Beauty Is Not Pain?

It is undeniable that cosmetic plastic surgery has become mainstream across the world. The American Society of Plastic Surgery estimates that 10.2 million procedures occurred last year, which places the demand at a staggering 32 percent increase (Nowak 18, Metules 32ac1). Physical beauty has been proven to reap benefits in our competitive society, and the desire for such is clouding judgement. Psychiatric nurse Terri Metules finds that her patients believe plastic surgery to be painless and risk-free: “[they] think they can get liposuction or a face lift performed during their lunch hour” (32ac1). In actuality, these dramatic procedures have dangers that run far deeper than physical health. Mental processes are highly malleable and more awareness should be brought to many patients struggling with body dysmorphia, depression, anxiety, poly surgical addiction, munchausen syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, and other emotional and social disturbances. These

The article Medicalization of Racial Features: Asian American Women and Cosmetic Surgery by Eugenia Kaw discusses the multiple reasons why Asian American women undergo cosmetic surgery. It mostly focuses on the so called “ethnic body modifications” such as blepharoplasty commonly called “double eyelid surgery.” The discussion is based on the findings of multiple researches and interviews that have been done in the San Francisco Bay Area. It suggests ways in which the medical world promotes such racial and gender stereotypes in order to achieve their goal and to make profit from such procedures.

In the article “Plastic Surgery Junkies: Why Are Perfectly Pretty Women Getting Hooked” by Sally Davis, explained how perfect women are getting changes done to their bodies when it's not needed. She describes how people today are obsessed with their flaws and what people think about them just to fit in. She also said that the main reason people felt the need to change themselves was because of the use of technology and the idea of looking like a model and celebrity.

Celebrities often change the perception of teenagers of how they should look. They portray this image that their value is based on their outward appearances and that they have to be thinner to be successful in life. If they are reserved and quiet they are boring, if they are loud and outspoken they are an attention seeker, if they are unique they are weird. It is difficult for them to then find a place to fit in in this world centered around outer beauty and the media’s idea of perfection. To them, thinness is idealised to be “attractive”. Standards of beauty of this have increased the teenagers’ desire to resolve to plastic surgery to fix their imperfections.

As you’re walking down a street you may notice a young group of girls or women walking and they see a huge billboard of a beautiful model. They might stop and stare at her and then discuss about her perfect her body is. Not knowing in the next five minutes they’ll be comparing their bodies to the model and feeling bad about themselves wishing that they had her body. Not to mention, that the photo may be photoshopped to make it seem as her body is perfect, or she had plastic surgery to fit the idea of having the perfect body. The fact that the media thinks they’re encouraging young girls and women to embrace their beauty, they’re influencing them that they have to have a perfect body in order to get attention. The media has put a lot of pressure on young girls and women to look perfect and second guess their bodies, when plastic surgery is never the answer to build their self-esteem up.

In South Korea, specifically Seoul are filled with plastic surgery clinics causing the country to becomes the world’s highest rate in cosmetic/plastic surgery . When visiting a clinic, most women’s ideal image would be K-Pop idols,generally, the common factors are double eyelids, v-line face, and slim body. It has been estimated that one out of five South Korean women has had cosmetic work done, compared to about one in 20 American women, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. In 2013, American approximately spend $12 billion on cosmetic surgery whereas in South Korea, the price is roughly $7.5 million even with a mass amount of clients, all stated by Chang and Thompson, ABC News. The reason being is simply because “in South Korea, each surgery only ranges from $2,000 to $4-5,000” said Choi, a foreign client who comes to South Korea to undergo plastic surgery. Nowadays, not only adults but teenagers are also eligible to undergo surgery with parental consent. Adults tend to have plastic surgery to stand out from others while most teens want to fit in with peers. According to American Society of Plastic Surgeons statistics, 63,623 cosmetic surgical procedures were performed on people age 13-19 in 2013 according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. However, not all surgeries is for cosmetic reasons. In

Images produced by the media will make people do almost anything to fit American standards of the perfect body. Plastic surgery offers a quick fix to help achieve this goal but no matter how much surgery nothing is perfect. Images produced by media, quick fixes and the outcome of the fixes are problems that women of all ages deal with.

In a society so consumed by the ideology of beauty, it makes sense as to why so many women these days undergo cosmetic surgery. The definition of beauty has long been obstructed and changed. In the past, if you look at the woman, you will see they are curvy, during this era being thin meant you were poor where as a beautiful and wealthy woman would be plump because she could afford fine dining. As society has changed, being slender has become the new trend, creating the idea that in order to be truly beautiful one must be thin. The movie stars in Hollywood, although most people realize the beautifying changes that are made to the pictures, this idea of 'beauty ' and 'desire ' still lingers in the mind of whoever comes across it. Our society is bombarded with several different ideologies of beauty but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The beauty standards that have been set should not be what are shaping people around the world and influencing them to go through with plastic surgery. The use of plastic surgery has changed from a medical procedure used to reconstruct the wounded or people with birth defects to reconstructing something people do not like about themselves. Plastic surgery was used during WWI in 1910 and after the war, skin grafting grew. The first training program in the United States was in 1924 thanks to Dr. John Davis. In 1950-1959, plastic surgery was used broadly to repair cleft pallet. It wasn’t until about

There are many beauty standards but weight and body size is slowly becoming the main focus. These standards give a false sense of hope of having the “perfect body.” Instead of letting beauty standards be socially accepted, people should be aware of the harm they cause. Celebrities are role models to various people around the world and they are criticized for their appearance. Many of these celebrities go out and get plastic surgery, Botox injections, and Silicone implants. People that a lot of money and higher status are more likely to be able to live up to these standards. Some women are willing to sacrifice comfort and tolerate the pain to achieve them.

Plastic Surgery has become a worldwide epidemic in today’s world. The number of plastic surgeries continues to increase since 2010. In today’s day and age, plastic surgery is one of the most popular and requested procedures. Females are opting to have plastic surgery because they dislike their body image. Society has impacted many people by brain washing them to believe that a person’s body has to be perfect. In order for one to be considered beautiful, television and media influence people’s perceptions of beauty.

We live in a society where people worship beauty. As far as recorded history people have gone to extremes to seek beauty. From foot binding in China to wearing strangulating corsets in Victorian era. People from different race and culture have experimented in every way possible way to look beautiful prior to this popular age of plastic surgery. It’s very common to hear people complain about their appearance, whether it’s their crocked nose, thin lips or flat chest. Remarkably, plastic surgery has been the solution for people who complain. Most people tend to think of plastic surgery as only cosmetic surgery and not as reconstructive surgeries. Plastic surgeries seems to be an invention of modern technology; however its roots lie in the ancient history of India. An Indian surgeon contributed towards the establishment of plastic surgery, it was intended to correct physical deformities acquired during birth, accident, disease or war. These surgeries did not gain the popularity it has today until the First World War. It was during the late 60’s, when doctors started realizing the endless possibilities of plastic surgeries. With the help of this surgery a trained surgeon can replace an amputate body part, remove skin cancer, get rid of unattractive scars and visible birthmarks or rescaling a nose or enhance body parts. Today more and more people from different age groups opt for plastic surgeries to obtain dramatic physical changes. These surgeries were envisioned to restore

As time progresses, plastic surgery becomes more popular. Plastic surgery isn’t just what’s seen on TV and on social media; plastic surgery is much more than facelifts, rhinoplasty, and breast enhancements. In fact, “plastic surgery is anything that undergoes the process of reconstructing or repairing parts of the body.” (Reconstructive Surgery) The facelift Kris Jenner recently just had done is equally considered plastic surgery as an ordinary person getting an extra finger removed. These are both types of plastic surgery, but they’re treated completely differently. A woman who gets cosmetic surgery gets scorned for getting the procedure done, yet the person who went in to remove their extra finger does not. In reality, these issues are quite similar. Plastic surgery is often the last resort for those who want to desperately change how they look; those who get plastic surgery done are quickly judged for doing so; however, both men and women should consider the reasons why a person might want plastic surgery; the reasons behind this may be deeper than one thought.

Messages within the media indirectly contribute to the rising rate of plastic surgery. Desires to meet the idealisms of media representations are often so consuming that people demand plastic surgery despite all of its associated risks and controversies. To compensate for this up and coming surgical trend, technology has developed more reasonable and attainable options for the public. Millions of operations are now able to be performed on those wishing to fulfill specific gratifcations toward their own personal appearance and/or self-esteem. This is a serious problem in that people are unaware or just simply

By now, the increasingly insane and near impossible standards for beauty have led to only one place, plastic surgery, since there is obviously no way for naturally born looks to conform to these ideals. Not only does South Korea par take in various forms of plastic surgery, but is the plastic surgery capital of the world, with more procedures per capita than anywhere else. As stated earlier, the double eyelid, or ssangapul in Korean, is one of the most quintessential parts of their beauty standards, so it is really no surprise that this type of surgery, the blepharoplasty, is the most common and popular. With the surgery, it creates an extra fold under the eyelid by cutting and repositioning excess tissues to create the double lidded

Beauty is pain. Isn’t it? From hair and nails to skin care and pedicures, a women wants to feel beautiful inside and out. Women would go through just about anything to have the perfect eyebrow, manicure, and much more. Often what women envy most in other women is the genes of long beautiful hair.