http://www.ltcconline.net/lukas/gender/normal/pics/normal144.jpg
This week I wanted to talk about plastic surgery. The link above is an advertisement that I found on genderads.com I'm not sure what this ad is selling and I can't really read the words in the top left corner but it really sparked my eye. This woman is clearly getting a boob job but what stands out is that she is wearing an evening gown, heels, and is texting on her phone which shows the image of a popular socialite a woman should strive to be. What really gets me is that her face is covered up. No one cares who she really is as a person, just that she is keeping up with what society tells her to be.
Going along with the idea of plastic surgery in today's society, I would also like to talk about an episode of Real Housewives of Orange County. In this episode, one of the housewives was taking her 16 year old daughter to have mother daughter plastic surgery. The mother was getting a facelift and the 16 year old girl was getting a nose job. As if their fake tans and died hair along with designer bags and clothes weren't already enough, they still wanted more. What was interesting to me was the father/husband said something to the extent of "I don't put a price limit on my girls' happiness". He was acting as if he was doing something so great for his girls and so self-less. I was disturbed by the mother-daughter duo's pathetic obsession to keep up with the almost perfect women of California but even more disturbed by the husband/father's comment.
This past winter break, I myself had an experience with a plastic surgeon. I had a cancerous tumor in my cheek and had to get it removed. It's funny how I never cared what people thought of me until then. I became more obsessed with my scar than the fact that I actually had cancer. It was a horrible experience in many ways but I too, was sucked into the shallow need to have a perfect face. My boyfriend would have to tell me every single day that it was okay and I was still beautiful to him even with my scar. I became obsessed. I had to hear it all the time. We ended up really fighting about it because I had become this shallow person that I never was before. It took me a while, but I am now okay with the fact that I have a scar and even think that it adds some extra character and badass-ness to myself. :) I do however, think it is crazy that people go through that type of surgery and recovery just to make themselves look better. It's not fun. I feel really bad for the people who feel that they have to get plastic surgery to feel better about themselves. I can only hope that our society will turn itself around...but that hope is diminishing quickly every day as I see more and more things that only add to people's needs to meet the "norm".
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am sorry to hear about your experience over break but I am also very happy to hear that things worked out for you. The first person that came to my mind when I read this post was Heidi Montag. Her appearance has certainly changed since we first saw her on the MTV show "The Hills' a few years ago. Her appearance first transformed when she had breast implants and a nose job. In last week's edition of "Us" magazine, she was featured on the cover saying that she is addicted to plastic surgery and had 10 operations in one day. My jaw immediately hit the floor. I was wondering what you could possibly be changing to have ten operations in one day. I find it awful that she is willing to put herself on display for the world to see. I find it even more disgusting that she says she wants to have more procedures done and doesn't see anything wrong with it. With highly publicized figures getting so much plastic surgery, a message is being sent to young girls that if they don't like something about their appearance, they can have it changed surgically. It is sad that some people take things like this so lightly.
ReplyDeleteThe Real Housewives shows are the epitome of unrealistic expectations for women. Every one of those women have had so much plastic surgery that some of them can hardly even move their faces. I am a fan of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” and they all think plastic surgery is not a big deal at all. One of the women even refers to her fake boobs as her “bubbies,” so to all of these women, enhancing their body parts to please someone else is no big deal. They can even make jokes about it. I was surprised when we watched Jean Kilbourne’s documentary and she said that women lose all of the sensation in their breasts when they get boob jobs. It is sad that we as women will become less human and more like Barbie just to get the attention of a guy. Society has really messed up our ways of thinking.
ReplyDeletehey girl!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I am so happy that you decided to join colleges against cancer and I think you are an incredibly strong person to share your story and to have battled something as scary as cancer. Second, you ARE a beautiful girl and you should never forget it.
You blog really hit a sensitive spot with me. I am not a fan of plastic surgery for those that simply want to "improve" their appearance. I think that people who have plastic surgery for that fact are incredibly selfish and ungrateful. Instead of thanking God for being healthy and happy, they feel the need to change something that isn't broken. Then there are people in the world suffering from life-threatening abnormalities and life-altering issues such as breast cancer, cleft palates, cancerous tumors in other places of the body that need removing and people suffering from sever accidents that cant afford the plastic surgery. It infuriates me that people can be so incredibly self centered. I would love for the "Barbie doll wanna be" people to take ALL the money they spend/or want to spend on plastic surgery and donate it for the people who actually need the surgery. The people who want surgery for "shits and giggles" have disgustingly low self worth that they feel the need to change their "face" in order to please others. Those people are ruining the reputation of a life saving surgery.
First of all, I've never had to have surgery for a health issue, but I have family members and friends that have. It was not an enjoyable experience and there many health risks involved, so I do not understand why people would want to put themselves in this position when they do not have to be. Also, when I was reading your post, I thought about the show Dr. 90210. The Dr. is a plastic surgeon in California and for the most part does lipo-suction and breast implants. His wife is a blonde women who might wear a size 0 pants and who has double D (fake) boobs. I always wonder if she is like this because she felt the need to look "perfect" since she is married to a famous plastic surgeon. They do not have a good relationship and they fight all the time. Did she think that plastic surgery would enhance their relationship? Do people in general who get look-enhancing plastic surgery think that it will enhance their personal lives? Sadly, I think the answer is yes and they are like this because of the pressure that is put on us by society to look perfect. Especially, to look perfect for your man.
ReplyDelete