alright let’s talk about Michael Jackson and plastic surgery
most people are under the impression that Michael received copious amounts of plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures throughout his life which not only resulted in lighter skin, but also a smaller nose, thinner lips, straight hair, and an overall obsession with “looking white”
unsurprisingly (as is the case with most myths about mj) these allegations were completely manufactured by a hostile, racist, and homophobic media in order to further bully and discredit a man who did not conform to race/gender norms
in reality, Michael received minimal amounts of plastic surgery throughout his life. in his autobiography Moonwalk he revealed that the only major surgeries he ever received were nose jobs (he was harshly ridiculed by his father about the shape of his nose his entire life) and a cleft implant in his chin. although tabloids ran wild with stories about Michael’s “dramatic” changes which extended far beyond the two procedures he already admitted to, photo comparisons demonstrate that the differences between Michael in the 70s/80s and Michael in the 90s/00s are entirely due to his vitiligo (i.e. skin de-pigmentation), weight loss, make-up application, age, and minimal plastic surgery (almost entirely on his nose)
as these photos demonstrate, claims that Michael thinned his lips, reshaped his eyes, received cheek implants, etc, etc, are entirely false. again, all noticeable difference is due entirely to his skin de-pigmentation, make-up, and nose jobs.
furthermore, Michael’s choice to occasionally wear his hair straight in the 90s and 2000s in no way reflects a secret desire to be white (he was black and proud to be so as i’ve detailed here). his hairstyles were his personal choices and in many ways restricted to wigs and weaves due to severe scalp burns he received while working on a Pepsi commercial in the 1980s. Michael continued to alternate between straight and natural styles until his death in 2009.
in sum, there is absolutely no evidence to support the idea that Michael Jackson desired whiteness or that the plastic surgery he chose to receive warped him beyond recognition. between his pride in his race, his uncontrollable vitiligo, and the small amount of cosmetic changes he made throughout his life, it’s clear that the “Michael Jackson wanted to be white” narrative was sheer fiction manufactured by the media in order to enforce the “Wack Jacko” stereotype. at the end of the day, a person’s personal decision to undergo plastic surgery is just that, personal, and shouldn’t result in an anti-black witch hunt which makes that person’s life a living hell. no matter how Michael wore his hair or changed his nose, he was a black American who (like most of us) was insecure about certain aspects of his physical appearance and decided to slightly alter those aspects throughout his life.
tl;dr almost everything you’ve been led to believe about Michael Jackson is wrong and rooted in tabloid racism, homophobia, and gender stereotypes
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