A Disturbing Trend
It started as a quest for the perfect look. However, over the years, she has faced mounting criticism and pressure. Once a model and desired by many, people now asked if she was going too far.
Not many people knew how much time and effort it took to be who she was. No one seemed to understand from her point of view. It was her life, but suddenly everyone seemed to have an opinion on it.
Valeria Lukyanova
Valeria Lukyanova was born in 1985 in Tiraspol, a former Moldovian city once part of the Soviet Union. The daughter of a mother who worked for the military and a father that worked in construction, Lukyanova moved between Moscow and Ukraine in her early life.
She was always a beautiful woman with exquisite features. By 2007, she entered and won beauty contests. However, Valeria soon began experimenting with her looks in a controversial way.
Not Just A Pretty Face
Throughout her life, Valeria has proven to be far more than just a pretty face. She holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Odesa State Academy of Constructions and Architecture.
In addition to modeling, Valeria has also done turns as an opera singer, actress, author, and instructor for a form of spiritualism known as Out-of-Body Travel. However, she is most famous for other reasons.
Fame
Valeria gained worldwide fame after she began posting pictures of her unusual looks. While she has a massive following of fans, not all the publicity has been positive.
While Valeria sees her various transformations and augmentations as body-affirming attributes, many people continue to criticize her. In fact, some of the negative comments and opinions have been very nasty and harsh at times.
Rumors
Rumors have always dogged Valeria due to her unusual physical appearance and dimensions. While speculation is rife, she has always maintained that most of her looks are natural.
Initially, it was these same looks that gained her fame and fans. However, the rumors became more vicious and dangerous as time wore on.
Danger
Media outlets have consistently accused her of drastically modifying her face and body to achieve the look she’s always been after.
The negative attention and press usually consisted of online comments and bullying. However, the dangers associated with her unique kind of fame soon became all too real.
Being Attacked
By 2014, the hateful comments and cyberbullying she experienced turned into anonymous threats. According to Lukyanova, this culminated in her being physically attacked and injured by two men.
Details were unclear, and it was never confirmed if this was a result of crazed fans or people who were so against her activities that it turned violent. Either way, opposition to Valeria’s life has never gone away.
Accusations
Valeria is often accused of using plastic surgery to alter her physical attributes. However, she’s also been accused of altering her images.
Many people, including reputable news sources, have accused the model of using photo editing software to manipulate some of her photoshoots. While she’s denied these claims, the rumors grew.
Fandom
Through Valeria’s unique look and the plethora of ways she achieves it, she has gained international fame and notoriety. On the fan side, many people love her look due to the character she often channels through it.
On the other hand, many people are critical and believe she goes to extreme lengths to gain publicity and fame for the look. So, why exactly is she so famous?
The Human Doll
Valeria’s distinctive look is reminiscent of an iconic beauty standard. While she has admitted to striving for this look, she disagrees with the methods used to achieve it.
If you haven’t guessed it by now, the famous look Valeria imitates is that of a Barbie Doll. While the famous toy has always been an iconic standard of beauty to generations of little girls, many women like Valeria have been heavily criticized for trying to reach it.
The Look
What inspired Valeria’s reputation as the “Human Barbie” is the fact that her features always appear to resemble a doll. With porcelain-smooth skin and an almost plastic appearance at times, some of her pictures look indistinguishable from the dolls.
In addition, Valeria also has a tiny waist and a large chest, giving her the exact figure that traditional Barbie dolls are synonymous with. The question was, how did she get it?
Natural Or Not
Valeria has consistently maintained that she had only ever had breast augmentation surgery. When it comes to her seemingly perfect features, she insists that the look is achieved by artful makeup and flattering photography.
As for her waist, many people suggest that she has gone to extreme lengths such as having ribs removed and other surgeries to achieve it. Valeria vehemently denies this and states that her pristine figure is the result of hours of exercise and a strict diet.
A Growing Trend
In a world dominated by social media, fake perceptions, and filters, many people are turning to surgical and other cosmetic means in the quest for beauty. In this debate, people like Valeria are constantly criticized and blamed for being role models in a negative way.
Barbie dolls have always inspired standards of beauty that are often unattainable and unrealistic. While the toy brand has diversified a lot to match societal changes in opinion, classical beauty standards still dominate the minds of many young people.
A New Obsession
There have been many women over the years who have used the Barbie doll image as a standard of perfection. With some going to extremes, this was usually a female-orientated craze in the past.
While Valeria might have thought she was unique, her fame now is mostly due to how successful she has been with her own transformation. Far from being the only one, now there are now even men that have joined the doll craze.
Ken
Justin Jedlica is a Slovak-American who attained both fame and infamy for pursuing a similar transformation. While Valeria can lay claim to the real-life Barbie crown, Justin is certainly a top contender for the real-life Ken doll.
While these kinds of pseudo-taboo trends become more popular, it seems the world is destined for more colorful characters. With surgical enhancements developing more extreme methods for augmentation, only time will tell whether people like Valeria and Justin take things too far in their quest for the perfect look.