Plastic and Fantasy in U.S. Advertising

First of all, one of the major drawback of cosmetic surgery is high expense. Some of the

It is everyone's initial right to go about achieving what will help improve their self. It is important to receive these procedures in safe conditions that way it may have a higher success rate. So, getting plastic surgery done in the United States is very much encouraged, especially when the society is not going to change the social norms of looking a particular way. Although the declaration is out of date as far as the technology and types of instruments that we use to achieve these looks through plastic surgery, it is still the basic reason to why one may want to have a surgical fixation of their

Cosmetic surgery is becoming the most popular category of surgery, for both men and women. According to Alexander Edmonds “Beauty is becoming a more visible part of medicine, and health risks may become less visible.” Since only one-third of surgeries

Surgeries in themselves are complicated procedures. Weighing positive and negative outcomes and every in between possibility is a task every surgeon and patient must talk through. Many procedures are based off a necessary for life, or a better healthier-life outcome. Such procedures are covered by health insurance. But what about the other side of surgeries? Some procedures are purely cosmetic, some may say. But, cosmetics can play a

Plastic surgery began as bodily reconstruction for wounded soldiers in World War I. The surgery developed in stages, starting with correcting traumatic injuries and deformed facial features. The more cosmetic focus began in the 1970’s, with creating “perfected” facial features and making aesthetically pleasing body parts. Cosmetic surgery boomed in the 1990’s, with 1.2 million procedures performed in the United States alone (plasticsurgery.org). The swiftness in which these procedures have infiltrated society has lead to a change in our view of the value of the body. The modern ease and accessibility of cosmetic surgery has intensified the need for external beauty and has influenced the loss of personal identity.

Cosmetic surgery, a type of elective surgery undertaken to alter a person’s appearance for reasons beyond injury, illness, or disease, has become increasingly pervasive in society in the past few decades despite sparking controversial debates. (Coleman, 171) While reconstructive surgery is condoned, cosmetic surgery occupies a gray area where physicians “dedicated to saving lives, healing, and promoting health” perform “invasive surgical operations on healthy bodies for the sake of improving appearance.” (Miller, 353) Nevertheless, demand for it is higher than ever with people looking to surgery as an easy method for changing their appearances. This essay will argue that cosmetic surgery is indeed ethical for physicians to perform by examining it through the perspective of the four basic principles of medical ethics: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice.

Plastic surgery is not a new field of medicine. Traditionally, plastic surgery dealt with fixing abnormalities of the body, but recently people are enjoying the luxury of plastic surgery simply because they are not happy with their appearance. People make appointments with plastic surgeons for procedures such as rhinoplasty, liposuction, tummy tucks, face lifts, and most commonly breast augmentation. These people look forward to desired results from such procedures without considering the risks. Many risks accompany plastic surgery, but they are rarely discussed in the media. Death is even a possible conclusion of the surgery. Why would people subject themselves to such conditions as having

Imagine being insecure or unhappy with a certain aspect of your physical appearance. Now imagine if there were a way to magically fix it, well there is a way and it is not so magical. Cosmetic surgery is the solution for many men and women who want to change something about their physical appearance. Many people try to fix something physical to make up for a bigger issue they have about themselves deeper down. The first thing that is important to know when talking about elective surgery is that there is a difference between plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery. “Plastic surgery is defined as a surgical specialty dedicated to reconstruction of facial and body defects due to birth disorders, trauma, burns, and disease” while cosmetic surgery is “the procedures, techniques, and principles of cosmetic surgery are entirely focused on enhancing a patient’s appearance (Morrison).” It is important to know the difference because in this paper, cosmetic surgery is the focus. Cosmetic surgery includes procedures like liposuction, tummy tucks, face surgery, and breast surgery (Morrison). Cosmetic surgery is not a bad thing, many people choose to partake in these procedures. The issue at hand is not whether or not cosmetic surgery is necessary, but what cosmetic surgery does to teenagers in our society today. For example, imagine a teenage girl maybe around age fifteen, women do not fully develop physically until their twenties, but fifteen year old girls are used to seeing fully developed women in the media. There are television shows that cast women in their twenties as girls in high school. This is extremely misleading to girls, because they think they should look a certain way in order to be conventionally attractive. So imagine this fifteen year old girl begging her parents to look like everyone else, screaming and crying. Perhaps she has been bullied because other people may have had surgery. It is hard for parents to say no to their kids when they want something so bad especially if they are bullied. Say the girl did get the surgery with her parents’ permission and everything is fine, she looks how she wanted to. She got breast implants, a couple years down the road and she gets fully developed. Well now because of

Cosmetic surgery is becoming trendy not just in the United States, but internationally as well. We are surrounded by media that constantly reminds the society of the ways in which we should appear. The media imprints a message that happiness and success come from beauty. Media establishes this through only showing certain body figures on celebrity television shows and magazines. Because of this self-esteem begins to plummet, and people consider cosmetic surgery in hopes of boosting their self-esteem. As the articles below indicate, cosmetic procedures are viewed differently from an array of cultures due to social contact, and determining who is a good candidate for these specific procedures. Both articles are in fact, reputable sources, written by well educated authors that are experts on the effects of cosmetic surgeries.

Plastic Surgery is a controversial topic nowadays. Some men and women believe that plastic surgery is a great chance to have finally the body, face, and even romantic life always dreamed about. In the U.S. the plastic surgery television shows have made these ideas more popular and common than ever. Some men and women have other reasons for want plastic surgery Such as people who want plastic surgery have disfigurements to the face or body because of birth defects or genetic problems. The rise in plastic surgery in U.S. is a bad sign for future. Plastic surgery is not always a good thing for everyone. Cosmetic surgery should be prohibited for teenagers and people having psychological problems.

Is life or image more valuable? In 2012, 14.6 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures, including both minimally-invasive and surgical, were performed in the United States (14.6 Million Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Procedures Performed in 2012). There are people who lose their lives each and every day just because they are not happy with the way they look. Patients who desire a change in appearance go to a cosmetic surgeon where countless numbers of mishaps could happen and do happen. This is an unsettling fact for many; however, there is nothing that can prevent people from going to the cosmetic surgeons due to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Cosmetic surgery should be limited because these surgeries have too many negative consequences. There is one way to help control this dilemma, and it would be to limit the amount of surgeries one could have executed on them for safety reasons.

Plastic surgery is not just for the rich and famous anymore. In 2010 more than half of Americans approved of plastic surgery and contemplated having some sort of plastic surgery procedure performed on them(American Board of Plastic Surgery, 2010). The

“Don’t like the way you look? Ready for a quick and easy change? We can help you with one simple cosmetic surgery.” We have all heard or seen advertisements like this on television or in magazines, but why is cosmetic surgery so appealing to people, especially women? Cosmetic surgery is used all over the world to enhance one’s features and make people “happy,” but is it worth it? Is it beauty or is it a beast having cosmetic surgery done? There are many options and things to consider when thinking about getting any kind of surgery. Body image is a huge aspect especially when there is a demand for beauty by society. The cost of cosmetic surgery and the dangers are also something to take into consideration, but there are many positives in getting this type of surgery.

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

America was once said to be a big melting pot of different ethnic groups and cultural rituals. In earlier history, most people did not get these operations done to enhance ones beauty, they did it because their lives almost depended on it. Even though plastic surgery started off as a procedure that was only done to fix an abnormality, this is one thing that has become apart of our culture. Cosmetic surgery has manifested into something that everyone