by
BGLH
If you’ve been anywhere near the popular social media platform Vine, you’ll recognize the name Simone Shepherd. Shepherd is one out of two black women on the platform to amass over 3.1 million followers.
With that popularity comes scrutiny of appearance. Like many celebrities, Shepherd opted to undergo cosmetic surgery and reconstruct her nose. While rhinoplasty is common in Western culture, within the Black American community, it’s often seen as a way of cultural erasure and some of Shepherd’s fans felt it was their duty to let her know under several new posts on her Instagram account:
 
Shepherd initially responded under one Instagram photo:
Later, she took to her Facebook page with a more in depth reflection on her choice to alter her appearance and why it does not challenge her innate blackness.
19 Responses
She’s entitled to do what she wants…Let her do her. She even has time to be explaining herself…I appreciate her transparency.
You can “love” yourself and not “like” every characteristic about yourself, so let’s not say she doesn’t love herself, but that she simply wanted to change what she did not like. You can love something and dislike a feature; I love my house and dislike the carpet, which is fair. So the appropriate question to ask is why she doesn’t like her nose? Let’s ask and not assume. There are some people who disliked certain characteristics about themselves since they were children and some whom were bullied for the way they look, which is why we can’t assume anything; you don’t know her life. Many people WILL assume that she disliked her nose because she wanted to encompass a European nose which society deems most beautiful OR perhaps that type of nose seems to be popular (without even taking into account that it’s ‘European’…just sought after/common to get). Again we don’t know why she did it, so don’t make assumptions. But this is what I do know…
Part of the society we live in will say her nose is ‘relatable’ and another part will call her ugly or say something mean about her nose or make fun of her. It’s not the same as one bully in a class room, it’s tons of bullies online picking probing and prying at every single picture. If she doesn’t change her nose one side bullies her, and when she does change it another side says she doesn’t love herself. It’s sad that there’s pressure on women to look a certain way; it’s not as simple as putting on make up and installing weave anymore. Women used to wear wigs and face paint back in the 1950’s, but butt and boob surgeries weren’t as popular. I do feel for the women whom do want to embrace their natural bodies but struggle to do so. I am here to say…I support women and whatever body choices they decide to make, I really do. I never want anyone to feel bad for the body they have nor will I shame them for changing it because I understand it’s really tough for some people contingent on what they’ve been through, where they are now, and what society can do to people. Even as she could have stood behind her nose, society could have made it very hard to do because she is in the public eye. Leave her alone!
Sigh. Ok sis i guess.. but people that love themselves down or whatever you said dont go out and get nose AND boob jobs.. especially when they were perfectly fine… and already attractive.
But oh welp.
you can’t get a nose job and say you love yourself in the next breath. it’s a direct contradiction.
It’s her choice. She has to be happy with what she looks at daily. #selflove
It’s so hypocritical when people say I love myself, inside and out then they get surgery SMH. I would own up to it, I myself have insecurities and told people if I have money I would change …. (such and such), Just be genuine and ppl will sympathize. A side not i’ve never heard of her before, I can’t keep up with all these social media stars these days LOL
I don’t know how far can we have that change in looks and not being criticized and noticed out loud. Well, all I can say is just keep doing good, it will outsmart everything. Please let me share this new fake sonogram design from fakeababy. This is such a very funny stuff and it is best for gags as well.
It’s “intact”, not “in tacked”.
Well looks like she tried to narrow out her nose, which is the saddest part of the nose job. As long as it’s on that black woman it’ll still be a black nose, I just hope she realizes it. Still pretty though but not better.
never even heard of this person and she appears to look rather nondescript moving on.
Tbh, I think I would have respected her more if she just stated the truth. That she has insecurities about her appearance & by living in a society + mass media that uplifts white beauty/ Eurocentric features helps to push these insecurities further which made her feel she needed to do procedures rather than claiming she’s a ‘strong’ black woman & that she loves herself inside, has a heart of a ‘King’ etc. That would have made it more genuine. But other than that, its no ones business & her role is to vlog not to be a model to other black women.
I think she looked prettier before the nose job with her beautiful black features. However, it’s her nose to do with as she chooses.
Honestly Ive considered certain procedures but more along the lines of body shaping procedures, so I can not judge but in all honesty she was prettier before the nose job. Its not as aesthetically pleasing as her original nose. It simply succeed in making her look a bit ethnically ambiguous maybe thats what she was going for. But from experience what really matters is how u feel you look. Others opinions are really irrelevant in this situation, unless thier opinions were sought for.
“in tacked”? Ok girl. If she’s happy with it, ok.
I like her old look more. But if she’s happy, then I’m happy for her.
I loved her original look but if she’s happy that’s all that matters
If you really loved you inside and out you wouldn’t have had the surgery.
She looks unrecognizable! But then again, that last picture looks like she might have used the Snapchat filter that slims your nose, so maybe it’s not that slim in real life.
If she’s fine with it then hey, I didn’t pay for it. Personally I’m not changing my looks for anyone, accept me the way I am or leave me alone.