Sometimes, we think that just because celebrities are rich and famous, they’re immune to traumas that are inflicted due to misogyny. But there are rare occasions when we’re reminded that despite their wealth and influence, they can also become victims of awful experiences just because they’re women. Case in point: Brooke Shields. While promoting her new memoir, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman, she revealed one of the most traumatic moments of her life in a story with Us Weekly.
Brooke was in her 40s when her gynecologist suggested a surgical reduction for her labia. This is a pretty common procedure for anyone who experiences discomfort because of having excess labia, and because she had experienced discomfort, chafing, and even bleeding since high school, the idea of fixing something that had been a literal pain for most of her life made sense.
After the surgery, however, during a routine follow-up, Brooke’s male plastic surgeon casually dropped a bombshell: he’d done a little “extra work” while he was at it. Without her consent, he performed a vaginal tightening procedure — something that’s irreversible, BTW. Brooke described this as feeling like an “invasion,” comparing it to sexual assault.
Let’s be clear: Brooke never asked for this. She never needed it. And she definitely didn’t consent to it. She explained how both she and her gynecologist were furious about the situation. The tightening wasn’t medically necessary, and it felt like the surgeon had taken it upon himself to impose his own standards of what her body should be.
The aftermath left Brooke dealing with a lot of anger and shame, which she describes in her book. For a long time, she didn’t even tell her husband about the procedure because she felt so overwhelmed by the whole ordeal. And, despite the clear violation of her autonomy, she ultimately chose not to pursue legal action, deciding she wanted to regain control over her body and her story on her own terms. Brooke is 59 now, almost 20 years older than she was when the surgery happened to her, and she still feels uncomfortable discussing it in public.
What makes this even more frustrating is Brooke’s acknowledgment that women’s health is often dismissed or trivialized. I mean, we’ve seen this time and time again with other female celebrities — think of Serena Williams’ experience with childbirth or Florence Pugh’s struggles with PCOS. She said that by sharing this story, she hopes to bring attention to these uncomfortable but important topics. It’s a stark reminder that shame has no place in conversations about women’s bodies.
