What’s Your Puffy Face Moment?

[Amanda Griffith]

By now, you’ve probably either read or watched coverage of Ashley Judd’s lashing back at media outlets – and fans – for their hurtful, judgmental and cruel comments on her puffy face.  People talked behind her back, in hushed whispers: did she or didn’t she have plastic surgery?

 

As Ashley herself noted, if she looks too good with too few wrinkles she’s accused of having work done; if she appears puffy or otherwise altered physically as in this case, she’s obviously the victim of a botched procedure.

 

Public/celebrity figure or not, no one should have to explain how her puffiness is the result of being on a course of steroids after a particularly serious sinus infection. Because you’ve never been sick and had your appearance affected? Let’s be real, people!

 

The actress wrote in a Daily Beast piece that "this abnormal obsession with women's faces and bodies has become so normal that we (I include myself at times--I absolutely fall for it still) have internalized patriarchy almost seamlessly. We are unable at times to identify ourselves as our own denigrating abusers, or as abusing other girls and women.”

 

This obsession with what is considered beautiful -- and why Judd's puffy face was such a big media discussion -- is what creates many issues for women of all ages. As the mother of two young girls and as someone who faces the possibility of steroid use as a course of treatment for particularly severe flare-ups of her chronic illness, I worry what message we are sending as a society to those both young and old.  I want my daughters to know they are beautiful because of who they are, not what they look like, and that just because someone looks different doesn’t detract from their value, their importance or their worth. I want them to take the time to get to know what’s inside a person, what they believe, what they stand for, and determine opinions based on substance.

 

"My puffy face moment is another person's big butt moment," Judd said. "What happened to me is very common.... We all go through it."

 

Puffy face or big butt, our appearance should not represent our whole selves. What about the old adage, “Beauty is more than skin deep?” We only have one life, one body and we need to treat it well. Let’s not choose our treatments or medications based on how it will affect our appearance but by how quickly it can restore us to full health.

 

What’s your puffy moment? What has your reaction been to the Ashley Judd “puffy face” controversy?