Modern Family’s Reid Ewing opened up about his struggles with body dysmorphia and plastic surgery. So why is everyone focusing on GAY?
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on queerty.com, a popular website targeted straight at a gay audience. And it focuses largely on actor Reid Ewing’s discussion of his body dysmorphia issues, which are a. usually associated with trans* people and b. becoming disturbingly more common in men. However, a quick Google search of Reid Ewing or a Twitter search of his handle @media_reid or hashtag #reidewing shows that the conversation is mostly about his off-handedly revealing he is gay, rather than on what this young man did because of how he viewed himself and what he thought he needed to do to succeed in acting, particularly after being told so by a doctor. THAT is the story I wish people were talking about. Queerty got this one right.
Actor Reid Ewing, best known for playing Haley’s dumb, pretty boyfriend Dylan on Modern Family, has casually come out as gay on Twitter just after publishing a first-person account of his experience with body dysmorphia and plastic surgery.
In the essay on HuffPo on Friday, Ewing wrote, “I genuinely believed if I had one procedure I would suddenly look like Brad Pitt.”
“I told the doctor why I felt my face needed cosmetic surgery and told him I was an actor,” he added. “He agreed that for my career it would be necessary to get cosmetic surgery.”
“He quickly determined that large cheek implants would address the issues I had with my face, and a few weeks later I was on the operating table.”
Ewing says he underwent several procedures over the next few years, but ultimately realized his problem wasn’t one that could be solved by scalpels and botox injections.
“None of the doctors suggested I consult a psychologist for what was clearly a psychological issue… or warn me about the potential for addiction.”
Ewing’s essay led him to a 2011 ABC profile of Eugene Bata, who also suffers from body dysmorphia.
Ewing tweeted this message, followed by a response to someone who asked if he’d just outed himself:
Saw Eugene Bata on @GMA in the Body Dysmorphia segment connected to my article and I just want to say he is hot af.
— Reid Ewing (@media_reid) November 21, 2015
@MichaelJMapes I was never in — Reid Ewing (@media_reid) November 21, 2015
When you’re told there is another gay coming to the party. https://t.co/JYtzLNkbfB — Reid Ewing (@media_reid) November 21, 2015
Below, see Reid’s Inside Edition interview about body dysmorphia:
Source: 30dB.com – Plastic Surgery
Originally published at queerty.com.
Yes, He Came Out, But That’s Not We Should Be Talking About
Yes, He Came Out, But That’s Not What We Should Be Talking About