Media and Plastic Surgery Essay

As you’re walking down a street you may notice a young group of girls or women walking and they see a huge billboard of a beautiful model. They might stop and stare at her and then discuss about her perfect her body is. Not knowing in the next five minutes they’ll be comparing their bodies to the model and feeling bad about themselves wishing that they had her body. Not to mention, that the photo may be photoshopped to make it seem as her body is perfect, or she had plastic surgery to fit the idea of having the perfect body. The fact that the media thinks they’re encouraging young girls and women to embrace their beauty, they’re influencing them that they have to have a perfect body in order to get attention. The media has put a lot of pressure on young girls and women to look perfect and second guess their bodies, when plastic surgery is never the answer to build their self-esteem up.

Self-esteem plays a big part of body image. People have to feel good about themselves and be comfortable in their own skin to be happy. In today's world, it feels almost impossible to be happy, this generation is all about the media which makes having self-esteem 10x harder. Millions of pictures are posted of expectations of how women should look. In an article written by Pavica Sheldon, she states that ”The average American woman is 5’4 and 140 pounds, whereas the average female model portrayed in the media is 5’11 and 120 pounds”. Women are placed into a box telling them they have to look a certain way and if they don't they're simply not good enough. Besides being put into a category women numerously get called nasty names like slut or whore if they show too much. Piggy and fatty if they're overweight. Or “stick” if she's too skinny. Nothing is ever good enough is what it feels like. For example, Kylie Jenner, if you grew up watching “Keeping up with the Kardashians” you know how she looked before all the plastic surgery she got done, she now looks completely different. An account wrote, “What are they giving Kylie?” and someone quoted the tweet and said plastic. So even if women try to fix their imperfections they still get shamed down for it by calling them fake.

Elective cosmetic surgery either increases or decreases self-esteem. Often at times, people are too quick to surgery. Cosmetic surgery ads over judge the ability to perfect someone’s expectation. Consequently, cosmetic surgery is a luxury more than a medical procedure. Before turning to surgery, people need to have realistic expectations. After surgery, patients expect immediate results (Roberts). For young adults, they can adapt to more natural alternatives. Natural alternatives could include a healthier lifestyle. Although cosmetic surgery can improve self-esteem, it can also degrade self-esteem. A study followed adolescent girls through a thirteen-year segment. The results showed that women who succumbed to surgery provided more symptoms of depression. However, high expectations make self-esteem stay unimproved (Brooks).

Most women are pressured to look good because the media and society have created an environment that requires women to have beautiful appearances. This has led plastic surgery to become popular as a way to obtain glamorous appearances and a better life. As Jane Megan Northrop stated, many women believe society has required people to have beautiful exteriors to become a likeable person for different societal groups. Northrop points out that historically, physical appearance has always played a major role in social groups. Even children have their ideal body appearances. As the importance of body appearances in society brought attention to the media to have plastic surgery shows,

In a society so consumed by the ideology of beauty, it makes sense as to why so many women these days undergo cosmetic surgery. The definition of beauty has long been obstructed and changed. In the past, if you look at the woman, you will see they are curvy, during this era being thin meant you were poor where as a beautiful and wealthy woman would be plump because she could afford fine dining. As society has changed, being slender has become the new trend, creating the idea that in order to be truly beautiful one must be thin. The movie stars in Hollywood, although most people realize the beautifying changes that are made to the pictures, this idea of 'beauty ' and 'desire ' still lingers in the mind of whoever comes across it. Our society is bombarded with several different ideologies of beauty but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The beauty standards that have been set should not be what are shaping people around the world and influencing them to go through with plastic surgery. The use of plastic surgery has changed from a medical procedure used to reconstruct the wounded or people with birth defects to reconstructing something people do not like about themselves. Plastic surgery was used during WWI in 1910 and after the war, skin grafting grew. The first training program in the United States was in 1924 thanks to Dr. John Davis. In 1950-1959, plastic surgery was used broadly to repair cleft pallet. It wasn’t until about

An article in the peer-reviewed journal Psychology of Women Quarterly examined the attitudes of middle aged women (between 35 and 55 years of age) by asking 108 women in that age group to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire probed into issues related to women who are getting up in years, including: a) potential body dissatisfaction; b) their physical appearance investment; c) the possibility of anxiety related to aging; d) media exposure (in magazines and on television) (Slevec, et al, 2010, p. 65). The questionnaire also queried these 108 women on their attitudes regarding cosmetic surgery; are they generally in favor or against cosmetic surgery, are they motivated socially to try and improve their appearance, and have they actually considered having this kind of surgery done?

Plastic Surgery has become a worldwide epidemic in today’s world. The number of plastic surgeries continues to increase since 2010. In today’s day and age, plastic surgery is one of the most popular and requested procedures. Females are opting to have plastic surgery because they dislike their body image. Society has impacted many people by brain washing them to believe that a person’s body has to be perfect. In order for one to be considered beautiful, television and media influence people’s perceptions of beauty.

According to dictionary.com, beauty is defined as “the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit” (1). True beauty has been forgotten. All around the world people are paying thousands of dollars to have plastic surgery done to enhance this unreal beauty. Sadly, reality is that beauty is now seen as having the bigger breast, the perfect smile, zero body fat, and the perfectly chiseled nose. More and more people are turning to plastic surgery as a way to make them happy about their appearances and boost their self-esteem in a quick and easy process. But reality is, plastic surgery has major side effects. Plastic surgery causes more physical and emotional

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in the United States 14.6million cosmetic surgery procedures were performed in 2012. Cosmetic procedures range from skin rejuvenation to cleft palate repair. The most popular age range of cosmetic surgeries performed is 40 to 54 years old. Most of us are self conscious about how we will appear in the future. Our self conscious feelings towards our body image affects us psychologically and psychosocially by our own body-self image, sexual relationships, social interactions esteem and self worth. As we age our body dissatisfaction increases and in order to increase our body self image and esteem we proceed to undergo cosmetic surgery procedures.

Most of us don't like some aspect of our appearance, whether it's sagging eyes or excess weight in particular areas, to name a few complaints. Lately a record numbers of Americans are doing something about it by having plastic surgery. Since 1995, the number of cosmetic procedures, which range from liposuction to facelifts, has almost tripled (English 23). Is that a healthy choice-or a dangerous trend? Aging has become the field of the future for plastic surgeons whose patients have reasons not always valid in the search for youth and beauty.

So what if that lady with bigger breasts got the leading role in the play. Its what's in the inside that counts, right? One can repeat think this as many times as he or she likes, but one will somehow carry one back to the harsh reality. Talent is good, but it's great if it comes along with beauty. In a society where appearance is everything, time can be one's worst enemy. Who will save us from the evil signs of ageing? A plastic surgeon! Because of the rising economy, cosmetic surgery is now more affordable, which creates great demand for such services. In return, creates a great wave of several different health care providers to become plastic surgeons. Because many are demanding services concerning the enhancement of

Outside beauty and staying forever young are the newest trends among today 's society. Women have the highest rate of this surgical procedure because women have been conditioned at a young age to believe outer beauty is the most important part of a women’s body. Plastic or cosmetic surgery in the past has been kept a secret. Today plastic surgery is being embraced by the millions of women of all ages. Recently a friend of mine had a breast augmentation. Her argument was that she needed to feel more confident in her own body. She felt left out of her group of friends because they were all skinny and fit and just so perfect. of proportion to the rest of her body. Young and old women today feel the need to look perfect like those victories secret models. Some other causes for plastic surgery comes from low self-esteem issues and the need to be accepted as beautiful by everyone.

“Be who you are, not who the world wants you to be” (unknown). Society constantly uses the phrase “Be yourself” however, at the same time stimulates beauty standards such as body type; tall, skinny, incredibly tiny waists and light skin, the list seems everlasting. Cosmetic surgery, the surgical process of changing one’s physical appearance for cosmetic reasons, has become the solution for thousands of men and women seeking to reach society’s expectations. Over sixteen million cosmetic surgeries (ASPS Public Relations, pg. 5), most commonly known as plastic surgeries, performed in 2016 in the U.S, claimed to help patients with their self-esteem and overall improvement in their future. The aspects of others should not change you, becoming someone else should not have a place in the twenty-first century, the danger, cost and the personal impact of the rigorous medical procedures seem unacceptable. Having a low self-esteem and struggling with the different social beliefs of beauty aspects have other solutions rather than plastic surgery.

Outside beauty and staying forever young are the newest trends 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.

Have you ever considered having plastic surgery? After reading this paper you might want the surgery or you might not. Plastic surgery, a form of art, can reconstruct your body and renew your confidence but can you accept the risks involved?