship with beauty cuts deep, Givhan writes, yet it's surprising that it reached West.

"Celebrities are trapped: mocked if they look bad, mocked for trying desperately to look good," writes Givhan. But only 6% of those who go under the knife are African American, and one might have expected West, a former professor, to be beyond its reach. All the more damning, then, that the culture of celebrity beauty claimed even her.

Singer Kanye West performs with his mother, Donda West, outdoors during a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, in this May, 2006 file photo, in Burbank, Calif.  A spokesman for West said Donda West died Saturday night in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, file)
Singer Kanye West performs with his mother, Donda West, outdoors during a taping of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," in this May, 2006 file photo, in Burbank, Calif. A spokesman for West said Donda West died...   (Associated Press)
Kanye West  and his mother Donda hold his three awards backstage at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in this Feb. 8, 2006, file photo in Los Angeles. West won for best rap album, solo and song. Donda West may have died of complications related to a surgical procedure performed at...
Kanye West and his mother Donda hold his three awards backstage at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in this Feb. 8, 2006, file photo in Los Angeles. West won for best rap album, solo and song. Donda West...   (Associated Press)
This booking photo provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shows Jan Adams after his Dec. 29, 2006, arrest for alleged DUI. Adams, a plastic surgeon who claimed to have operated on Kanye West's mother, Donda West, before she died said he did nothing wrong, and that her death...
This booking photo provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shows Jan Adams after his Dec. 29, 2006, arrest for alleged DUI. Adams, a plastic surgeon who claimed to have operated on Kanye...   (Associated Press)
Brooke Bates, 13, is shown at her home in Pflugerville, Texas, Tuesday, March 27, 2007, as she holds up a pair of pants she used to wear before having liposuction surgery in the spring 2006. Now she is down to around 170 pounds from 220 pounds. Bates says she is...
Brooke Bates, 13, is shown at her home in Pflugerville, Texas, Tuesday, March 27, 2007, as she holds up a pair of pants she used to wear before having liposuction surgery in the spring 2006. Now she is...   (Associated Press)
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