Sexy cover girl: The new me

By Elizabeth Grant

Published October 16, 2000 7:55PM (EDT)

Read the story

So "Elizabeth Grant" has herself surgically altered to resemble a life-size pneumatic Barbie doll, "succeeds" as a cover girl for Juggs magazine and gets big pole-dancing tips, but can't understand why men only want to screw her and why women revile her? What version of Herman Melville was she reading, the one with cartoons? I guess self-knowledge just isn't the average pop-tart's strong suit.

-- Alexandra LoSchiavo

Poor Elizabeth Grant. She's young and gorgeous and sought-after and desired, and made tons of money off her looks and strategic self-improvements. There are a ton of us middle-aged, plain, barely-scraping-by women who would rather open a vein than pity someone like her. And it's an insult to us for you, Ms. Perfect, to try to garner our sympathy.

-- La Massey

I whole-heartedly applaud Elizabeth Grant (or whoever she is) for writing such a candid piece on the grossly over-exaggerated superficiality of our society. Her story confirms my fears about where our society is headed. What does it say about us when a woman can only seem valuable after a woman has mutilated her body and completely transformed her appearance? In a world where a person's worth is measured by her exterior facade, it is so easy to fall into the trap of plastic surgery, compulsive dieting and obsession about appearances to become somebody that is noticed, wanted and sought after.

-- Emily Trask


By Salon Staff

MORE FROM Salon Staff


Related Topics ------------------------------------------