Looking to Please

   Wherever we go, there are advertisements telling us how we should look and what we should do. When, I read the last triangle blog posts , I realized how much people do just so that others will respect them.  That argument was on shaving, some people opted not to because they did not want to do what society told them is conventional, but had no health benefit.

   Plastic surgery is not that far off. Whereas, with shaving men and women both shave pretty evenly (although women shave more area-legs, under arms, etc.) in cosmetic surgery 90% of clients are female. This says a lot about today’s society.

   We live in a world where women feel that they need to look pretty and young enough to find a romantic partner. So where can one draw the line? Isn't that itself wrong? Women are taking so much extra time to look young and pretty because they are told that otherwise they will look old. Men on the other hand, look “dignified” as they age.

   This sexist argument angers me. I understand wanting to look good. It makes a person feel better, but that is not gender specific. However these advertisements and procedures that mostly women endure show that there is this discrepancy.  With this 9-1 ratio of males to females who undergo cosmetic surgery, there is an underlying assumption that women need to change.

   Then it’s important to factor in what cosmetic surgery entails. It is an elective surgery that people undergo to change the way they look. They can cause harm physically and are very expensive. Yet, the industry is not shrinking, it’s growing. What I find really interesting is that most of the people that get cosmetic surgery do not just get one procedure. Doctors will recommend more to make a bigger profit. It enrages me to know that physicians would do this, that with the most common procedure, a rhinoplasty (nose job) a chin implant is also recommended.

   Yet, that is not what the most frightening component of cosmetic surgery is. What really is worrisome is that it has gotten to a point that just like with tattooing, or drugs, there are starting to be people who can’t seem to get enough plastic surgery. Plastic surgeons have to turn away patients who they are concerned suffer from BDD (Body Dysmorphic Disorder). People with BDD could have 100 procedures, but they would still see a perceived flaw. Yet sometimes it takes a doctor willingly performing over 30 procedures before they suspect that the client may be suffering from a mental illness. Are these doctors just in it for the money? It’s hard for me to believe that they would really not suspect something beforehand. Since we talked about a patient who had more than 30 procedures before being turned away, it is not very comforting to know that they assess everyone before they have a procedure performed. Perhaps, if there was evidence the assessments were helping it would be better. I do wonder though, the act of cosmetic surgery, simply become addicting?