Barbra Streisand Changed Her Mind About Nose Job Because It Was ‘Too Much Of A Risk’

In her just-released memoir My Name is Barbra, Barbra Streisand discusses the unattainable beauty standards she faced in her career — and the intense pressure she felt to get a nose job.

Amidst the 992 pages of her memoir, the 81-year-old songstress mentions that she considered a "minor adjustment" to her nose via plastic surgery. This came after comments in the media about her appearance — one writer even referred to her as a "hound" — and suggestions from people to get a nose job and cap her teeth.

"Sometimes it felt like my nose got more press than I did... I wish I could say none of this affected me, but it did. Even after all these years I'm still hurt by the insults and can't quite believe the praise," she writes.

"I thought, Isn't my talent enough? A nose job would hurt and be expensive. Besides, how could I trust anyone to do exactly what I wanted and no more?"

The desire to change her nose was off the table for good when Streisand realized it might alter the sound of her voice.

"It was too much of a risk," she writes about the surgery.

"Once a doctor told me I had a deviated septum... maybe that's why I sound the way I do."

Considering she still had a singing and acting career that spanned six decades, Streisand's decision not to get a nose job was probably a smart one.

Over the course of her professional tenure she became a female artist with the the most No. 1 albums (before being dethroned by Taylor Swift), all while starring on Broadway and in eighteen feature films including Funny Girl, Yentl, The Prince of Tides, and The Way They Were. Her career is rich with accolades, and she's one of few performers to obtain an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards.)

In the epilogue of My Name is Barbra, Streisand acknowledges her temerity and success despite what the critics had to say about her looks.

"Nothing's impossible. I became a movie star, even though I didn't fit the conventional image... me with my asymmetrical face, my notable nose... and my big mouth. I had a dream, and I didn't listen to the people who tried to stop me."

My Name is Barbra is out now.