D
Deleted member 6382
Fuchsia
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Excessive cosmetic surgery is a sign of body dysmorphia. In those cases, even an insane amount of cosmetic surgery sometimes isn’t enough to make them not hate their body... they just find a different flaw to fixate on. Is it really good that cosmetic surgeons are allowed to capitalize on a mental illness instead of recommending a therapist?
I saw an episode of a tv show about plastic surgeons who did consultations to either fix bad plastic surgery or do reconstructions. One woman came in with breasts so big she couldn’t breathe while she slept. She wanted them bigger. Thankfully those surgeons declined to take her on as a patient but it begs the question why a doctor ever greenlighted implants that were quite dangerous in the first place. Was plastic surgery good in that case? Or just a mean to let a person with severe body issues mangle her own body under the guise of personal freedom?
I believe people should do what they want with their bodies, but also that a doctor has a responsibility to care for others and reasonably attempt to prevent harm from being done under their care. I don’t think all cosmetic surgery is good because many doctors put getting a paycheck ahead of the mental health of their clients, which is a direct violation of the Hippocratic oath to do no harm.
There's a few reasons I can think of why I'd be hesitant about cosmetic surgery:
Personally, I believe that plastic/reconstructive surgery is the right solution to the wrong problem. For people like burn victim Billy or mutilated Miriam, undergoing a surgery that rebuilds damaged parts of the body to make them cosmetically more appealing has a definite effect on their quality of life; job prospects, social ties, and the like are markedly improved, and at worst are only resets back to what life was like before the accidents that marred them.
However, cosmetic surgery just for the sake of looking better should be strongly discouraged, if not outright banned. While dissatisfaction with one's body is commonplace, there are many other, less risky and healthier solutions to such a problem, ranging anywhere from psychological help and acceptance of the situation to full-on dietary and exercise routine changes. Many of them also improve quality of life beyond simply making appearance less of an issue, as well, and so are preferable solutions even before you get into the nitty-gritty details of it.
Additionally, there's an ongoing debate about the ethics of photoshopping images of people to make them appear to be more attractive, particularly without disclosing how photoshop has been used. This application of plastic surgery is essentially photoshop's IRL counterpart, and many of the same issues still apply. It may not be such hot idea to get plastic surgery after all...
I think cosmetic surgery should only be viewed as a last resort. I am all for people's freedom to do as they please with thier bodies. But I see cosmetic surgery as a very negative and distasteful element of our society.
It seems to me that we are having a more and more unrealistic standard of beauty in society (especially for women). Airbrushed models, makeup, shaving, porn. All these things create a standard of beauty that can only be achieved outside of natural means. This leaves women feeling inadequate and men having certain expectations of and putting pressure on women to look a certain way.
You can argue that this focus on beauty is in some part natural (beauty = good genes ect) but we have only perpetuated this as a society to what I think is an unhealthy level. Almost every single women I know feels very self contious about some element of thier body and doesn't feel comfortable going out in public without a full face of makeup and shaved all over. To me that's severely fucked up.
Now cosmetic surgery is a way for all these insecure people to get the body they want. But to me that's just feeding into the problem in the beginning. It's not coming from a positive place (most of the time). It's born of insecurity, inconfidence and self loathing. These feelings should be fought not given in to!
The more people do it the higher the standard of beauty is pushed causing more people to feel inadequate and then do it themselves. There may come a point where its normal to have it done which is fucking insane! And like many people have mentioned this comes with risk of injury and death!
If someone realises that they should love thier body. Tries for years and years to love themselves but they can't and they're depressed and it's causing them pain then I can understand cosmetic surgery. But until that point I think it's bad for society and bad for those who are risking thier lives for superficial reasons. That said, people can do what they like, I just wish this trend would be reversed. I know its far more common in South Korea than here in the UK.
I think the problem with cosmetic surgery is a zero-sum-game. If everyone gets surgery to make themselves more attractive, that doesn't mean you're more attracted to everyone. It just means you'll get higher standards. If you get cosmetic surgery, you're hurting others as much as you're helping you.
I don't think banning it entirely would be a good idea. It's not really any worse than spending resources on extra nice things for the rich when the money would have brought more happiness to the poor. And some people care more about their looks than others. And there's cases where it clearly isn't zero sum, like some women getting breast augmentations to make themselves more attractive and others getting breast reductions to prevent unwanted attention. Not to mention breast reduction surgery for other reasons like preventing back pain, which really isn't cosmetic. And there's other zero-sum games out there, like having a fancy watch or car.
I do think it would be sensible to have a significant tax on it. If we're going to be making someone attractive at the expense of making everyone else look plain by comparison, then we should save those other people on tax money at the expense of whoever's getting the surgery.
If someone has something about his or her body that causes a lot of suffering for that person and if that thing can be fixed by having plastic surgery then I don't see any problem whatsoever.
People will usually point out that it's better to overcome the problem by being happy with your body instead. But obviously, that's oftrn like telling a depressed person to cheer up.
Another point that's usually raised is that changing your body won't make you feel different about it. Which I think is bullshit, seeing how people regularly report about feeling better about their body after bulking up or losing weight.
So I think surgery is a valid method of dealing with your problems. Not guaranteed to be succesful, the results may not be everyones preference, but valid nontheless.
I saw an episode of a tv show about plastic surgeons who did consultations to either fix bad plastic surgery or do reconstructions. One woman came in with breasts so big she couldn’t breathe while she slept. She wanted them bigger. Thankfully those surgeons declined to take her on as a patient but it begs the question why a doctor ever greenlighted implants that were quite dangerous in the first place. Was plastic surgery good in that case? Or just a mean to let a person with severe body issues mangle her own body under the guise of personal freedom?
I believe people should do what they want with their bodies, but also that a doctor has a responsibility to care for others and reasonably attempt to prevent harm from being done under their care. I don’t think all cosmetic surgery is good because many doctors put getting a paycheck ahead of the mental health of their clients, which is a direct violation of the Hippocratic oath to do no harm.
There's a few reasons I can think of why I'd be hesitant about cosmetic surgery:
- Surgery always carries a risk. Even with skilled doctors things can go wrong. People can wind up with injuries that never fully heal, leaving them in pain for the rest of their lives, they can come out looking malformed or die on the operating table.
- There's more to an individuals self-worth besides their physical appearance. Negative self-image can lead to people to think they are ugly and get surgery that they do not need exposing themselves to the risks I mentioned at 1.
- Excessive adoption of plastic surgery could arguably lead to unrealistic expectations of physical beauty with people. Every woman stacked with wide hips, full lips etc. Every man stacked with pecks and arms belonging on a bodybuilder can leave people feeling inadequate, seeking out the risks of 1 because they feel the need to conform.
Personally, I believe that plastic/reconstructive surgery is the right solution to the wrong problem. For people like burn victim Billy or mutilated Miriam, undergoing a surgery that rebuilds damaged parts of the body to make them cosmetically more appealing has a definite effect on their quality of life; job prospects, social ties, and the like are markedly improved, and at worst are only resets back to what life was like before the accidents that marred them.
However, cosmetic surgery just for the sake of looking better should be strongly discouraged, if not outright banned. While dissatisfaction with one's body is commonplace, there are many other, less risky and healthier solutions to such a problem, ranging anywhere from psychological help and acceptance of the situation to full-on dietary and exercise routine changes. Many of them also improve quality of life beyond simply making appearance less of an issue, as well, and so are preferable solutions even before you get into the nitty-gritty details of it.
Additionally, there's an ongoing debate about the ethics of photoshopping images of people to make them appear to be more attractive, particularly without disclosing how photoshop has been used. This application of plastic surgery is essentially photoshop's IRL counterpart, and many of the same issues still apply. It may not be such hot idea to get plastic surgery after all...
I think cosmetic surgery should only be viewed as a last resort. I am all for people's freedom to do as they please with thier bodies. But I see cosmetic surgery as a very negative and distasteful element of our society.
It seems to me that we are having a more and more unrealistic standard of beauty in society (especially for women). Airbrushed models, makeup, shaving, porn. All these things create a standard of beauty that can only be achieved outside of natural means. This leaves women feeling inadequate and men having certain expectations of and putting pressure on women to look a certain way.
You can argue that this focus on beauty is in some part natural (beauty = good genes ect) but we have only perpetuated this as a society to what I think is an unhealthy level. Almost every single women I know feels very self contious about some element of thier body and doesn't feel comfortable going out in public without a full face of makeup and shaved all over. To me that's severely fucked up.
Now cosmetic surgery is a way for all these insecure people to get the body they want. But to me that's just feeding into the problem in the beginning. It's not coming from a positive place (most of the time). It's born of insecurity, inconfidence and self loathing. These feelings should be fought not given in to!
The more people do it the higher the standard of beauty is pushed causing more people to feel inadequate and then do it themselves. There may come a point where its normal to have it done which is fucking insane! And like many people have mentioned this comes with risk of injury and death!
If someone realises that they should love thier body. Tries for years and years to love themselves but they can't and they're depressed and it's causing them pain then I can understand cosmetic surgery. But until that point I think it's bad for society and bad for those who are risking thier lives for superficial reasons. That said, people can do what they like, I just wish this trend would be reversed. I know its far more common in South Korea than here in the UK.
I think the problem with cosmetic surgery is a zero-sum-game. If everyone gets surgery to make themselves more attractive, that doesn't mean you're more attracted to everyone. It just means you'll get higher standards. If you get cosmetic surgery, you're hurting others as much as you're helping you.
I don't think banning it entirely would be a good idea. It's not really any worse than spending resources on extra nice things for the rich when the money would have brought more happiness to the poor. And some people care more about their looks than others. And there's cases where it clearly isn't zero sum, like some women getting breast augmentations to make themselves more attractive and others getting breast reductions to prevent unwanted attention. Not to mention breast reduction surgery for other reasons like preventing back pain, which really isn't cosmetic. And there's other zero-sum games out there, like having a fancy watch or car.
I do think it would be sensible to have a significant tax on it. If we're going to be making someone attractive at the expense of making everyone else look plain by comparison, then we should save those other people on tax money at the expense of whoever's getting the surgery.
If someone has something about his or her body that causes a lot of suffering for that person and if that thing can be fixed by having plastic surgery then I don't see any problem whatsoever.
People will usually point out that it's better to overcome the problem by being happy with your body instead. But obviously, that's oftrn like telling a depressed person to cheer up.
Another point that's usually raised is that changing your body won't make you feel different about it. Which I think is bullshit, seeing how people regularly report about feeling better about their body after bulking up or losing weight.
So I think surgery is a valid method of dealing with your problems. Not guaranteed to be succesful, the results may not be everyones preference, but valid nontheless.
