As everybody has probably noticed, the subject of plastic surgery comes up a lot in women-to-women conversations.

We all love a good gawk atphotos and pictures of celebrities, speculating on who has and who has not done any work on herself.

Yet there we are, each and every one of us, mocking a celebrity who has really crossed the line. There we are, staring at the ‘non-invasive’ stuff like microdermabrasion, to the full-on dragging-the-skin-from-your-midriff-and-putting-it-over-your-ears facelift.

I have to ask though, what has gone wrong when women in their mid-20s are actually worried about the “disfigurement” of ageing?

How is it that we have come to view the natural processof ageing as some kind of character flaw?

Natural-all-over Cate Blanchett summed it up for me when she said those blessed words: “Death is not going to be any easier just because your face can’t move.” Attagirl Cate!

What about dignified women like Judi Dench and Helen Mirren, whose faces reveal the grace and beauty that comes from accepting your age? Who honestly decided that people have no business getting old?

(Probably people like cosmetic surgeons, some of who, within seconds of laying his eyes on one’s countenance, ascertains that nearly every millimetre of the face needs urgent work done on it.)

Some do look good with plastic surgery but just think of those stinking rich celebrities who can afford the best surgeons in the world but still don’t look young at all — they just look like they have had a load of surgery.