“ To men a man but a mind. Who cares what face he carries or what he wears? But woman’s body is still the woman. “(Bierce,1958). People nowadays want to be more beautiful and perfect. They will do anything to fulfill their needs. Cosmetic surgery is modern variation of a practice as old as humankind. Every culture has some customs that prescribe deliberately changing a body’s natural appearance (Brain, 1979). The methods, however, are diverse and particular to a culture at a specific period of time. The body customs may be merely decorative, if not, most have social significance. For certain culture and religion, the body modification is used to communicate power, group membership, individual status and social identity. Until now, the …show more content…
Besides that, most people are going for cosmetic surgery because they have the urge to be better accepted by the society. Aristotle’s belief that, “Beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of introduction” remains as true today as in ancient times. The favourable expectations experienced by attractive people make physical beauty a goal for many. The rewards of attractiveness even begin at birth since parents are more affectionate and attentive with attractive babies (Langlois, 1986). For some people, looking old is not an option because staying youthful is the priority for their career such as those who are in the entertainment industry. For some, it is just for personal pleasure and satisfaction. The pursuit of beauty is a big business in modern societies. Americans spend 20 billion dollars annually on products advertised to enhance appearance. Yet, for many, this is not enough. Dissatisfaction with personal appearance is widespread, particularly among women. Surveys indicate that one-half are unhappy with one or more aspects of their bodies (Cash, 1997). While dissatisfaction with owns beauty is the main reason for the rise in popularity of cosmetic surgery, but it is also causes consecutive reasons for its growth. As the demand is getting higher, the industry is getting bigger and clinics are springing up like
Cosmetic surgery does not promote self-esteem. Instead it improves mood and help patients have less depressive episodes.
Feminism is secondary as the means to challenge the abnormal body which generates suffering. Cosmetic surgery was found to be important as a solution to problems of self-identity. Popular representation of surgical culture authorizes and expresses its normalization and is reflected by post-feminist ideologies.
This new trend of cosmetic surgery is also a factor in presenting an unrealistic body image to the public. Predominantly used by celebrities and those of wealth, now cosmetic surgery is progressively being used by the average middle class person. Men are just as affected by the
There are many reasons why someone may want to change his or her physical appearance, and many of these reasons are out of people 's control. Cosmetic practices and plastic surgery have become more pervasive in modern day society. Plastic surgery is defined as any cosmetic procedure that allows one to reconstruct his or her physical appearance. Although plastic surgery has some benefits, such as the ability to reconstruct genetic deformities that one has no control over, many of the people who undergo plastic surgery do it for non-essential reasons. Plastic surgery can authentic an individual 's goals for beauty if it is necessary, and as long as the individual has higher self-confidence and a higher sense of self. Though this is typically not the case, many of these reasons range from different media and cultural along with societal influences, to an insufficient sense of self, and paired with certain psychological disorders. They opt in favor of cosmetic procedures for a variety of different reasons, characteristically not the right ones, which leaves room for different risks and drawbacks.
At the end of the 80 's, the first plastic surgery was carried out and has been an outlet for those people unsure of their physique. Since plastic surgeries became a trend, ceasing to be an exclusive practice of actors, actresses, and celebrities. Its consumption has spread to all social classes. Acceptance, feel better and regain self-esteem, are some of the reasons that people who go to cosmetic surgery to improve their physical appearance. The acceptance or rejection of other young people are also factors that influence the decision to improve the physical appearance by putting them in the hands of a plastic surgeon. The advance in
The abuse of plastic surgery over the years has gotten out of control. Due to the high demand for fillers, laser, and Botox, physicians perform cosmetic procedures that are non-surgical with no training. Society has unofficially banned wrinkles, fat deposits, and sun-damaged skin. An ethical concern for patients and healthcare providers is that these so-called problems should be enhanced and dealt with rather than result in aesthetic surgery. Although body image is important to certain people, the outer image does not define a human being. “The real value of a person cannot be reduced to his/her appearance, and medicine as an art, should feel the obligation to resist these modern ideologies and should attempt to help people get a more authentic attitude about themselves.” (Mousavi, 2010) If a person is unhappy with himself or herself, they should rely on a more natural solution. Aesthetic surgery should only be an option for people that have suffered an accident or born with a deformity. Having small lips, tiny wrinkles, beauty marks, or dark hair is not a deformity, they’re simply things the body produces over the years.
Studies have shown that, 14.6 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed in 2012. “As cosmetic economic indicators such as auto, retail, and home sales saw gains in 2012 – so too did plastic surgery” (www.plasticsurgery.org). This statistic has proved that across the United States people are being affected with the opinion and views formed based off of Body Image. Throughout the years, the ideas of body image have changed based off of people’s personal desires on what they should look like or on “trend”. Women, children, and even men base their body image on what society believes is ideal. In some years, society might believe that a small waist and a thin frame might be the perfect body image. In others, the curvier frame would be the ideal body image. People have gone down the path of cosmetic surgery in order to meet their needs and desires for what they believe are the “perfect body”. The types of plastic surgery that are being performed correlate directly to the ideas of what body image is supposed to look like.
As economic conditions improve for the average citizen, more people can afford to worry about their looks. A shift in cultural values has led to an increasing demand for plastic surgery as well as plastic surgery reality shows on television. Whether to improve their chances of getting a job or to diminish signs of natural aging, more and more people are following the leads of participants on
Cosmetic surgery has changed the lives of millions. Each year thousands of people make the decision to go under the knife with the hopes of improving their appearance. There are many reasons why people choose to have surgery; for some the reasons are internal, and for others the reasons are external. People who make the choice based on internal reasons are generally people who suffer silently with depression, and other mental illness. These individuals are often unhappy with their physical appearances who feel that if they change their appearance that they will have an opportunity to have a better life. Those who are influenced by external motivation are generally people who have had what they feel is a nice appearance for their entire lives, and as they progress in age they fear the fact that age is going to catch up with them, and cause them to lose the validity of their beauty, and thus cause them to miss out on the lifestyle accommodations that they have been afforded simply based upon their appearance. These people are willing to go to any length to hold on to their good looks, and in many cases they are able to do so with the help of cosmetic surgery.
Sophia Loren once said, “Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful.”Cosmetic surgery is enhancing, not improving the function, a person’s natural beauty through surgical procedure. Cosmetic surgery used to be for mostly the rich and famous because of its cost. Although, it is still not covered by health insurance, it has become affordable, making an option for almost anyone who which to alter their appearance. Some of the most popular surgeries are facelifts, brow lift, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty(nose), tummy tuck, and liposuction. Although cosmetic is marketed as safe by surgeons, it is unnecessary because it is not forever, it can become addicting, and there are many risks associated with it.
“In 2006, almost 11 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the United States alone. The number of cosmetic procedures performed in the United States has increased over 50 percent since the start of the century. Almost 12 million cosmetic procedures were performed in 2007, with the five most common surgeries being breast augmentation, liposuction, nasal surgery, eyelid surgery, and abdominoplasty. The increased use of cosmetic procedures crosses racial and ethnic lines in the U.S., with increases seen among African-Americans and Hispanic Americans as well as Caucasian Americans. In Europe, the second largest market for cosmetic procedures, cosmetic surgery is a $2.2 billion business” (Plastic surgeon HQ, 2010, 1 p.p.).
Cosmetic Surgery has become popular over the years due to the advertisement of celebrities who embrace their surgery to refine their beauty. For example, an article by Anthony Elliot, he labels cosmetic surgery as "Drastic plastic: The rise of cosmetic surgical culture"; "Celebrity obsession: Fame, fortune and faking it"; "Want-now consumerism: Immediate transformation, instant obsolescence"; and "Making the cut: Cosmetic surgical culture in the global electronic economy"(Elliot, 52). The basis of cosmetic surgery is to enhance one 's appearance to suit the paradox established by society’s view of what beauty is. This surgery symbolizes that being true to oneself is not the way, if a person wants to survive the person has to look the part. Cosmetic surgery is harmful to the body which can cause long term damage internally, and should only be used when necessary.
Unrealistic images put pressure on women. Cosmetic surgery is becoming more and more popular in today’s society. Cosmetic surgery includes everything
People who are dissatisfied with their appearances have alternative ways to improve the way they look, such as makeup, clothes, hairstyle. However, some people will choose to undergo cosmetic surgery to enhance their physical appearance.
People have created the modern technical methods to serve the beauty needs of everyone. Aesthetic technologies are going along with the change of beauty needs over the time and adjusting the perception of beauty. Not only nature beauty brings criterion for beauty definition, but also artificial beauty is mutating the standard prescript and the view of beauty. Elective plastic surgery is becoming an acceptable solution for anyone who would like to improve the appearance. The statistics in Medical News Today showed that “approximately 65,000 surgical cosmetic procedures were performed in 2008 in the UK - 50% more than 2003.” Additionally, the official statistics of cosmetic surgery in the U.S. was far more popular. In 2007, there were a total of 1,435,444 of surgical cosmetic procedures. A number of non-surgical cosmetic procedures were 7,113,914, which were higher than the number of surgical cosmetic procedures. In 2014, about 15,622,866 non-surgical cosmetic procedures were performed, which increased doubled in seven years. The figures pointed that more and more people come to elective plastic surgery to achieve the level of perfect beauty. So why have these figures that growth? Despite knowing the hidden risks in surgical elective plastic procedures, people are getting more and more elective plastic surgeries because the obsession with beautiful body image, social criticism because being ugly, and addicted to elective plastic surgery.