Motivations for Plastic Surgery - Essay Example

Motivations for Plastic Surgery In her article, Balsamo (1992) note two widely pursued perceptions about plastic surgery where a section of critics perceive the practice as “technological colonization of women’s bodies” while there are those who think plastic surgery presents women with the opportunity to get “empowered” (226). Central to these two perspectives is the motivation behind the ever-increasing number of women who are willing to go under the knife in order to get what is considered a perfect body. Certainly, not all plastic surgeries are undertaken for cosmetic reasons given that there is also a large section of women who are forced by medical reasons such as breast cancer after mastectomy. One of the areas that have reported a rapid increase in the number of clients is breast surgery procedures. The number of women looking for cosmetic breast surgery has been on a dramatic rise since Timmie Jean Lindsey as the first woman underwent the procedure in 1962. Although the shape of preferred breast implants have been fluctuating depending on the societal trends of specific periods with the 1970s women preferring a teardrop shape while those of the 1990s went for the roundest breasts possible, the global number of those interested in the procedure has always been on the increase (Foster). It is estimated that in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, one out of five women had undergone a plastic surgery procedure (Conley). These figures have continued to increase even with reported health complications such as the Poly Implant Prothese (PIP)scare, which is in fact not the first one. Over the history of cosmetic surgery, there have been always been an alternative to procedures that were deemed as risky such as the 1992 USsilicone scare which led to many women going for plastic surgery to prefer saline instead of silicone implants. The risks on physical health such as possible infections, chronic pains, numbness of affected areas, breakage, leakage as well as necrosis for those who go through such procedures have deterred potential clients. The cosmetic surgery has been reported to gain popularity even during recession with breast augmentation which is the most popular reporting a 10 percent rise in the number of women who underwent the procedure. Surgeons have also noted the PIP scare has not reduced the number of clients visiting to undergo cosmetic surgery procedures (Foster). Psychologists who have investigated the motivation behind increased cosmetic surgery claim there aretwo classificationsthereof that includeintrinsic and peripheral motivation for surgery. Among the greatest motivators for one to undergo cosmetic surgery is to please the opposite sex with those who have undergone various procedures citing the need to feel sexually attractive as a key deciding factor. In some cases, women who have undergone various cosmetic surgery procedures to enhance their physical look have been thought to attract men from higher social classes and are therefore more likely to get married to a rich person (Foster). On the other hand, self-esteem issues are among the biggest internal motivation factors for those who go under the knife. The findings of a research conducted by Dove indicated that of the 3,000 women sampled from ten countries, women from Japan rated themselves poorly on their self-assessment of beauty compared to those from other countries,with only about ten per cent thinkingtheywere beautiful (Etcoff, Orbach, Scott and D’Agostino 15). The study was conducted in USA, the UK, Canada, France, Japan, Italy and Canada, which are considered Westernized countries. In these countries, the cultural concept of what is beautiful is based on ideals that include thinness, tallness and whiteness among others. According to the study, those women that do not possess these qualities see themselves as being less attractive. It further trickles down to the issue of low self-esteem reported by these women. Such women may do what it takes to make themselves beautiful through correction of the parts of their bodies that make them feel less attractive. Therefore, those who go for cosmetic surgery perceive the procedures as a means of correcting what they perceive as a defect in their bodies. Body integrity is one of the reasons that women choose cosmetic surgery as a measure of making them attractive. Many women claim that they wanted a part of their body structure to be aligned into the rest of their body. They claim that they felt uncomfortable because the particular body part prevented them from looking normal and therefore plastic surgery offered them a chance to look like other people. Due to this, such women see plastic surgery as a corrective solution that will make them either remove or rectify certain aspects of their body part that they feel uncomfortable living with (Thorpe, Ahmed and Steer 18-19). The need to have a body that makes them achieve looks that make them appear younger and age appropriate may also drive women to undergo plastic surgery processes. Since the body fat percentage tend to increase with age, women who want to main younger look will find they need to find a way that will reverse their biological clock by reversing the effects of aging from showing on their bodies. These women will go for any procedure that promises quick and painless solution to their weight issues. Some women may also feel that their bodies do not represent their actual age as they think they should look younger (Thorpe, Ahmed and Steer 11).Possibly, this is perfectly captured by the two women. Some women claim that some psychological factors contribute to them seeking these measures as a means making them more comfortable with their own bodies. Such women take the option of cosmetic surgery state unhappiness, low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence as among the driving force that make them choose these measures of weight loss. They claim that the discrepancy between their personalities was affected by their body image (Thorpe, Ahmed and Steer 22). These procedures represent an outlet for them to change what they see as a mismatch between what they should look like and what their body image reflects to the outside world. The mass media through advertisement has also changed the concept of beauty by presenting a woman with flawless skin and body features as being the epitome of attractiveness.The media can go as far as presenting photo-shopped images of celebrities to popularize the products they advertise. Many of these women wish to look like their popular celebrities therefore, seek cosmetic surgery to align their physical features to resemble those from their popular television shows. In many cases, these women follow blindly what is advertised about beauty without making their own enquiry to find out if it is actually true that these celebrities actually use the products they advertise. Further, do not investigate whether the advertisement presents the whole truth (Jones 112). Women who continuously procure cosmetic surgery services may end up developing an addiction to them. The real reason they use such means of body correction might not because of the defects they perceive but because they cannot stop using them.Gorbis and Kholodenkoclaim that sometimes those who go through a cosmetic surgery find themselves with another reason to go through the next (2). This group of people is highly critical of their bodies making them willing to undergo any procedureto correct any part of their body they feel does not fit their own description of what is a perfect body. These motivations for undertaking plastic surgery procedures highlight the ongoing trend that has been sustained by the desire to be perfect. Given the continued demand for perfection in what is considered beautiful, the number of people seeking plastic surgery is bound to continue rising. Continued changes in preferences due to a globalized culture in addition to technological improvements that make cosmetic surgery procedures cheap means that there is always going to be something new to try out further, propagating the desire to improve human looks. Works Cited Conley, Mikaela. Nip/Tuck Nations: 7 Countries With Most Cosmetic Surgery. ABC News, 25 Apr 2012.Web. 19 Feb. 2014. Etcoff, Nancy, et al. "The real truth about beauty: A global report."Unilever Canada, Inc.2004. Print. Foster, Helen.“Why are women going under the knife?” Stylist.co.uk, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014 Gorbis, E.& Kholodenko, Y. Plastic surgery addiction in patients with body dysmorphic disorder, Psychiatric Times, 10, 79-81. Holliday, Ruth, and Joanna Elfving-Hwang. "Gender, Globalization and Aesthetic Surgery in South Korea." Body & society 18.2 (2012): 58-81. Jones, Meredith. Skintight: An anatomy of cosmetic surgery. Oxford: Berg, 2008. Print. Thorpe, S. J., B. Ahmed, and K. Steer. "Reasons for undergoing cosmetic surgery: a retrospective study." Sexualities, Evolution & Gender 6.2-3 (2004): 75-96. Read More