Aesthetic Excess

Valeria Lukyanova is a 21-year old Barbie lookalike. Quite literally. Her body and face are shaped like the iconic doll: a tiny 50 cm waistline, blond hair, exceedingly large breasts and big blue eyes.

She stepped into the limelight thanks to a video on Youtube followed by an editorial for V Magazine. Speaking about herself, she says: "Many people say bad things about people who want to perfect themselves. This is how they justify not wanting to strive for self-improvement”.

What matters is that the young Ukrainian is the most “exposed” face of a widespread trend (that of the real life dolls) that sees young girls pursuing a nonexistent, cartoonish aesthetics, one that is as unreal as the most heavy-handed re-touching.  And this, on a personal level, should definitely raise a few questions.