Jeepers, creepers: Where'd Demi Moore get those peepers?

The actress signs on to be the face of women over 40. But is her face really over 40?

Published October 17, 2006 4:21PM (EDT)

It was announced this week that Helena Rubinstein, the cosmetics company owned by L'Oréal, has named 43-year-old actress Demi Moore its new spokeswoman for an ad campaign targeting women over 40.

Great, great. Glad the cosmetic companies are targeting women over 40 instead of just nubile young ones. I loved it last year when L'Oréal signed up 60-year-old Diane Keaton to shill for its makeup lines. But, given that the biggest population of high-spending women are baby boomers, this isn't so much about a saintly interest in healthy aging, of course, as it is about trying to extract more money from people by making them want to look prettier. But whatever. Great.

Here's the issue: The idea that Demi Moore is the spokeswoman for graceful aging is "cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs" insane. Demi Moore is a beautiful woman, no question. And she has one hell of a terrific surgical team. Good for her! Whatever lifts her brow, you know what I mean? But it was widely reported that before she made her screen comeback in "Charlie's Angels" she had spent a whopping $330,000 on plastic surgery, including a face-lift, liposuction on her hips, thighs and stomach, a breast lift, collagen treatments, a brow lift, knee resculpturing and regular Botox treatments.

The issue is not whether Moore or any other woman decides to go the plastic surgery route. The problem is when a large company like Helena Rubinstein then promotes that artifically preserved or altered figure as the face of what a particular age looks like.

Feh.


By Rebecca Traister

Rebecca Traister writes for Salon. She is the author of "Big Girls Don't Cry: The Election that Changed Everything for American Women" (Free Press). Follow @rtraister on Twitter.

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