Olandria, Cierra, Belle-A, Chelley, Amaya, and Huda Love Island USA Season 7 | Kim Nunneley/Peacock

It wouldn’t be a season of Love Island if viewers weren’t discussing someone’s plastic surgery.

In June, Love Island USA contestant Vanna Einerson enjoyed a brief stint on the show before being eliminated by her castmates. But before she left, she caused a stir on social media for what many deemed “too much” facial filler. Users circulated a screenshot of her facial profile and announced their disbelief that she was only 21. Medical professionals on TikTok posted their own videos dissecting what they believed had been done to her face and detailing where her injector supposedly went wrong.

Vanna has since claimed that her swollen face was caused by an allergic reaction — but it was too late. Overnight, the short-lived reality star was branded a cautionary tale for young women tinkering with their faces at an earlier age. “Vanna from Love Island is the exact reason we need to stop telling young women that Botox and filler is preventative,” one user said in a TikTok that received over 10 million views.

This negative response to a stranger’s altered face seems ironic in a culture that isn’t exactly against cosmetic work. On TikTok, cosmetic surgery trends like “Barbie noses” and “fox eyes” go viral every few months. Meanwhile, impressive plastic surgery is gawked at and emphatically praised. Just a couple of months ago, TikTok was applauding Kris Jenner for her impressive facelift and labeling her as inspo. Even more recently, users were amazed by the drastic results of a woman who went viral after she received the same procedure in Guadalajara.

While discussions about plastic surgery have never been more open, our attitudes around it have never felt more muddled. Is plastic surgery empowering or capitulating? Why are the intentions of people who receive less-than-perfect results questioned, while the more fortunate are lauded? What does our collective disgust at women who receive........

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