In the article “Surgery Junkies” by
Victoria Pitts-Taylor she discusses the television show Extreme Makeover. This reality show takes ordinary people and pay
for them to get cosmetic surgery. The surgeries are performed by real surgeons
and “the participants would not only be given the rhinoplasty, tummy tuck or
breast lift they especially wanted but they would also get a whole range of
additional procedures that would beautify them.” (41) Throughout this article
Taylor brings up different peoples experiences one being Luke. Luke is a
personal trainer and before that had been obese and worked hard to lose 125
pounds, still having excess skin he still believed that it wasn’t good enough. With
the help of EM he was able to get rid of that skin, along with that came teeth
whitening, hair implants and more. I personally believe in plastic surgery but
to an extent. In Lukes case I believe having surgery to remove the excess skin
was acceptable since he did all that hard work to lose that weight and become a
healthier person but adding multiple other surgeries I don’t agree with. At the
end of the show he is then revealed to his family and friends coming out
looking like a totally different person. This complete makeover I don’t believe
in, I think changing your whole appearance and striving for perfection is not
the right thing to do and is unrealistic to the rest of the world. Thus
bringing us to the topic of the media and how it is the reason why more and
more people in America are getting surgery.
By the end of the article we understand
the pain and suffering these people went through that only was shown for a
couple minutes. Again going back to Luke’s experience he “can’t even get out of
bed after his abdonminoplasty”. (55) Although we aren’t shown what these people
go through I still think that we would have somewhat of an idea and not be
surprised after reading this article. More and more people are getting surgery even
after hearing about the excruciating pain that these people go through and this
just proves again how the norm is changing and sooner or later it will be
“weird” to have not gotten a boob job or some other surgery.
“The Poor Have the Right to be Beautiful”
talks about plastic surgery as well, but in Brazil and how popular it is there.
Reading through this article we find out the Brazilian government pays for the
poor to get surgery instead of psychological support because they believe it
will help their self-esteem. I do not agree with what they are doing in Brazil
but what the surprising part about this technique is that it is proven to work.
It doesn’t matter your social status or how much money you have everyone
strives to be perfect and want the sexuality that is seen in Brazil. An example
of this would be Aline; she gets breast implants to help her at work so she
makes more money. This is a typical desire that woman want, that sadly may help
them get farther in life than someone with smaller breasts. Growing up my
friends and I would always joke around about getting a boob job to feel more
feminine but I would never act apone it. Overall plastic surgery is getting
more popular and growing all over the world not just in America and Brazil.
I agree with Lilly in that plastic surgery is okay to an extent; for example, I find Lukes’ abdominoplasty perfectly acceptable, but unlike Lilly- who disagrees with his other surgeries- I see no problem in his teeth whitening procedure. His hair implants, on the other hand, I do not agree with; although, I can understand his desire for said procedure. I found it amusingly predictable that EM did not show the pain and suffering of the patients, it just goes to show how the media strives to manipulate information for their advantage.
ReplyDeleteI like the overarching idea behind the plastic surgery situation in Brazil: everyone deserves to be beautiful. I see no problem with Aline getting a breast implant to further her career, if that is her only choice: so be it. Different situations call for different actions, and we don’t know enough about Aline to judge her decision. I, however, just like Lilly will never seek such a procedure.
-Zeina
I think it is interesting how Lilly mentions an idea that sooner or later it might become weird not to have breast implants, and I would like to point out that this is something that has been happening in Brazil, where not having a procedure done sometimes indicates that you don't care about your appearance so much. I personally disagree with it, and would not have surgery done anywhere in my body, but sadly it is becoming a reality in my country.
ReplyDeleteAnnie Husted
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lily when she said that she understands and is okay with plastic surgery to a certain degree, but not the total-body plastic surgery craze that is sweeping the nation. I could understand why Luke would want to get rid of excess skin, that could serve as a constant reminder of his overweight past, but I still don’t see the need for people to completely alter the natural appearance of one’s body. Personally, I think that in so many cases, people underestimate their natural beauty and the plastic surgery just makes them look fake. In Lily’s discussion of “The Poor Have the Right to be Beautiful,” I also do not agree with the Brazilian mentality that plastic surgery is the remedy for a low self-esteem. I think that clinical help and lowering the emphasis on crazy, airbrushed-perfect beauty could alleviate so much of the low-self esteem, and that is without any surgical procedures.
I think it is interesting that Lily discussed the degree of cosmetic surgery,, and I think it comes back to the point that most of this stuff in moderation, such as hair removal, is ok. However, when it becomes obsessive, that is when it becomes unhealthy. Unfortunately, as seen and proven in these articles, it is easy to become addicted to this kind of stuff, like hair removal and cosmetic surgery, because you never feel that you, yourself, are complete, and that there is always something that can be better, and that leads to people like the Human Ken Doll. Most stuff is ok in moderation, but it is when it becomes a norm and an epidemic that it becomes unhealthy.
ReplyDelete-Zael
i had a similar view as Lily as to the degree in which plastic surgery should and shouldn't be used. although it is very dangerous sometimes it must be done. to correct a problem that was either inherited as a mutation at birth, excess skin, and helping reconstruct human features i burn patients, and other types of victims. but there is a point in which plastic surgery is to me ridiculous. in the extreme cases, for example Michael Jackson, there was clearly a mental problem, but there are others who just arent happy with their body the way it is thus they get plastic surgery to fix some of the most minor things
ReplyDelete-bobby
DeleteJane Vinocur
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lily that, to an extent, plastic surgery is acceptable. Luke worked hard to lose 125 pounds, and by having the excess skin, he was constantly reminded of how he used to be, and how even though he had done everything physically possible, he still couldn’t change everything. The additional procedures like teeth whitening and hair implants weren’t necessary, and although they were to make him “perfect”, they still didn’t change the psychological issues he had on the inside. He still had compulsive binge eating tendencies and these didn’t go away just because his outward appearance was modified.