The Impact of Cosmetic Surgery on Our Lives   by Jennifer Burns

Cosmetic surgery is steadily entering our lives. Potential patients for cosmetic surgery come from every age range and economic level. According to statistics published in USA Today (2005) as much as 30 percent of patients report a household income of less then $30.000 annually. Only 13 percent claim income of $90.000, whereas 57 percent are making $31.000 to $89.000. As much as 70 percent cite physical attractiveness alongside with psychological comfort such as a higher level of self confidence and self esteem as the dominant reasons to become a potential plastic surgery patient.

Even though the notion is widely spread in contemporary society, the decision to have a plastic surgery is not only short cited, it is even dangerous. The decision to have cosmetic surgery adds up to emotional pressure in life, as inability to accept own self results in self transformation that is usually kept in secret; beauty is achieved through artificial deception of reality that is realized at own expense of money, time, effort, and health.

Cosmetic surgery comes as a result of inability of a human being to live in piece with own identity. People feel uncomfortable with own appearance to the extent that they choose to loose own identity and be artificially modified into a desired object. The reasons for the desired transformation are multiple and complex. Perhaps, the dominant one can be attributed to the extended form of competition among women for men's attention in "the heterosexual marketplace" that spread female rivalry on to the beauty contests and struggles for images created by the mass media.

Popular beautiful images that are not healthy are literally fed to the public. The fact that popular images are easily accepted by representatives of every age range and economic level signifies that despite the process of aesthetical and moral evolution, the focus still remain on our basic instincts. Going even further then this, being pressured by examples of others, other women will most likely go for plastic surgeries simply to catch up with those who already have a surgery done being driven by the feeling of inferiority.

How does this characterize us as a society? Well, as a purely capitalistic society, which is capitalistic to the extent that it changes the very notion of women rivalry. "Fat is not a feminist issue. Fat is a competitive issue. It's about who in the class can look best, earn most, and get the best boy. This is woman against woman,' -writes Fay Weldon in her article "Is thin Better?" Individuality is sacrificed to the mass culture of being popular, sexy, wanted. Even though cosmetic surgery continues to expand in global society to become a regular, habitual thing - this still remains to be a shame.

About the Author

Jennifer Burns is a freelance academic writer at Custom-Writing.org, bibliography writing service. Jennifer specializes in custom essay writing including MBA essay writing.

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