“If  there  was  a  God,  like,  pony  up  the  tits”  

 
For  Rita  Abdou,  21,  she  considers  herself  "an  extreme  beauty  achiever"  and  has  
spent  $15,000  on  botox  and  facial  fillers.  
 
"The  criticism  I  usually  encounter  is  ‘you’re  too  young’,"  says  Abdou,  who  started  her  
plastic  positive  journey  when  she  was  15.  
 
"That’s  what  plastic  negative  people  try  to  do:  they  try  to  play  it  down  and  they  also  
try  to  impose  their  ideas  on  you,  making  sure  that  you  understand  your  way  is  the  
wrong  way.  
 
"What  I’m  born  with  isn’t  my  idea  of  beauty:  it’s  someone  else’s,  but  it’s  not  mine."  
 
According  to  skin  therapist  Jennifer  Ramos,  the  local  industry  is  going  from  strength-­
to-­strength  as  people  adapt  their  ideals  of  what  qualifies  as  beauty.  
 
"Australia  has  a  booming  cosmetic  industry:  people  are  spending  a  billion  dollars  a  
year  on  cosmetic  procedures,"  she  says.  
 
"95%  of  our  clientele  like  to  still  keep  it  natural  ...  now,  over  time,  it  has  changed.  
 
"We’ve  attracted  about  five  per  cent  of  the  clientele  who  love  that  plastic  positive,  
over  the  top,  doll-­like  look.  
 
"So  …  bigger  is  better,  I’d  say."  
 
Someone  who  would  agree  with  that  mantra  is  Madison  Ashton,  who  has  embraced  
the  idea  of  what  she  calls  "freakish  beauty"  both  in  a  professional  and  personal  
capacity.      
 
"I’ve  created  a  look  that  is  as  fuckable  as  possible,"  she  says.  
 
"I  am  a  pleasure  dome  of  vajayjay.  Men  still,  in  my  view,  control  huge  amounts  of  
power.  
 
"And  I  feel  there’s  still  a  huge  amount  of  women  who  will  subjugate  themselves  all  
too  easily.  
 
"I  want  to  use  my  beauty  to  transcend  all  the  powers  that  be:  I’ve  chosen  to  push  my  
look  to  see  where  it  will  go  and  what  opportunities  it  will  bring  for  me."  
 
Ashton  says  she  has  spent  over  $300,000  on  plastic  and  cosmetic  procedures,  
which  have  increased  both  her  income  and  natural  assets.  
 
"What  I’m  born  with  isn’t  my  idea  of  beauty:  it’s  someone  else’s...  "  
 
"Naturally  I  have  nothing,  flat  as  a  tack,  zero.  
 
"I  was  always  looking  at  my  old  body  feeling  like  I  was  robbed.  
  
"Especially  if  there  was  a  God,  like  pony  up  the  tits.  
 
"So  I  just  went  and  got  what  was  rightfully  mine,  marched  down  with  my  AMEX  and  
bam,  problem  solved."  
 
Sydney-­based  Alan  Nowark  feels  much  the  same  way,  adding  that  his  idea  of  beauty  
is  "evolving  all  the  time".  
 
"I  consider  myself  a  work  of  art.  I  think  I  am  creation,"  says  the  art  director.  
 
"  From  a  young  age  I  was  always  fascinating  by  art,  music,  beauty,  fashion…  and  
I’ve  embodied  that."  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Is  plastic  the  new  normal?  
 
A  21-­year-­old  fashionista,  a  high-­profile  sex  worker  and  mother  of  two,  and  a  39-­
year-­old  art  director  from  Sydney  have  all  proudly  come  forward  as  Australia’s  
(unmoving)  faces  of  the  ‘Plastic  Positive’  movement.  
 
And  if  you  ask  them,  they  would  say  yes.  
 
With  our  country  stepping  up  to  embrace  plastic  surgery  like  never  before  –  to  the  
tune  of  around  $1  billion  –    a  group  of  cosmetic  enhancement  fanatics  are  pushing  
the  envelope  to  see  just  how  far  they  can  go.  
 
With  massively  bloated  lips,  frozen  faces,  and  breasts  the  size  of  watermelons;;  these  
people  aren’t  interested  in  a  few  natural  looking  tweaks  –  they’re  plastic,  and  proud  
of  it!  
 
SBS’s  ‘The  Feed’  sat  down  with  several  devotees  of  the  ‘Plastic  Positive’  movement  
to  find  out…um,  why?  
 
At  just  21,  Rita  is  the  youngest  of  the  group  –  but  she’s  already  been  at  it  for  six  
years,  having  her  first  lip  filler  aged  just  15.  
 
She  is  originally  from  Kuwait  and  works  as  a  visual  merchandiser;;  a  job  which  has  
somehow  bankrolled  the  staggering  $15,000  she  has  spent  to  date  on  her  botox  and  
fillers.  
 
“I  would  say  I  consider  myself  an  extreme  beauty  achiever,”  she  says  proudly.  
 
“My  plastic  positive  journey  started  when  I  was  15,  when  I  was  told  I  had  really  small  
lips…  so  that  was  kind  of  my,  oh,  I’d  love  if  I  could  fix  my  top  lip  a  bit.”  
 
Rita  thinks  that  what  she  was  born  with  was  ‘some  else’s  idea  of  beauty’  –  and  so  is  
working  to  create  a  face  that  she  is  happy  with.  
 
Alan  Nowark,  39.  
 
“I  consider  myself  a  work  of  art.  I  see  myself  as  a  creation.”  
 
An  art  director  from  Sydney,  Alan  likes  to  wax  lyrical  on  how  the  modern  ‘beauty’  of  
cosmetic  surgery  should  be  seen  as  a  similar  artistic  movement  to  say,  abstract  art  
or  surrealism.  (No  pun  intended.)  
 
He  sees  himself  as  a  proud  crusader,  working  against  what's  acceptable,  'the  norm'  -­  
a  mission  that's  cost  him  $30,000  to  date.  
 
"The  plastic  negatives,  they  think  that  you  know,  getting  work  done  -­  you  don't  need  
to  just  accept  the  way  you  are."  he  says.  "Who  wants  to  be  old  and  wrinkly,  when  
you  can  actually  look  great  and  be  happy?"      
 
Madison  Ashton.  
  
Probably  the  most  shocking  of  the  three  is  the  blow-­up  doll  looks  of  sex  worker  
Madison,  who  rose  to  fame  as  Richard  Pratt's  mistress.  
 
The  mother  of  two  made  the  news  way  back  in  2011,  when  she  was  apparently  
swindled  out  of  a  $5,000,000  trust  fund  that  Pratt  promised  her.  
 
In  the  years  since,  Ashton  has  maintained  her  commitment  to  her  'larger  than  life'  
looks:  plumped  lips,  enormous  breast  implants,  and  a  face  that  very  literally  doesn't  
move.  Not  even  to  speak.  
 
"I’ve  created  a  look  that  is  as  fuckable  as  possible,"  she  says.  "I  am  a  pleasure  dome  
of  vajayjay."  
 
Madison  reckons  that  she  has  used  her  looks  to  turn  the  tables  on  men,  and  
'transcend'  the  powers  to  be.      
 
Certainly,  the  argument  of  aesthetics  is  a  tough  one.  
 
These  people  think  they  look  great,  while  many  people  would  disagree.  
 
But  while  many  will  look  to  Plastic  Positive  supporters  with  pity,  the  common  thread  
that  ties  the  movement  together  is  actually  one  of  defiance  in  the  face  of  'normal'.  
 
Young  or  old,  male  or  female,  these  people  aren't  interested  in  what  anyone  else  
thinks  except  for  the  themselves  -­    a  fact  that  in  any  other  situation  would  be  
commended.  
 
But  when  it  comes  to  disfiguring  your  face  and  body  with  fillers,  botox,  and  even  
surgery  -­  it  is  right  to  let  them  go  so  far?  Or  is  plastic  surgery  just  the  new  mini  skirt,  
with  women  like  Madison  Ashton  becoming  the  new  Jean  Shrimpton?  
 
Either  way,  it's  a  movement  that  is  growing,  and  fast.  
 
There's  even  an  official  Plastic  Positive  website,  which  has  over  80  members.  
 
You  must  sign  up  before  being  allowed  entry,  obviously  to  create  a  judgement-­free  
space  for  like-­minded  plastic  surgery  lovers  to  show  off  their  wares,  compare  notes,  
and  provide  support  for  their  body-­mod  choices.  
 
According  to  Alan  Nowark,  it's  all  about  finding  new  ways  to  change  the  way  you  
look.  
 
"There  are  some  friends  that  say  you  don't  need  it,  you've  gone  too  far,"  he  says.  
 
"But  this  sub-­culture,  known  as  the  Positive  Movement,  is  about  pushing  the  
boundaries,  standing  out,  refining  physically  what  I'm  capable  of  becoming."  
 
 
From  Ice  T's  wife  Coco  Austin  to  reality  star  Heidi  Montag,  rapper  L'il  Kim,  and  the  
deceased  Big  Ang  of  'Mob  Wives'  and  Anna  Nicole  Smith;;  this  uber-­plastic  look  has  
always  been  associated  with  the  excess  and  drama  of  Hollywood.  
 
It  was  an  epidemic  among  young  women  who  had  nobody  in  their  inner  circle  to  say  
-­  "Stop,  you've  gone  too  far."  
 
But  as  the  Plastic  Positive  movement  has  shown,  it's  now  officially  on  Australian  
shores,  too  -­  men  and  women  alike.  
 
Going  'too  far'  is  exactly  what  they're  aiming  for,  and  with  no  present  regulation  on  
cosmetic  procedures  such  as  botox  or  fillers  in  Australia,  no  one  is  going  to  stop  
them.