In Recent times outside beauty and staying forever young are the newest trend among today’s society. Women are the highest percentage of this trend because women have been conditioned at young age to believe outer beauty is unsurpassed. Plastic or cosmetic surgery in the past has been kept hushed, never knowing did she have her nose worked on? Today plastic surgery is being embraced by the millions and highly looked upon. Recently a friend of mine had a breast augmentation. Her argument was the need to feel more confident in her own body. She felt out of proportion to the rest of her body.
Young and old women today feel the need to look like Barbie, which undoubtedly comes from the need to replicate their favorite celebrities. Other causes for plastic or cosmetic surgery come from low self-esteem issues, sexual satisfaction and the need to be accepted as beautiful. For Instance, in 2000 more than 6. 3 million women went under the knife by surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, says the American Society of Plastic Surgeons statistics. The five most popular invasive surgical procedures for women in 2000 were liposuction, eyelid surgery, nose reshaping, breast augmentation and facelift (ASPS statistics).
There were nearly 11. 9 million surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures performed in 2004, according to the most comprehensive survey to date of U. S. physicians and surgeons by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS Statistics). In addition the top five surgical cosmetic procedures in 2004 were, liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, and facelift. The top five non-surgical cosmetic procedures in 2004 were, Botox injection, laser hair removal, chemical peel, microdermabrasion, and hyaluronic acid.
Overall, since 1997, there has been a 465 percent increase in the total number of cosmetic procedures. Surgical procedures increased by 118 percent, and non-surgical procedures increased by 764 percent (ASAPS Statistics). Firstly in most recent research from Dental and Health Articles, women who have had cosmetic surgery have found greater satisfaction in their sexual lifestyles. Women reported that their partners were more sexually satisfied, dressed to enhance their new figures, and were compelled to try more and different sexual activities post-surgery.
Especially, the greatest benefits were seen in women who had breast augmentation, breast lift and or body contouring procedures. The study was published in the January-February 2006 issue of Aesthetic Surgery Journal (Dental and Health Articles). “The benefits of cosmetic plastic surgery appear to go beyond enabling patients to feel better about their physical appearance,” commented Mark Jewell, MD, President of ASAPS, which publishes Aesthetic Surgery Journal (Dental and Health Articles). Secondly, low self-esteem is major cause for plastic or cosmetic surgery.
My friend of ten years, Megan Welke had a breast augmentation in December of 2005. Her justification according to her was the need to feel secure, boost confidence, and self esteem. Her size A32 breasts did not fit her five foot nine, one hundred and fifty-five build. After having the four-hour surgery and six weeks of recovery she feels extremely confident in her looks, ” I’m glad I went through with the augmentation, the pain from the recovery was totally worth it, now I have the breasts I’ve always wanted”. Many women feel the need for plastic or cosmetic surgery even close friends of mine.
Therefore, from BeautyNova a website, “The reason why I need plastic surgery is because I have low self-esteem and because I’m on the market and I need a man,” 30-year-old Gena Horst. Presented by BeautyNova most women they have interviewed find that for whatever reasons, good or bad, they feel prettier and more confident. It is no secret that a boost in confidence brings out other good qualities in a person. It is a sad fact the main reason women try to look their best is for male attention. As research has shown the best way for women to raise their self-esteem according to society is an increase of plastic or cosmetic surgery use.
Women are spending billions of dollars through the recent years to boost their self-esteem and body image for whatever reasons they have to proceed with elective surgery. Lastly, the newfound lust for looking perfect has come from the ever more popular reality televisions shows, ABC’s “Extreme Makeover,” Fox’s “The Swan” and MTV’s “I Want a Famous Face” have made more people aware of available options. Watching television is the younger generations favorite past time. The ideal of looking perfect is perpetuated to the young through these reality shows and of course the media.
These new wave television shows create an unhealthy standard for young people to look up to. Importantly with more research available now the concept of wanting a better self-image and the need to feel confident is one of the more reoccurring reasons women have plastic or cosmetic surgery. In a recent study, Dr. Sarwer, found that a year after receiving cosmetic surgery, 87 percent of patients reported satisfaction following their surgery, including improvements in their overall body image and the body feature altered.
Not surprisingly, many advertisers promote that a woman can never achieve the look of perfection, that the perfect body is tall, thin, young and white. The physical images presented in the media are flawless in every way. Nobody looks that perfect naturally, not even the models themselves. The media message is try hard enough, spend enough, suffer enough, achieving the look you want and shaping your body will somehow bring you success and happiness. Nevertheless the rise in plastic or cosmetic surgery is due from the excessive television intake from young viewers.
Viewing the ultra thin Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton will take a toll on the younger generation wanting to look like these beautiful girls and will go to any length to achieve their perfect looks. Most people do not realize that Hollywood Starlets are just like every day people. With this in mind women today are convinced that celebrities are flawless, but in fact they too have cellulite, wrinkles, scars, and yes acne. In movies and photo shoots all of these stars including men, are packed heavily with make-up to hide their most undesired facial and bodily flaws.
On top of that before photos go to print, the photos are airbrushed and any hint of imperfection is erased. Believing they have that perfect body seen in movies, most celebrities have body doubles. Society should not believe everything seen on the big screen. With this in mind the increase in plastic or cosmetic surgery has increased because of the need to feel perfect. All of the causes listed root from the need to feel perfected. Having low self-esteem is from not feeling ideal. Repairing the part of the body needing work by elective surgery is the only cure to feel whole by today’s standards.
Sexual satisfaction is just a huge benefit from having plastic or cosmetic surgery. There are a lot of women who feel the need to have surgery to spice up their marriages or once again try to please their man as eye candy no matter how old they are. Of course the biggest producer in the increase of this drastic altering affects to the body is from the hours spent watching television. The constant reminders in commercials of how pretty some one is not, is the prodigious influence. Television has become a tremendous output on how many options are available no matter how much money a person makes.
Works Cited Adminstrator. “Why women get cosmetic surgery? ” 9 September 2005. http://www. beautynova. com/blog/? p=23. Dittman, Melissa. “Plastic Surgery: Beauty or Beast? ” Volume 36, No. 8. September 2005. http://www. apa. org/monitor/sep05/surgery. html Sarwer, D. B. Plastic surgery in children and adolescents. 2001. J. Thompson & L. Smolak Eds. Body image, eating disorders and obesity in youth. 341? 366. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Staff. Cosmetic Plastic Surgery For Women Continues To Increase In Popularity. 12
July 2001. http://www.plasticsurgery. org/news_room/press_releases/Cosmetic-Plastic-Surgery-For-Women-Continues-To-Increase-In-Popularity. cfm. Staff. Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Research [:] Statistics and Trends for 2001, 2002 and 2003. Copyright2006. http://www. cosmeticplasticsurgerystatistics. com/statistics. html Staff. Women’s Self Image and Sexual Satisfaction Increase After Cosmetic Surgery. Copyright 2006. http://www. dentalplans. com/Dental-Health-Articles/Womens-Self-Image-and-Sexual-Satisfaction-Increase-After-Cosmetic-Surgery. asp Welke, Megan. Personal Interview. 24 March 2006.