Boob Jobs, Credit and Quest for Perfection - Term Paper Example

Sociology American Plastic: Boob Jobs, Credit Cards, and the Quest for Perfection 11 November American Plastic: Boob Jobs, Credit and Quest for Perfection Plastic is a word that is widely known and used in the United State of America. The use of plastic takes numerous forms. Throughout the world, studies have revealed that America is the leading consumer of plastic surgery. The practice is more common among the youthful generation particular the women and the aged who want to look young. In this paper the focus will be on examining the usage state of American Plastic and how the expenses incurred have been paid through credit card. Also, the paper shall give the link of debt incurred as a result of pursuing plastic surgery through use of MasterCard, credit card and debit card. Firstly, it is important to look at the history of the American Plastic use. It is believed that plastic surgery and plastic money has been used in America for decades. According to a board certified plastic surgeon; “protecting patient health, the history of plastic surgery is traced back to 4000 years ago.” Evidence stipulates that plastic surgery was first done in India during the 800BC. During this time, it is noted with concern that the progress of plastic surgery utilization was at a low rate. The board certified plastic surgeon continued to say that this was so until the 19th century. After that, the American medical community embraced the use of plastic surgery. The board certified plastic surgeon believes that the first major plastic surgery in the United State of America was undertaken by “Dr. John Peter Mettauer, who performed the first cleft palate operation in the North American history of plastic surgery in 1827 with instruments he designed himself.” This was a turning point for this practice as evidence of plastic surgery was made available within the jurisdiction of the American country. In the recent past, the utilization of plastic surgery and plastic money, that is the MasterCard, credit card and debit card, has taken toll statistics. Laurie Essig holds the opinion that cosmetic surgery coupled with plastic money has brought America into undefined crisis in life. However, plastic surgery is favored by many and continued to be practiced. Some of the people favor this modern way of living since it act as an answer and solution aging concerns, divorce complications and other adverse happening that are experienced in life. To justify this, it has been reported that “over the last decade about 465 percent increase has been witnessed in cosmetic work.” Fatherly, the financial spending shows the extent of use of plastic surgery in America. This financial spending is always transacted through credit facilities by using MasterCard, credit card and debit card. Essig reports that “over $ 12 billion are used on procedures such as facelift, breast implants, liposuctions and tummy tucks among others”. This is more than twice the budgetary allocation for basic education in the world as Essig continue to emphasize. (38-39). The question most scholars in the world ask is what is fuelling the desire for plastic surgery and use of plastic money in the United State of America. This at time is answered by the historical background of the Americans. It is believed, as is put in a board certified plastic surgeon that, after the First World War many American were injured. The injuries were in various forms. Body damages particularly face injuries were quite many. This greatly affected personal image and lowered the personal esteem of others. As a result, there was an inward drive to change the appearance. A remedy towards this was therefore sought and plastic surgery was a solution to give a new look desired. Since plastic surgery was expensive, financial assistances via plastic money came in handy. Also, it is believed that the world is changing. Due to these changes, quite advanced technological developments have been witnessed. Thanks to the agricultural and the industrial revolution which have contributed enormously. Though as much the era of agricultural and industrial revolution is uploaded, the world is not ignorant of the negative effect it has caused. This has led to cultural erosion, diversification and intrusion. Plastic surgery is seen as a new way of life. It is known that human desires are numerous and keep changing. In America, the plastic surgery adoption is “attributed to extensive changes in both its cultural and economic setting.” It is so because the invention and innovation in plastic surgery has continued and will continue too satisfy the increasing greed and desire for advanced technology. (Essig xiii) Essig continues to shed light on the reasons for increased use of plastic surgery by stating that “plastic is an inherent part of Americans and our way of life. We not only pioneered plastic money but are also global leaders in using credit cards.” To lay emphasis, Essig proceed to say that, “there is an unprecedented desire to “fix” ourselves which is rooted in people’s access to MasterCard, credit card, debit card, medical advances, and the pressures from an image-conscious and youth-obsessed culture.” (39). The orientation of Americans towards consumerism was also noted by Essig as one of the driving factors fuelling the use of plastic surgery and plastic money in America. Essig writes that, “ This is more than the cultural trend but a national mania for plastic surgery and money.” Due to this, a number of phenomena have also risen in the American country which threatens the social fabric. Essig notes that “This obsession is a capitalist conspiracy deliberately created to persuade Americans that societal problems related to economic insecurity, downward mobility, and lack of opportunity for the poor can be solved by consumption.” The Supreme Court has also thrown support for this way of living. In 1982, a ruling was made in favor of cosmetic surgeon. In the light of advertising the use of plastic surgeon, there was controversy between a group in favor of the technology and a group that felt they did not need such way of living. This decision was a landmark in the development of plastic surgery. “The court permitted the American Medical Association (AMA) to advertise its service.” This helped to publicized plastic surgery thereby pulling crowds to favor it. The endorsement by the Supreme Court therefore changed the perception of many individuals concerning plastic surgery. (Essig 36) These reasons are solid and approved by many who advocate for such living style. It has never been easy to change their perspective. As a result, the use of plastic has continued to earn favor and approval from many American Citizens particularly the young generation. Because plastic surgery has been embraced and continues to enjoy the favor of the Supreme Court, it has created business for the plastic money industries as most people opt to settle their debt using plastic money. The question now is that what benefits this way of life has brought in America. The benefits are versed. First and foremost this practice has contributed positive toward economic development. Statistics have shown in Essig’s writing that, “about 30 percent of plastic surgery has an income of about $30,000 per year while about 41 percent earn about $60,000 per year.” It is widely known that the financial assistance for conducting plastic surgery is quite expensive particularly for the low income earners. Consequently, financial assistance institutions have been established. Some of the financial institution promotes the use of plastic money such as the MasterCard, credit cards, and debit cards. These cards have been a financial companion for many citizens of America. The reason for using these cards is that it helps a number of people to offset their plastic surgery dues since they cannot do so from their earnings. Also, the invention of plastic surgery and plastic money created an opportunity for research in America. To achieve this quest for knowledge institutional capacities have been built to address these concerns. With the continued research in the sector of plastic surgery and plastic money more inventions and innovation have been realized. This refers to the methodological approaches for undertaking plastic surgery which so far have improved. This has resulted in less time consumption during plastic surgery and less expensive as compared to the earlier days. Socially, the use of plastic surgery and plastic money has given some people advantage. Most Americans live in a society that is more carried away with facial looks and class. Consequently, lack of utilization of plastic surgery and plastic money discriminate and socially isolate an individual. Essig adds some impetus to this by saying that, “women undertake facelift with hope of avoiding divorce based on the financial interest in holding on to their marriages.” (Essg 58) Also, women undergo plastic surgery to enhance the physical beauty. This in most cases is meant to make them more attractive thus use that power to gain certain favors. An opinion is with the public that most women go through plastic surgery to keep their job. To add on, physically attractive women have greater and better chances for employment opportunities compared to less attractive women. In a one and one discussion with women, Essig noted that, “some women expressed an opinion that today workplace appearance matters more than the quality of one’s work.” Thus following these confessions, it is believable that actually plastic surgery and use of plastic money has helped people socially. (Essig 58) The analysis of the benefits of the plastic surgery will not be complete without mentioning its enormous contribution toward helping the victims of First World War regain their life back and live a normal life. This is indeed a great contribution of the invention of the plastic surgery. In the absence of existence of such technology for facelift, some of the survivor of First World War would be in great social seclusion and apathy. However, the invention and endorsement of the plastic surgery has given them hope. As Essig puts it, Americans are concern about aging. This is attributed to the fact that the life span has been increasing. Consequently, the Citizen of America believe that plastic surgery is “an excellent solution to the crisis caused by an aging and yet still youth-obsessed” This has given more aged people hope of living and enjoying going places they loved. (Essig 58) It is always said that a coin has two sides. This also applies to the issue of plastic surgery and plastic money. As much as it is favored by many and has numerous benefits, it has its disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is the controversy the technology has generated between the Christian and the scientific group. Christian believe that human beings are a reflection of God’s image thus disapprove attempts to try and change how humanity looks while the scientific group continue to promote plastic surgery and use of plastic money due to its significance and its need to be embraced by Christian fraternity in this era of this technological advancement. This debate is bound to continue as believing in the scientific explanation with regard to this invention, raises a question on how true it is that humanity is created in God image. Therefore, this technology has created animosity between the scientific group and the Christian group. The use of plastic surgery and plastic money is seen as a status class within a society. In so doing, it has enhanced level of social discrimination and seclusion. This has created insecurity among people of contrary opinion since the fear of unknown is compounded. This is because beauty and the power of attraction have been misunderstood. Essig, through the report stated that women who undertake plastic surgery have more opportunities. This implies that women who do not undertake plastic surgery and use plastic money have fewer opportunities or are discriminated and secluded due to their natural look. The cosmetics used to carry out plastic surgery contain certain dangerous chemical components. These chemical reacts with the pigmentation of the skin. This consequently exposes the skin to damages due to infra-red and ultraviolet rays from the sun. Also, it is believed that certain parts of the body such as limps, joints and elbow do not change to the preferred status but rather becomes black. This does not appear good thus affect the comfort and conveniences sought through plastic surgery. Another disadvantage is based on the increased use of the plastic money to offset payments. Plastic surgery is very expensive. However, the low, medium and high income earners are all in favor of the practice. To the high income earners, who are a minority in the American society, financing plastic surgery is not a problem. This is always a problem to the low and medium income earners whose financial capacity annually is not sufficient to support the process of undergoing plastic surgery. This group has turn to use of plastic money such as MasterCard, credit card, debit card and other medical advances to meet the financial obligation brought by the plastic surgery. This mode of financing is always expensive to the low income and medium income earners as they take quite some time before repayment. In the insights given by Essig, It is estimated that, “an average cost for cosmetics is $80,000 per year.” As stated earlier, 30 percent of plastic surgery patients earn less than $30,000 per year while 41 per cent of the plastic surgery patients earn less than $ 60,000 per year. This implies that most of the patients, who go for plastic surgery, do so through credits facilities available to them. Due to this, it is evident that, “about 85 per cent of the plastic surgery patients accrue much debt for the sake of acquiring cosmetic surgery”. These much debts are accrued through utilization of the plastic money which in most cases is readily accessible. As Essig explains, it is indeed true that, “there is an unprecedented desire to fix ourselves which is rooted in people’s access to credit, medical advance and the pressure from an image conscious and youth-obsessed culture.” (39) It is important to note that pursuit of plastic surgery is a way of pursuing perfection. This is based on the fact that human heart is always yearning to be better. However, perfection is seen as a state without or free from defects and faults yet it is always hard to achieve. The increasing pursuit of perfection of beauty through plastic surgery is a fiction whose benefits are magnified by the media thereby creating a notion that perfection is possible. This notion is at time created by downplaying the side effects of such a technology. In most cases, the side effects are never made extensively public as the benefits. The invention and innovation of financial aids such as MasterCard, medical advances and other form of credit were created to help man achieve its desire for perfection. It was believe that if man is able to access medical solution such as plastic surgery which is very expensive, then its satisfaction and quest for being better will be met. This kind of behavior is mostly evident among the celebrities and women who believe that there is always great power on appearance. Thus they are willing to walk an extra mile in such for perfection. This has also contributed towards fuelling the persistent and increasing adoption of plastic surgery and plastic money. Due to the increased use of plastic money in the form of MasterCard, credit card and debit cards, particularly by the low and medium income earners, much crisis have been witnessed within the financial sector. The financial institutions have accrued much debts and recovery is therefore a challenge. In some instance, the financial institutions have been forced to recover their debt by confiscating their client properties. This is never easy as it put the institution as well as the client in a funny and embarrassing state. The reason why perfection is a dream that is hard to achieve is because of its complexities. Perfection is made of so many components such as the physical look, behavior, academic achievements and financial sufficiency. Looking at this, despite the fact that financial institutions do give support through MasterCard and medical advances it is not easy to attain perfection. The pursuit of perfection is never easy in any way. Those who are involved are never satisfied by their achievement. This is the reason why human beings need to embrace contentment. Mankind need to accept the way of creation. This is not to say that undergoing plastic surgery will not give you the look desired. But the obsession that has resulted in increased use of plastic cosmetics should be minimized. Based on the above discussion on the history, the benefits, the disadvantages attributed to plastic surgery and the quest for perfection, it is important to note that human needs are complex and it is hard to satisfy. However, the quest for perfection among mankind particular the young people and women is hard to understand. As much as humans are quite aware of the dangers that plastic surgery entails, they will never stop doing it. Therefore the quest for perfection, beauty and youthfulness through plastic surgery has submerged many Americans in debts as the MasterCard, medical advances and other credit facilities are readily accessible. In the bid to save American society from such debt, there is need to enlighten the on the benefits and challenges of plastic surgery as well as how to manage their finances to avoid unnecessary debt as they pursue perfection. Works Cited Essig, Laurie. American plastic: Boob jobs, credit cards, and the quest for perfection. Massachusetts: Beacon Press. (2010). A board Certified Plastic Surgeon. The History of plastic surgery. 11 November 2011 http://www.aboardcertifiedplasticsurgeonresource.com/plastic_surgery/history.html Read More