Plastic surgery is a controversial and ethical issue currently happening in the U.S. and in several middle eastern countries. Teenagers, especially adolescent girls, have been exploring new ways to enhance their external appearance through surgery. There are many reasons why people get plastic surgery, however, our society is the first to judge an individual for getting a procedure done, even if it makes the individual content with themselves. For the most part, men and women get plastic surgery in order to enhance a feature they may dislike and/or may be insecure about. Meanwhile, some men and women have other reasons for wanting to get plastic/cosmetic surgery, such as, they have disfigurements to their face or body due to birth defects, genetic problems, or because of a terrible event, such as a person getting in a terrible car accident and it causes a lot of trauma in their face and body that the only way to save their appearance is by undergoing the knife. In this ethical issue, plastic surgery is a reasonable option, if a person decides to get it, it is their option if they are satisfied throughout the whole process. I am supportive of such action to be taken because it makes one feel better physically and mentally about themselves despite their age and can help one from a harmful past they can move forward.
Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. On YouTube, there is a channel called, Jubilee, the channel exists to bridge people together and inspire love through compelling stories. In order, to create shareable human-centric videos that create connection, challenge assumptions, and touch the soul. Jubilee brought out 6 individuals (3 in favor of cosmetic/plastic surgery, the other 3 for natural beauty) to present their honest opinions on statements and questions involving current societal norms of beauty. The title of the video was, “Natural Beauty vs Cosmetic Surgery: Is there a middle ground?”. Halfway through the video, the interviewer asked, “Can cosmetic surgery empower you?” all six participants walk towards the talking stand to share their opinion. One of the participants is a plastic surgeon from Beverly Hills, he shares an empowering story about the time he performed surgery on a young woman's face, because her father abused her during her childhood, leading to significant trauma to her nose and certain areas of her face. He follows up to mention that doing the procedure not only helped him but, “helping her and fixing her nose, and the gratitude she showed and realizing, you didn’t help her for that day or week, you helped her for the rest of her life to move on...” demonstrates that cosmetic surgery does not always mean that a lady wants to enhance her nose, face, or body just because she wants to look like her favorite celebrity, but because it hides a hidden past that he/she can finally heal from and not be reminded by every time they look in the mirror.
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The surgeon plays a feeling of pathos when telling the story, because when sharing this story, he is on the verge of tears, because the specific client reminds him of why he does his job, his purpose to help and consult every person that walks through his office doors to make sure they leave feeling an even better version of themselves. Additionally, the doctor added that in medical school, a major part of becoming a plastic surgeon was to 'understand a person, understand what triggers them and what are the signs of someone who is not going to be happy afterward...” bring up a point how plastic surgery is emotional development, how most parts of consulting a client involves the care of mental health for a patient, so they can feel confident. Overall, whether it is plastic, cosmetic, or reconstructive surgery, is one's personal decision. If it makes an individual feel better about themselves and brings their self-esteem to a comfortable level, nobody's opinion should interfere with their choice.
Adolescents gravitate to cosmetic surgery; however, doctors and media are happy to exploit and prey upon their insecurities. At the end of the day, any surgery will impact the health of an individual. Plastic Surgery is done to see a change to increase confidence and self-esteem. In most cases, plastic surgery is a want, not a need. Either way, there are pros and cons to getting plastic surgery, especially when receiving the outcome result. Ensuring natural results, “When done right, plastic surgery respects your body while restoring your youthful appearance. Also, when done correctly, plastic surgery can augment aspects of your body in a way that is natural and complementary to your physique.” (Mayo Foundation Clinic 4). In other cases, cosmetic surgery can harm a person's perspective, lower their esteem, they can become self-conscious, or can simply end to hate the changes they made to their physical appearance. Older women and men are the most to be against cosmetic surgery, because the idea of changing and adding “fake” material to your body seems very superficial and was never done in their younger days, because how plastic surgery was not very common, so you just had to learn to love yourself. Do teens expect that plastic surgery will improve their self-confidence, but does it really? There are no studies examining the long-term benefits among adolescents. One study found that “body-image satisfaction improved after cosmetic surgery, but so did satisfaction among the control group”, suggesting that improved body image may occur with increasing age, regardless of whether the patient undergoes plastic surgery” (Simis 8). In fact, “a longitudinal study that followed adolescents from age 11 to 18 found body image satisfaction rates were highest at age 18 in both sexes and that the satisfaction of individual participants varied as a function of their age and developmental stage.” (Rause-von 9). The authors of these articles use logos to demonstrate the static of how young women and men do pay attention to social media and correlate celebrities to their appearance, in order, to look like them even in the slightest way possible and how overtime girls still linger over their insecurities whether it is changed or not. Ideally, yes, plastic surgery is expensive and can harm adolescents' bodies since their bodies are still maturing and growing to their full potential, but it also harms their emotional point of view. Adolescents can pay thousands for surgery yet will feel such emptiness from the change they made, because they still do not look like their favorite celebrity, causing them to regret the choices they have made.
Overall, the controversy regarding plastic surgery is extremely relevant and has received major attention through celebrities, television, and social media. In the end, whether a person gets cosmetic, plastic, and/or reconstructive it is up to the induvial to choose. One must be satisfied with their own inner beauty. As cliché as it sounds, beauty starts within yourself and that is where it matters most to remind yourself that you have potential and beauty. Cosmetic surgery deals with enhancing a person’s body, training, research, and goals for patients, so if one is commutable and has been wanting a change, let them be. Although, from the opposite point of view plastic and cosmetic surgery is deemed as costly and risky, and not “real” due to the idea that it is not your first ideal physical appearance and how it affects one mental health can be debatable. In this case, young teens and adults should get plastic surgery, if they want to, because it is their choice they made in order to see a change in their face or body or simply because of a traumatic past they faced, either reason, it is their choice.
Works Cited
- “Cosmetic Surgery.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 19 July 2017, https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/cosmetic-surgery/about/pac-20385138.
- Jubille. “Natural Beauty vs Cosmetic Surgery: Is there a Middle Ground?”. YouTube, 17 Feb. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cukT6xi-8Ro
- Rohrich, Rod. “Is Plastic Surgery Right for You?” American Society of Plastic Surgeons, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 20 Apr. 2018, https://www.plasticsurgery.org/news/blog/is-plastic-surgery-right-for-you.
- Simis KJ, Hovius SER, de Beaufort ID, Verhulst FC, Koot HM, Adolescent Plastic Surgical Research Group. After plastic surgery: adolescent-reported appearance ratings and appearance-related burdens inpatient and general population groups. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2002.
- Rauste-von Wright M. Body image satisfaction in adolescent girls and boys: a longitudinal study. J Youth Adolesc. 1989;18(1):71-83.
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