Surgery Junkies and Poor Have the Right to be Beautiful
Kelsey Warkentin
Plastic
surgery has gone from something rare to something common. In the article,
“Surgery Junkies”, we see the American public getting more surgery because of
influences from the media and television. And with articles like “The Poor Have
the Right to be Beautiful”, surgery is becoming a common practice among lower
classes in Brazil. These cosmetic surgeries are ultimately altering the meaning
of beauty around the world.
In “Surgery Junkies”, it focuses in on a show called “Extreme Makeover”. This is a reality TV show in which people apply to be on the show so they can get plastic surgery. They send in videos and interviews on what they hate about their bodies and why they should win the contest. Once someone wins, they go through major surgery and weeks of recovery. Then there is a “Big Reveal”, where they show their family and friends their new look. Before reading this article, I had never given much of a thought to this show. I remembering watching it and finding it quite interesting to see what the person changes about themselves. Yet this article just proves how big of an influence the media and television has on the American public. Television circulates social meanings, norms and values. In fact, cosmetic surgeons see television as responsible for the market expansion. The show, “Extreme Makeover”, depicts every surgery as life altering. For example, Luke was a personal trainer who had gotten obese. But then he lost weight drastically, which caused skin to hang on his stomach. He explained that this skin reminded him of his “fat self”. Yet after he got surgery, he explained that it brought his “body closer to its more authentic and proper self” (45). The show did not portray the weeks of recovery and pain Luke endured. It used “deceptive marketing” (57) and just showed the before and after effects. This type of marketing caused an enormous change in American people. They viewed the show as completely positive. After it aired, cosmetic surgery increased and there was a “greater public awareness” (61). Extreme Makeover first aired in 2001. Eleven years later, “EM has largely constituted an unapologetic, aggressive promotion of cosmetic surgery” (72). The public isn’t seeing the pain, risk or wrongness to these surgeries; they are only exposed to the positives. Thus, television is completely altering our view on “beauty” and the lengths we should go to make ourselves feel better.
In “Surgery Junkies”, it focuses in on a show called “Extreme Makeover”. This is a reality TV show in which people apply to be on the show so they can get plastic surgery. They send in videos and interviews on what they hate about their bodies and why they should win the contest. Once someone wins, they go through major surgery and weeks of recovery. Then there is a “Big Reveal”, where they show their family and friends their new look. Before reading this article, I had never given much of a thought to this show. I remembering watching it and finding it quite interesting to see what the person changes about themselves. Yet this article just proves how big of an influence the media and television has on the American public. Television circulates social meanings, norms and values. In fact, cosmetic surgeons see television as responsible for the market expansion. The show, “Extreme Makeover”, depicts every surgery as life altering. For example, Luke was a personal trainer who had gotten obese. But then he lost weight drastically, which caused skin to hang on his stomach. He explained that this skin reminded him of his “fat self”. Yet after he got surgery, he explained that it brought his “body closer to its more authentic and proper self” (45). The show did not portray the weeks of recovery and pain Luke endured. It used “deceptive marketing” (57) and just showed the before and after effects. This type of marketing caused an enormous change in American people. They viewed the show as completely positive. After it aired, cosmetic surgery increased and there was a “greater public awareness” (61). Extreme Makeover first aired in 2001. Eleven years later, “EM has largely constituted an unapologetic, aggressive promotion of cosmetic surgery” (72). The public isn’t seeing the pain, risk or wrongness to these surgeries; they are only exposed to the positives. Thus, television is completely altering our view on “beauty” and the lengths we should go to make ourselves feel better.
Similarly,
we see those effects in the article, “The Poor Have the Right to be Beautiful”.
This article focuses on a plastic surgery ward in Brazil, where common people
go almost regularly. Not only is plastic surgery cheaper in Brazil, but doctors
are more willing to perform surgeries and the media is positive about it. The
Brazilian media portrays surgery as an indicator of economic health. Not only
this, but common people will claim they need surgery because it is the
effective therapy for their psychological health. When doctors hear this, they
really know that the principal illness is poverty. People that are poor and
have a lack of education view the body as more important than the mind. They
see the rich getting surgeries so they want the same benefits. And because of
failing health care and a split between public and private sectors in Brazil,
the poor have access to these surgeries. The article also talked about “racial
mixing”. One woman injected liquid silicone (a dangerous and illegal substance)
into her behind in order to conform to Brazilian stereotypes. The poor not only
want to make themselves feel better, but they want to fix things outside of the
norm as well. Whether or not someone is poor and rich in Brazil, plastic
surgery is seen as a way to improve sexuality. They view plastic surgery as
beautification rather than racial change. All in all, the beauty industry has
been democratized in Brazil. It has been mobilized by the “mystique of modern
medicine, new expansive notions of health, and broad changes in sexual and
social relationships” (374). Like
“Surgery Junkies”, this article just proves how the beauty myth is changing and
more and more people are investing in cosmetic surgery.
Personally,
I am not sure what I think about this dilemma. I really feel that women should
be happy with themselves at any age. My neighbor at home is a mom of triplet
boys and another boy as well. After giving birth, she felt extremely
uncomfortable with the excess fat and skin on her stomach. She was a very fit
person and not fat at all, but having babies made it appear that she was. So at
48, she had liposuction surgery. I don’t
see that situation as bad at all. She felt self-conscious and tried everything
to get rid of the skin and fat. It wasn’t her fault that it got there in the
first place. I think that plastic surgeries like these are okay. But after
reading these two articles, there are people in this world that are taking
advantage of this medical practice. People see shows like Extreme Makeover and
want to do multiple surgeries that cost thousands of dollars. And people in
Brazil are getting surgeries at very young ages just to help their self-esteem.
Whether it’s a false media
depiction or easy access to cosmetic surgery, the meaning of beauty has
changed. People don’t see their normal self as beautiful. They rely on surgery
to make themselves feel better and conform to social norms. In that aspect, I
don’t agree with plastic surgery. People need to start seeing themselves as
they are, not what they see on TV shows or around them. If this dilemma continues, the meaning of
beauty will evolve into something even plastic surgery won’t be able to fix.
Annie Husted
ReplyDeleteIn Kelsey’s assessment of “Surgery Junkies,” I agreed with her in how I had never really taken into consideration the background of the show. For me, it was eye opening to read about the selection process for the contestants for the show, and all of the questions they had to answer about how their body appearance is negatively affecting their daily lives. I think that if I was ever really depressed, totally altering the appearance of my body would not necessarily make me more happy because I would feel like I was even less of my real self than before. Yet, it is astonishing to hear that just a reality show like this could have such a vast impact on the American psyche regarding appearance. People who watch the show only see the positive outcomes, and rarely are the downsides of the procedures ever discussed--such as the weeks of painful and horrific recovery. In “The Poor Have the Right to be Beautiful,” I was shocked to read about the crazy measures in which people will adhere to in Brazil just to achieve assumed perfection. As Kelsey discussed with the anecdote of her neighbor, I, too, think that some cosmetic procedures can be okay if they are done for the right reasons (such as health reasons or having excess skin from excessive weight loss). I do not think that procedures to enhance beauty are justifiable though, because I think that society should cherish our natural bodies and not praise those who pay their way to beauty. I also think that there are different, less drastic ways to enhance one’s self-esteem.
I agree with Kelsey in the sense that I dont think that people should NEED plastic surgery to increase their self esteem. However, I also understand how it could help if you were really insecure about some part of your body. However, nobody is born insecure about how they look, that is taught as you grow up, so all that cosmetic surgery really is is taking advantage of peoples insecurities that have been taught and presented to them throughout their entire lives.
ReplyDeleteZael
Like Kelsey, the “Surgery Junkies” article opened my eyes to how much of an influence the media and television have on American society and the way in which television communicates ideas about social norms and values. The “deceptive marketing” seen in the show “Extreme Makeover” is “disingenuous” by intentionally shielding the public from the intense pain and other costs associated with cosmetic surgery such as time off work, risks, scarring, and the thousands of dollars spent. By unrealistically displaying the effects of cosmetic surgery, the public views the show as completely positive and may even exaggerate the effects of the surgeries. It has changed societies attitudes and beliefs regarding plastic surgery. However, because of the sense of positivity about the show and its depiction of theses surgeries as life altering, it is no wonder cosmetic surgery increased after it aired. Since then, the show functions largely as a promotion of cosmetic surgery. Thus, television and the media play a major role in the formation of modern beauty ideals and the lengths people must go to reach these standards and feel accepted by society.
ReplyDeleteSammy Secrist