Lifestyle Health Justine Bateman on Plastic Surgery: 'You're Not Going to Make That Fear Go Away by Changing Your Face' The former Family Ties star told PEOPLE in 2021 that “plastic surgery is just people pleasing” By Vanessa Etienne Vanessa Etienne Twitter Vanessa Etienne is an Emerging Content Writer-Reporter for PEOPLE. People Editorial Guidelines Published on March 29, 2023 04:42 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Over the years, Justine Bateman has maintained her stance on not getting plastic surgery. The Face: One Square Foot of Skin author, 57, recently appeared on 60 Minutes Australia with a message to those criticizing her natural appearance. "I just don't give a s---. I think I look rad. I think my face represents who I am. I like it," she said. "I feel like I would erase, not only all my authority that I have now, but also, I like feeling that I am a different person now than I was when I was 20. I like looking in the mirror and seeing that evidence." Back in 2021, Bateman spoke to PEOPLE about why she'll never get any cosmetic procedures done. The director and former Family Ties star recalled a moment when she Googled her name and saw comments that she looked old, which quickly impacted how she viewed herself. "I thought my face looked fine," the actress said. "And then because of some of the fears I had, unrelated to my face, I decided to make them right and me wrong....I became really ashamed of my face, ridiculously so." Justine Bateman Defends Her Decision to Age Naturally: 'My Face Represents Who I Am. I Like It' Gary Gershoff/Wireimage Why Justine Bateman Will Never Get Plastic Surgery: 'Stop Telling Women To Get Their Faces Fixed' Although the online criticism initially threw her, it led her to examine her own irrational fears. "I find it really wrong that women right now are absorbing this idea that their faces need to be fixed," Bateman said. "I realized my face is only going to get older. So why not take care of whatever fear I have attached to that." She explained at the time that women often want "to change their faces so that x, y, z can't happen." "You're not going to make that fear go away by changing your face," she admitted. "If you go and get plastic surgery, you're going to look different. Okay. You'll have that, but you haven't dealt with what the fear was. That fear will continue." "I think getting all this plastic surgery is just people pleasing," Bateman continued. "You don't want people to criticize you anymore so you appease them. The more you do that, the further away you get away from your true self. It doesn't work for me."