"I Do Think About It Often": Amber Tamblyn Says She Underwent Ear-Pinning Surgery At 12 Years Old

This post contains discussion of body image issues.

You know Amber Tamblyn from plenty of things across her long career, including The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Joan of Arcadia.

Amber Tamblyn on the red carpet
Rob Kim / Getty Images

You may or may not know that Amber's been acting since she was 11 years old. One of her first appearances was on the long-running ABC soap opera General Hospital.

  Abc / Everett Collection
Abc / Everett Collection

In an essay for the New York Times, Amber revealed that, after taking the TV role, she underwent ear-pinning surgery — a medical procedure that draws your ears closer to your face to make them less prominent.

A closeup of Amber Tamblyn on the red carpet
John Nacion / FilmMagic

“As a little girl, I had ears that stuck out like butterfly wings," she wrote. "Some kids at my school in Los Angeles would make fun of them, and I’d often stare at myself in the mirror wishing my ears would lay flat against my head."

A younger Amber with long hair wearing a floral-patterned dress
Bob D'Amico / ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection

“I opted to undergo ear-pinning surgery, a decision I’ve never made public until now. For years, my parents watched my struggle with private shame, though they understood I was a tough kid who could handle it."

  Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images for Vox Media
Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images for Vox Media

"But once I knew millions of people all over the world would be judging me on their television screens, not just on a playground, that knowledge changed everything for me."

  Abc / ©ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection
Abc / ©ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection

Amber described her decision to undergo the procedure as "choosing a weapon I could wield in self-defense against my own disposability. It showed the world that I understood the assignment of assimilation—that I could do whatever it took to fit in, never stand out, the way my ears once did.”

  Rob Kim / Getty Images
Rob Kim / Getty Images

“Over three decades, my responsibility not just to my craft of performing but to the performance of youthfulness was reinforced constantly. Would I be less happy if I had fought against the desire to get my ears pinned back, if they still stuck out today?”

  Sony Pictures Television / ©Sony Pictures Television/Courtesy Everett Collection
Sony Pictures Television / ©Sony Pictures Television/Courtesy Everett Collection

“I don’t know — but I do think about it often, and about my willingness to align myself with the industry’s expectations.”

  Leonardo Munoz / AFP via Getty Images
Leonardo Munoz / AFP via Getty Images

In the essay, Amber also specified that she's “not saying that plastic surgery is bad or that everyone who elects to change their bodies regrets their decision.”

  Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

“I’m also not immune to wanting to feel beautiful and desired, and indulging in that need," she added. "I don’t apologize for what I’ve done, or for what I haven’t.”

A closeup of Amber Tamblyn in a blouse
Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images for National Board of Review

“My relationship to my body has changed, healed even, as I’ve become more protective, compassionate and honest.”

  Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images
Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images

You can read all Amber had to say here.