Why Laverne Cox doesn't want Caitlyn Jenner-style surgery

To each her own, says Laverne Cox.

The Orange Is The New Black actress has been active in the conversation surrounding Caitlyn Jenner's unveiling — after all, she's likely the highest-profile transgender person in America after Jenner — from posting her nuanced thoughts about Caitlyn on Tumblr to starting the

hashtag after the Vanity Fair cover reveal.

In a new interview with the Guardian, Cox describes starting #transisbeautiful to "celebrate all the things that are beautiful about my transness." It's a means of achieving beauty that contrasts with Jenner's, who elected to undergo facial reconstruction surgery, even publicly praising her surgeon with an Instagram post.



Cox spoke about the prospect of reconstructive surgery, and explained why she decided against it:
“I have been picking myself apart my whole life. I have never talked about the medical details of my transition, and a lot of people assume I’ve had all this surgery. Years ago, I wanted really highly invasive surgical procedures to feminize my face. All these years later, I have the money to do it, but I don’t want it. I don’t want it! I’m happy that this is the face that God gave me, and it’s imperfect.”
And when an Instagram commenter told Cox she needed a nose job, her fans spoke up in response:
"My fans were like, that’s the nose African Americans have, and what’s wrong with that? My fans had my back. In those moments I have to look in the mirror and say, this is my black nose, and it’s gorgeous.”
There's absolutely nothing wrong with Jenner's decision to surgically alter her features (her face, her choice, right?), and yet we applaud Cox for providing an alternate perspective — and an important message of self-love, too.