Love Island USA’s Vanna Has People Questioning How Empowering The Normalization Of Cosmetic Work Really Is
Love Island USA contestant Vanna Einerson has been the recipient of harsh criticism for her cosmetic work.
Design: YourTango It's no secret that Love Island USA has truly become a cultural phenomenon. After the success and widespread recognition of season 6, fans were heavily anticipating this summer's brand new cast and all of the twists and drama that come along with it. As we're halfway through the season, the introduction of the show's best part, Casa Amor, has brought in a set of fresh bombshells.
One of those bombshells happens to be 21-year-old influencer Savanna 'Vanna' Einerson. Einerson's welcome into the Love Island villa has been overshadowed by the plethora of people online who seemingly have everything to say about the cosmetic work the Salt Lake City-native has gotten done, and whether or not society's wide acceptance of cosmetic work is as empowering as it seems.
Love Island USA's Vanna has people questioning the normalization of cosmetic work.
Einerson has caught the attention of many Love Island fans for the fact that the 21-year-old has seemingly had filler in multiple areas of her face. From her lips, cheeks, chin, and even her forehead, Einerson's cosmetic work is pretty obvious to anyone who's watching. It's also sparked a conversation around the young age that so many women start "preventative" cosmetic work.
"Vanna on Love Island is the exact reason why we need to stop telling young women that botox and filler is preventative," a content creator named Olivia Paige pointed out. "She started getting lip injections at the little age of 16. I get having insecurities, but with age, they go away."
Paige explained that the moment you start altering your face at such a young age, it does irreparable damage to your psyche and how you look at yourself. She insisted that young women need to start embracing the parts of themselves that they might not think are beautiful or acceptable. She acknowledged that while women have every right to undergo cosmetic surgeries and procedures, it gets to a point where they might be just feeding into their delusions.
"It's damaging to young girls and this is proof that social media is damaging to the way we view ourselves," she continued. "Let yourself age naturally and I promise you, you're gonna enjoy how you look as you age a little more."
The number of young girls who feel insecure because of social media has risen exponentially.
According to results of a research study from Ruling Our eXperiences (ROX), a nonprofit focused on research and programming about girls, more than 17,500 girls in 5th through 12th grades found the percentage of girls who report feeling confident has dropped in the past six years from 68 percent to 55 percent, as the amount of time they spend on social media has risen.
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Girls are at particular risk for mental health problems, data from the study showed. They are more likely than boys to "construct their identity in relation to others" and to "allow the feedback they get from others to shape how they feel about themselves and their abilities and competencies."
Vanna's cosmetic procedures are a result of the environment she's grown up in.
Considering Love Island is just reality TV, it's hard to forget that these are real people who, when they come out of the villa and get their phones back, will be seeing all of the negative and frankly rude comments and videos that people have been making about them. Einerson's cosmetic surgery isn't grounds to bully her, ridicule her, or even laugh.
Instead, we should realize that Vanna getting filler and botox is a product of this beauty standard that young women are being subjected to. Wanting young women to embrace their wrinkles and crow's feet, and just find happiness in aging, is not anti-woman. Einerson is not the problem, the standards are. What's pro-woman is making sure that young girls are aware that just because they don't like something about their face or body doesn't mean they should automatically go straight to a plastic surgeon.
Nine times out of ten, getting procedures done only creates more negative thoughts around other parts of yourself. You may think that getting that nose job will suddenly stop all of the insecurities, but in reality, it will only make it worse. But, instead of criticizing these young girls, we desperately need to give them a little bit of grace, but also a lot of compassion.
It's not easy growing up in a time of social media and seeing what constitutes as beautiful for women. But the best thing we can do to help combat this expectation of what women "should" look like is by showing young girls that they're perfect just the way they are.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
