In August of 2016, Ferne Mccann – a London Reality subject and fixture on Britian’s hit show The Only Way is Essex, strolled down the red carpet of the ‘Captain Fantastic’ premiere. For Ms. Mccann, this wasn’t a typical media tour, as it was the first time she was showing off her new, cosmetically- altered nose at an event. However, this hadn’t been the first time the public had seen it. Days before the ‘Captain Fantastic’ premiere, Mccann unveiled her new look on a morning show, stating online comments and lifelong insecurity were two of the reasons she decided to go under the knife. After saying how boys used to call her names because of it, she states “I seem so confident and loud, well I am loud, but on the inside it [my nose] really fazed me.” Ferne goes on to say “I’m not getting it because I want to get closer to being beautiful. It’s not about that. It’s just something I dont like, and everyday I look in the mirror, it knocks my confidence…” Ferne Mccann’s decision marks a thoroughly contemporary trend that effects women in our society almost unilaterally. The trend being already beautiful women altering their bodies through operation (something im neither for nor against). While Ferne attempts to improve the aesthetic she ironically finds herself connected to a weird dichotomy through her ex-boyfriend Arthur Collins, and his mutilation of said aesthetic through a new, unprecedented and horrific mean.
On April 17th, eight months after Ferne Mccann’s unveiling of her new look, there was a fight between two large groups in an East London night club called Mangle E8. The swanky club, known to host socialites and footballers alike, played venue to a new form of brutality. Two of the men in the altercation (allegedly over drugs) sprayed twenty people with acid, leaving many people with scarring, severe facial burns and two people with blindness in an eye. The main perpetrator in the incident was Fern Mccann’s boyfriend (at the time) Arthur Collins. Since the attack, Collins has been charged with 14 counts of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and Mccann has left him, despite being pregnant with his child. 
While Arthur Collins’ attack has been different as far as scope, it unfortunately is just another attack proliferating the trend of Acid as London’s new weapon of choice. The rates of acid attacks have doubled in London the past year; to now averaging more than one a day. There doesn’t seem to be any sociopolitical ties to the noxious crimes, as all types of people have been doing them for different reasons. There have been examples of a jealous ex-boyfriend assaulting his ex-girlfriend with acid. There are incidences where one women was jealous of another’s looks. London gangs are now mobilizing with acidic munitions against rivals and some perpetrators are using the chemicals on purely randomized targets. So while it is a truly a varied field, the common thread would have to be the pettiness and willingness to inflict forever life-changing damage on another human being.
