--- title: Silicon Valley Ageism Prompts More Plastic Surgery in Tech World description: More like Silicone Valley canonical: https://time.com/35524/ageism-in-silicon-valley-is-causing-an-uptick-in-plastic-surgeries/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-24T16:50:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:08:06.012Z og:title: Ageism in Silicon Valley Is Causing an Uptick in Plastic Surgeries og:description: More like Silicone Valley og:url: https://time.com/35524/ageism-in-silicon-valley-is-causing-an-uptick-in-plastic-surgeries/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt381e0816cb39e12a/698686eee53aba29e24d1a4d/130845171.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: plastic surgery og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ageism in Silicon Valley Is Causing an Uptick in Plastic Surgeries twitter:description: More like Silicone Valley twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt381e0816cb39e12a/698686eee53aba29e24d1a4d/130845171.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ageism in Silicon Valley Is Causing an Uptick in Plastic Surgeries by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Mar 24, 2014 4:50 PM UTC  Patient having a Botox injection Patient having a Botox injectionGetty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Mar 24, 2014 4:50 PM UTC In 2007, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the declaration, “Young people are just smarter.” [Reports of extreme ageism](http://www.sfgate.com/business/bottomline/article/In-Silicon-Valley-age-can-be-a-curse-4742365.php) in Silicon Valley — requiring [non-millennials to swap loafers for Converse](http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/27/us-valley-ageism-idUSBRE8AQ0JK20121127) — aren’t new. But [according to an article in _The New Republic_](http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117088/silicons-valleys-brutal-ageism), many older techies’ faces are. Noam Scheiber writes that the plastic surgery industry in Silicon Valley is having its own tech boom all so people (sometimes as young as 26) don’t look a day over 30\. Ever. “It’s really morphed into, ‘Hey, I’m forty years old and I have to get in front of a board of fresh-faced kids. I can’t look like I have a wife and two-point-five kids and a mortgage,'” cosmetic surgeon Seth Matarasso told _TNR_. He noted that there are a lot more men, and they’re getting a lot younger. Some plastic surgeons are trying to capitalize on the fear of aging in the Valley. In December, San Francisco Plastic Surgery & Laser Center rationalized in a [blog post enticing potential new clientele: ](http://www.sfcosmeticsurgery.com/age-discrimination-plastic-surgery) --- > “” --- Even though ageism is [100% illegal](http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm), as boomers see an unwelcome resurgence of the “Don’t trust anyone over 30” mentality, it appears that many would rather go under the knife than file an age discrimination lawsuit. 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