Have you ever wished you were prettier?
Body dissatisfaction is so common among women that researchers call it “normative discontentment.”
Right now, more people than ever are seeing cosmetic surgery as the solution. In the U.S., between 2000 and 2009, there was a 69% increase in elective cosmetic surgery procedures performed by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Globally, the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery estimates that the number of cosmetic procedures increased by at least 10.9 million from 2010 to 2019.
By framing cosmetic surgery as self-improvement, individuals perpetuate the idea that certain natural physical traits are undesirable and need to be fixed. Cosmetic surgery violently upholds the patriarchal beauty standard and normalizes the idea that beauty is synonymous with success.
In the past, cosmetic surgery has been primarily associated with middle-aged patients. Today, many cosmetic surgery patients are younger. Surveys of college students indicate that between 21 and 43% are interested in getting cosmetic surgery.
Recently, the UM cheer and dance teams partnered on social media with Selfie Aesthetic, an injectable center. While it is not the responsibility of any individual woman or group of women to dismantle toxic beauty culture, to see UM groups promoting cosmetic surgery is disheartening. The UM cheer and dance teams are role models in the community, running a junior cheer program for children.
Young people are easily influenced by public figures. In 2015, Kylie Jenner’s makeup brand Kylie Cosmetics started selling Lip Kits and collected $420 million in sales in the first 18 months. In that same year, there was a nine percent uptick in lip enhancements among 13 to 19 year olds alone.
Cosmetic surgery has become so normalized that even children subscribe to the idea that their bodies are in need of “fixing.” This disturbing trend indicates that we are heading towards a society where existing the way that we are born is no longer acceptable.
Dr. Kelly Killeen, a plastic surgeon based in Beverly Hills, Calif., says the trend is growing.
“I’m seeing so many patients coming in with, like, a Burger King order,” Killeen said. “They’re like, ‘I want the Kylie Jenner.’”
Beauty can result in certain socioeconomic benefits, such as higher income, but endlessly chasing a materialistically “better” life will not result in long-term fulfillment. The consequences of strengthening a system that attempts to reduce our value to our appearance outweigh the potential benefits from being seen as slightly more attractive.
Though the desire to become more attractive is not unique to women, the normalization of cosmetic surgery uniquely impacts women. Several studies show that women are significantly more likely to consider having cosmetic surgery than men, an idea that is supported by the female-to-male patient ratio derived from ASPS data.
Participants in a research study published by the International Journal of Psychology were asked to rate statements such as “swearing and obscenity are more repulsive in the speech of a woman than a man” and “I have sometimes thought about having cosmetic surgery” on a four-point scale, one for strongly agree and four for strongly disagree. The study found that stronger consideration of cosmetic surgery for oneself and one’s partner is correlated with sexist attitudes.
Despite earning roughly $15,000 less in median income, women spend about $1,000 more per year on beauty products and services than men. For women, there is a much higher pressure to be beautiful.
Achieving the current beauty standard is impossible.
Media coverage of celebrities’ procedures promotes the idea that cosmetic surgery is a necessary step in the pursuit of an ideal body. Trendy phrases such as “eyebrow blindness,” “legging legs,” “cortisol face” and “facial harmony” propel individuals towards developing new insecurities.
Societal norms make women especially susceptible to body insecurity. Objectification theory proposes that women are primarily valued based on their physical appearances, which causes them to look at themselves in the same way.
The cosmetic surgery industry spills blood to uphold the standard that women need to look a certain way to be accepted. In order to resist this idea, we must reject cosmetic surgery.
Debra Gimlin, a professor of sociology at the University of Aberdeen and the author of ‘Body Work,’ notes that in contemporary society, women view their bodies as projects to be improved by exercise, dieting, make-up, hair styling, cosmetic surgery and other external procedures.
It can make sense to put plastic surgery in the same category as other transformative, expensive methods of pursuing beauty, such as dying hair or getting acrylic nails. But there is something viscerally sinister about using surgery, which is typically performed to cure medical issues, to “correct” fully functioning features.
Before you subject yourself to the surgeon’s scalpel, take a moment to listen to the voice inside of you saying, “You are alive. Your body is not a project.”