Jordan Parham
Mrs. Torres
Composition
November 13, 2015
A Hideous Trend
Liposuction, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty: plastic surgery is on the rise. Without even realizing it, young children, specifically girls, are taught by movies like Cinderella that they should prize beauty. Society continuously values beauty as people of different races and cultures have gone to extremes just for this elegance: from Chinese foot-binding to inflexible corsets from the Victorian times. While plastic surgery existed in ancient times, only recently has it been accepted by the majority of modern day society. Thousands of hard-earned dollars each year are used for these very elaborate surgeries. This increase of money in plastic surgeons’ pockets results from the desire of having a perfect life, wanting a younger look, and social media influences. As society itself becomes more and more obsessed with the idea of perfection and no human having any flaw, females feel the pressure of correcting any flaw on their bodies. This idea becomes reinforced in reality television shows, advertisements, magazines, and newspapers. In advertisements, rarely does someone see another person with a crooked nose or a wrinkled face. Rather, these people typically have a straight nose, full face, and a slim body. Somewhere in the past few decades, humans have equated the perfect body with the perfect life. A study completed at the University of Texas by Daniel Hamermesh suggested that attractive people are
In her 2005 essay “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery,” Camille Paglia condemns the “routine” plastic surgery middle-aged women receive in order to fit society’s youthful mold. Even though she acknowledges the artfulness that can go into the cosmetic surgery, Paglia despises the “generic cookie cutter sameness.” With the advancement in the medical technology and the accessibility of treatments like Botox, the amount of women who receive surgery has drastically increased over the past ten years. Due to the withstanding social expectations for a youthful, feminine appearance, I agree with Paglia 's argument that women are constantly pressured to go under the knife in order for their aesthetics to meet cultural standards.
In recent years, plastic and cosmetic surgery has become more saturated in society through magazines, television programs, and advertisements that promise attractiveness and youth. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in 2015, 17.1 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the United States, 115% increase from 2000 (1st) . The surge in available providers as well as lower costs and less invasive procedures appeal to the majority. Provided conditions under which the maintenance of outer appearance is made important, cosmetic surgery constructs the need as well as legitimization. The normalization of cosmetic surgery is the result of the 2011 chin obsession, 2013 butt trend, and the 2014 battle of the breasts and pecs. The desire for the perfect pout in 2016 ultimately brought significant change and popularity to cosmetic surgery.
In recent years plastic surgery is something that has become a very popular trend, and also where many young people are even lining up for it. Plastic surgery is to reconstruct or repair parts of the body, especially by the transfer of tissue it can be used for treatment of injury or cosmetic reasons. It enhances one’s physical appearance, allowing him or her to achieve a look he or she desires. For example, a women’s buttocks can be enlarged or reduced, or a nose can be straightened or lifted. Many people find themselves changing their bodies and wondering if perfecting their appearance would make life a bit more perfect. Plastic surgery can enhance someone’s level of confidence and boost their self-esteem, but it is something that can have very serious consequences people need to be aware of.
Famous actress and model Patricia Heaton once said “Plastic surgery is like the big elephant in the Hollywood living room,” (Brainy Quotes). For celebrities, a plastic surgery operation is just another trip to the doctor’s office. After all, in this day and age, image is everything. We see this in high profile professions, and in large cities across the country. However, recently in Beverly Hills, California, girls as young as 16 are getting nose-jobs as a “Right of Passage” to fit in. This is a trend that has moved beyond the big city, and with 250,000 teens getting cosmetic surgery a year, it’s becoming all too normal. Bullying, media, and just plain vanity are causing children and teens everywhere to go under
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
Beauty, particularly a woman's, is supposed to come from within. The inside beauty of a person is worth more than all the artificial beauty. Yet many women go to extraordinary lengths to change their faces and their bodies. Advertisers use ads to advertise what they think is the “perfect body”; in which most cases are overly thin. That does not help women in achieving a better self-esteem, on the contrary, they make them feel worse about themselves. Many times advertisers “enhance” the beauty in a model. They use programs like photo-shop. They make the beauty even more unrealistic. It is proven that the average model now is more than 20 Percent underweight (Bower 2). However, Computer imaging software is used to stretch the size of the models presented in the advertisements, thereby keeping attractiveness constant (Bower 3). Still the importance of physical attractiveness prompts
For many years, the appearance of one’s body has been one of the most concerning features a person may have in life. Mainly because being attractive can help with almost anything. People look more highly at you and even respect you more than a person who isn’t attractive. One of the main emphases on a person’s attractiveness is their face. “Facial attractiveness provides honest cues to health and mate value” (Barber, 1994). This is a major reason as to why many are turning to cosmetic surgery for assistance with their appearance. In the recent decades, cosmetic surgery has seen an explosion of popularity. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), in the year 2012, there were a total of 15.1 million cosmetic surgery procedures performed in America. This has increased by over 3500% from the year 1992, in which only a mere 400,000 cosmetic surgery procedures were performed. This massive increase in desire for these procedures is due to multiple different factors. One of those is that the procedures themselves have changed, resulting in a major benefit on the patient’s behalf. They have become minimally invasive and much safer than in the past. The minimally invasive procedures have increased the satisfaction rates of cosmetic surgery. Additionally, the increase in mass media attention on celebrities that have undergone several cosmetic surgeries has opened the public’s eyes, making them realize that they can look like a celebrity by undergoing a simple,
Have you noticed that some parents who are extremely young beauty pageant contestants contest that competitive can provide confidence for their children? Or students who are trying to show their individuality by negotiating abandoning uniform policy? Or, that some companies are more willing to hire a person when they are attractive? Nowadays, people are more focused on external beauty than inner beauty. Sometimes, older people joke that pretty people have a better future than less attractive people. Thus, society judgement is unfair to those who were not born with beautiful faces and often they resort to plastic surgery. However, resorting to plastic surgery to enhance one 's beauty is an improper way to correct people’s opinion. Teenagers should not resort to plastic surgery for several reasons.
In basic terms, plastic surgery concerns itself with the enhancement or alteration of an individual's body using various surgical procedures. It can be noted that in recent times, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people seeking plastic surgery. In this text, I concern myself with the primary causes of this growing trend.
Living in a judgmental society and a demanding workplace, people are prompted to do whatever it takes for them to maintain their inner pride. Low self esteem and lack of confidence are great factors which push people to change themselves into what they think is better. They are willing to put themselves under the knife just to accomplish their dream of extraordinary beauty. Plastic surgery is an easy road to the illusion of what people refer to as perfection. This subject is more closely related to women as they are always seeking attractive faces and flattering bodies. People tend to view plastic surgery as a simple amendment to their imperfections, but what they don’t realize is that a plastic surgery is a tool that could transform a beauty into a beast in just a couple of running minutes(Melissa Dittmann, September 2005, para.1).
American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) shows that “Americans spent more than 13.5 billion dollars on combined (surgical and nonsurgical) aesthetic procedures in a single calendar year.” Throughout many centuries cosmetic surgery has been performed to enhance one’s body image and looks. In recent years, this practice has been popular not only among adults but also among adolescents. People are spending thousands to get cosmetic surgery. They consider cosmetic surgeries to fit in the norm, to this so called “body image”. They view these practices as the fastest route to accomplish the “ideal body”. Many have fallen victim to cosmetic surgery without fully discerning the risks and complications preceding cosmetic surgery. This ever-increasing phenomenon of cosmetic surgery, especially among teens, should not be widely acceptable because it has many negative impacts such as high medical risks, promotion of unhealthy body image, adverse psychological conditions and high expenses.
American’s spent nearly $16 billion dollars on cosmetic surgery last year. Plastic surgery, also known as cosmetic surgery is a process of reconstructing or repairing different parts of the human body. The first ever documented plastic surgery was a breast augmentation in 1895, the first implant was made out of paraffin, beeswax, and vegetable oil. Plastic surgery for the future of humanity will be bigger and the new advancements will affect it in a negative manner. Even though the advancements will be new and bigger, the treatments will be more dangerous, and much more expensive as the technology and clientele grows. Plastic surgery has been making a dent in our wallets and our self esteem, plastic surgery claims to enhance the beauty of different body parts, but in reality it lowers your self esteem as people see images of others with plastic surgery and aspire to be just like the people they see on billboards, movie screens, social media, and magazine covers, but in reality its all plastic. Anyone who decides to go under the knife has a risk of dying, but some people would rather risk their own life than have a crooked nose.
To begin with, plastic surgery can create a horrible influence, especially towards the younger audience. Sunil Choudhary from “Am I Beautiful the Way I Am?” claims that youngsters today are more ambitious, aware, and want to enjoy life. However, in order to do that, it means to change one’s appearance and individuality. The cause of wanting to alter a person’s appearance is because more than half the teens are influenced by the media’s portrayal of ideal beauty. The portrayal of ideal beauty can increase the standards of not only adults, but also teens and children. It can result in pressure on the younger audience to look in a specific way. Because of this problem, the demands for surgery is not new. Plastic surgery can be highly influenced
Otoplasty. Rhinoplasty. Liposuction: adults are not the only ones resulting to plastic surgery to maintain or enhance their appearance. Many people are riveted by the fact that at the age of fifteen years old, Jen Selter had plastic surgery because of her “large” nose (Victoria). Caitlin Clemons, age eighteen, had surgical breast augmentation in order to “fulfill” her self- esteem (Victoria). These cases are what have shifted natural beauty to the idea that reflection is everything. The development of cosmetic surgery has evolved from the need to repair gross deformities to changing perfectly normal appearances. In today’s society, the priority is placed on the ability to appear youthful and vibrant. The phenomenon urged by the media is expressing that if a female is not young, beautiful, or the ‘correct’ weight, then they are deemed socially unacceptable. Teens face a great deal of stress to keep up with society’s definition of “attractive”, and they are constantly bombarded with images of unrealistic men and women who are held as the social norms. Needless cosmetic surgery for young, developing women is misleading girls to have a false sense of identity, to risk their lives, and to have a continuous stereotype of the “idealized” woman.