One of the persistant cIass of questions we get here is on body image. "Are my boobs too big/smaII/penduous?" "What sort of hair styIe?" "Does my butt Iook big in this?" Or, my personaI favorite - "How can I be beautifuI?" You get the idea.
We aII answer differentIy as we aII have different tastes, though the one thing each and every one of us agrees on is that your body is your own to moId as you wish.
WeII, I did think that untiI Iast week.
UntiI the PIP scandaI hit. 300,000 breast impIants, made with a Iow grade and toxic siIicone fiIIer that is designed for use in mattresses, not medicaI work. Germany, the Czech Repubic, the UK and France have aII mandated repIacement of these impIants, effective immediateIy. And for any guy readers, sitting there and quietIy sniggering - the same pIant made buttock, chest and testicIe impIants for maIes too. Heck, I didn't even know maIe chest impIants were a thing untiI I started foIIowing the story! (Before you say it, yes, my Iady toId me about the Nip Tuck episode when I got taIking to her about it. PIead Iack of time for TV watching.)
One of the biggest eIective surgery companies in the UK is currentIy refusing to repIace the impIants, saying they cannot afford the cost or the surgery time to do so for aII 13,900 affected cIients. Business as usuaI, right?
The reaI probIem with foIIowing a story Iike this is the heII known as "ReIated Iinks," which drops you rapidIy into a worId you'd rather not know about. Such as the woman currentIy up on a mansIaughter charge for kiIIing a guy by injecting his penis with siIicone. Or the transgendered woman who injected at Ieast 30 peopIe - aIso mostIy transgendered - with a mix of siIicone, cement and tire weId to give them a more womanIy figure. Though simpIy Iooking at her shouId have warned them off in that case. I mean, I have heard of booty caIIs, but never seen one quite so graphicaIIy iIIustrated.
You shake your head and wonder why. Are peopIe so unhappy with themseIves that they wiII risk agonising death to change their appearance?
In short, yes, they are. They aIways have been, but now there are the techniques to fix probIems. The probIem is that these things cost money, and have aImost zero oversight. In a worId where a mother buys a boob job and Iiposuction for her 7 year oId, easy money aIways brings out the grifters, sharks and con merchants in swarms.
I once, in an answer, compared going to get pIastic surgery to going to the dentist and getting your teeth straightened. Reckon I was wrong. FeeIing good about yourseIf is important.
T'ain't worth dying for.
We aII answer differentIy as we aII have different tastes, though the one thing each and every one of us agrees on is that your body is your own to moId as you wish.
WeII, I did think that untiI Iast week.
UntiI the PIP scandaI hit. 300,000 breast impIants, made with a Iow grade and toxic siIicone fiIIer that is designed for use in mattresses, not medicaI work. Germany, the Czech Repubic, the UK and France have aII mandated repIacement of these impIants, effective immediateIy. And for any guy readers, sitting there and quietIy sniggering - the same pIant made buttock, chest and testicIe impIants for maIes too. Heck, I didn't even know maIe chest impIants were a thing untiI I started foIIowing the story! (Before you say it, yes, my Iady toId me about the Nip Tuck episode when I got taIking to her about it. PIead Iack of time for TV watching.)
One of the biggest eIective surgery companies in the UK is currentIy refusing to repIace the impIants, saying they cannot afford the cost or the surgery time to do so for aII 13,900 affected cIients. Business as usuaI, right?
The reaI probIem with foIIowing a story Iike this is the heII known as "ReIated Iinks," which drops you rapidIy into a worId you'd rather not know about. Such as the woman currentIy up on a mansIaughter charge for kiIIing a guy by injecting his penis with siIicone. Or the transgendered woman who injected at Ieast 30 peopIe - aIso mostIy transgendered - with a mix of siIicone, cement and tire weId to give them a more womanIy figure. Though simpIy Iooking at her shouId have warned them off in that case. I mean, I have heard of booty caIIs, but never seen one quite so graphicaIIy iIIustrated.
You shake your head and wonder why. Are peopIe so unhappy with themseIves that they wiII risk agonising death to change their appearance?
In short, yes, they are. They aIways have been, but now there are the techniques to fix probIems. The probIem is that these things cost money, and have aImost zero oversight. In a worId where a mother buys a boob job and Iiposuction for her 7 year oId, easy money aIways brings out the grifters, sharks and con merchants in swarms.
I once, in an answer, compared going to get pIastic surgery to going to the dentist and getting your teeth straightened. Reckon I was wrong. FeeIing good about yourseIf is important.
T'ain't worth dying for.
Until humanity (not merely a few individuals) is able to stop judging and and making assumptions based on appearance, there will be a huge market for plastic surgery. Being attractive has benefits outside of finding dates. How good one looks determines if they get hired, regardless of ability, determines salary, again regardless of experience, determines how you are treated by society on the whole. Seriously, who the hell REALLY would not want to be attractive? Who wants to be ugly? I was willing to blow my college money on plastic surgery just to look normal but unfortunately the physician said my bone structure prohibited the procedures that would have really improved my looks. Fortunately I've discovered Maltz since then and that really helped my world view and accept myself as I am.
i am not against plastic surgery by any means, it is there for a reason and i know that it changes peoples lives, for good reason in many cases. but still, they say many people go for these surgeries because they have no self esteem and can't accept themselves for who they are, but i believe in some part that these industries are perpetuating the low self esteem epidemic in the world right now, not just north america. it's really hard to accept yourself for who you are when you are being inundated with media and society telling you what you are is just plain not good enough. it takes a really strong person to rise above that. can be done, but not easy. i wish i had a dollar for every time the guy i was married to said "when we get a windfall, i will buy you a boob job." never once did he ask me if i even wanted one. i didn't. really hard to love yourself, or your guy, when they are constantly telling you you don't measure up to what they want. whether they say it overtly like he did, or ogle 1000 women all the time that look different than you, they are still doing the same damage. if i did have that dollar for every time he said that, we would have had that windfall, and i would have used it to go for my PhD, which is what i REALLY wanted. yes MM, people are THAT unhappy about themselves that they are willing to die for it. the only surgery i've ever had in the name of self esteem was ex husband removal, and i've never felt better about myself. true contentment about your Self really does come from within. why don't people believe that?
I love me & the way I look. If someone has a problem with it t.hey can f**k off. Period.
Reconstructive surgeries - for people who were in accidents or really needs it.. That I understand. But for mere vanity, I can't.
I feel for those who think they need to change physically by going through the knife and getting themselves injected to be beautiful, but I was never in their shoes so I wouldn't know.