De-racialization Surgery - Article Example

Name Institution Date The problem of racialism in Australia and all over the world has been with us for a very long time. Leaders together with the general population throughout the world have come up with various ways to eradicate racism. The methods used have helped move a milestone in the war against racism. People from all over the world have been sensitized against racism, however as more and more ways of eradicating racism are being invented to eradicate racialization, there are several things that have brought about a persistence in racialization. In the modern world, people are judged according to how they appear physically; everyone has their own perception of a good person, a pleasant person and a person who can be hired for a certain job and deliver. Physical appearances also make people judge others on who to fear and who to be friends with. Physical appearances of certain people who in reality are very well educated and trust worthy have made them miss in opportunities that would change their lives for the better and this people fell less advantaged than those people who have a socially acceptable appearance. With the progress of modern science and medicine, scientists and surgeons have come up with ways of improving appearance of people to appear in a way that is acceptable to the societies. Over the years, science has progressed in the field of aesthetic surgery and so many procedures are now possible. As much as aesthetic surgery is a personal choice, various people embark on it as a lifesaving technique so that they are socially acceptable and so that they can improve appearance and self-esteem (American Society of Plastic surgeons N.p). This perspective of improving appearance is because people have laid out specific standards on what is acceptable as beautiful hence changing the definition of beauty. In line with de racialization, the procedures that have had the most destructive views on race are skin lightening and whitening procedures mostly done by people from a black heritage and people with Mexican and Filipino heritage (Elaine 2007 pg. 9). People who undergo this procedure want to be socially accepted in various circles without others being prejudiced by their skin color. This procedure alone shows that the socially acceptable color that will make you not feel constrained anywhere is white, making the white color be perceived as the best and the most beautiful. This concept has extensively crippled de racialization as beauty is in every color and every person regardless of race or color should be given equal opportunities in life People of mixed races living in an all-white environment feel the need to change their skin color because they feel inferior and are continually judged because of their skin as opposed to the white people.Bottom of Form It becomes very difficult to do simple daily tasks like going shopping without being harassed, finding a job in an all-white work place, buying a house in an all-white neighborhood. All this simple things narrow down to the color of the people’s skin and hence the feel the need to change it to have a better opportunity to be treated fairly like the rest of the population. Being white in Australia is like having an invisible backpack of privileges like, visas, passports, clothes, buying houses in to certain neighborhoods and so many other privileges white people take for granted but are not so easily gotten by people from other races (White Privilege by Peggy) To reduce this form of assorted privilege, white people should be able to first acknowledge the privileges they have as opposed to the mixed races and people from other heritages. It is only in this way that they can be able to see and realize what the other people are going through in their own homes, neighborhood and country. The obliviousness of the advantage white people have over any other race should change, white people should be made aware of the advantages they have, over other races, such advantages include; being able to buy a house in an all-white environment, not being racially profiled when talking to people, not being labeled as poor in the choice of clothing they choose to wear, being able to shop without the risk of being harassed or followed also white people are well represented positively in the newspapers, news and workplaces among other many privileges that white people take for granted but are not to people of other races. Racism can only effectively change if people change their attitude, the process can be gradual but we can be sure that once every color has become socially acceptable, the skin lightening procedures will significantly reduce and every individual will be comfortable in their own skin as no race will seem to be superior to the other. Privilege should not be given to people on birth because of their race, people regardless of race and their social practices should be able to compete for privileges on level butterflied so as to earn anything in life. People from different races should not have to fight twice as hard for an equal opportunity and in the case of others going to extreme cases that have been set up to make them socially acceptable physically to the society (Sander 1999). Acceptability should never be based on a physical appearance of an individual, but with the current generation being so superficial, and profile people racially. People from other races have resulted to skin lightening as many people view beauty in terms of color. White women are considered more beautiful as compared to other races and this is not always the case, however, this has led to women from all over the world to result to skin whitening and lightening procedures done to them which can result to a face off of the brown and the black skin in the near future. These colors in skins are also beautiful in their own rights and should not be subject to change just because of people’s perspective (Sander 1999). Famous people from different races other than white from around the world have also contributed to the destructive views on de racialization by having skin lightening cosmetic surgeries. People look up to famous people and always want to be like them. Very few celebrities from mixed races haven’t undergone a skin lightening procedure done on them. This sends a very strong message to those people who look up to celebrities. They realize that if a famous person is not comfortable enough in their own skin and has to lighten it, then the white race must be the dominant race. Another cosmetic surgery that has destructive views on race, beauty and health is the nose job also known as rhinoplasty. Millions of people have undergone the procedure of a nose job. This is regardless of the fact that medical covers do not have aesthetic surgeries which shows that people are very superficial with their physical looks.Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form The quest for what is perceived as perfection in beauty has grown immensely and statistics have shown that Australia outspends America in cosmetics surgeries. USA with a much larger population spent around $10.1 billion on surgical and non-surgical procedure. To level the playing ground for fair comparison between USA and Australia, we look at the dollars spent in 10000 people and discover that Australians are spending almost 40% more per capital as compared to USA AT 454,500 per ten thousand people compared to 328,000 per ten thousand in the USA. (Australians Outspend US on Cosmetic Procedures; Plastic Surgeon Cosmetic Surgery information Costhetics, 2012) Cosmetic surgery that is aesthetic is criticized to be fueling women’s insecurities about their body as they are done to correct something that is considered as a flaw. No human being has a flaw every, extra skin or difference is beautiful while in that personal individual and no one should feel like they have to correct something in their body. Male partners are usually the ones who are perceived to fuel the need for women to undergo aesthetic surgery, they tend to have an ideal shape of a woman and women strive to please their partners to avoid breakups. Men are advised to appreciate each woman just the way she is so that we can have a reduction of these aesthetic surgeries as women strive to achieve the perfect shape. Aesthetic surgeons from all fields have performed a remarkable number of procedures over the years. In 1996, aesthetic surgical procedures like; tummy tucks, nose jobs, breast enlargement and other body procedures exceeded 1.9 million, this is an increase from 1.3 million in 1994. This is approximately one procedure for every 150 people in the population of United States every year; the people who have undergone an aesthetic procedure are still a minority group as compared to the general population, statistics show that this number grows extensively each year. Emergence of modern science has a lot of advantages especially in the field of reconstructive surgeries to patients who have has accidents or have various diseases has helped in improving livelihood of many people, however we cannot fail to notice that it has also led to several shortcoming in the cases of people with obsession of having a perfect body and they undergo aesthetic surgery to achieve the superficial perfection. White people in Australia have more privileges as compared to people from other races, the biggest problem with overcoming that challenge is that white people do not recognize the kind of privileges they have over people from other races and take the privilege for granted. White children are born and they grow up without really realizing and appreciating the privilege. The first and most important step we have to take to reduce racialization in Australia is making people appreciate the kind of privilege they have over others only then can the help in the process of de racialization. Although a systematic change is relatively slow and may take a few decided to take roots in Australia, realization that white people have an advantage over other races is the most important step. People should be sensitized on the few things they do on daily activity and take for granted are not so easily accomplished by people from other races and most of the times they end up feeling alienated and oppressed. White people in Australia are assured of being represented in every field of work, covered in the newspapers, they are assured of going to shop without feeling like everyone is suspecting them. All this small day to day activities are the ones that should gradually change and make people from other races feel more at home, represented fairly and welcome in any neighborhood they would choose to live in. Embracing different is beautiful is the only way we can appreciate the true beauty of nature and not just what scientists and fashions dictate to be beauty, healthy and acceptable in the society. Every human being is unique physically and in ability, a person should not be judged by the physical appearance but by the mind and what he delivers to the society and how they treat people (Jane 1988 pg. 1). References Gilman, Sander L. 1999. Making the body beautiful: a cultural history of aesthetic surgery. Princeton University Press. Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Bortoluzzi, Patricia. N.d. Medical Mayhem.By:.Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. N.p Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Elaine Laforteza. The Whitening of Brown Skins and the Darkening of Whiteness. N. p Greig, Alastair, Frank Lewins, and Kevin White. N.d. Experiencing the Inequality of Cultural Difference By:. Inequality in Australia Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Jane Galop. 1988. Thinking Through the Skin. American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Plastic Surgery. Accessed through Mcintosh, Peggy White Privilege and Education. Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education Australians Outspend US on Cosmetic Procedures. Plastic Surgeon Cosmetic Surgery Information Costhetics. Accessed June 6, 2015. Read More