As our society attempts to speed toward perfection or what we consider as perfection, the debate over cosmetic surgery continues. The idea of becoming obsessed with removing all flaws was brought up in our very first class after reading Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark”. From nose jobs to tummy tucks, individuals attempt to grasp the unattainable and try to make ourselves the best we can be. Surgery was once reserved for life threatening situations. Now, these procedures can almost be considered routine. While I do believe that if a person desires cosmetic surgery, it is definitely considered ethical. I agree that cosmetic surgeons manipulate people and exploit people’s insecurities. However, American society should be given the real blame.
Our culture involves less appreciation of beauty and more criticizing of minor flaws. In our extremely superficial world, cosmetic surgery seems like a very easy way out of self-hatred or self-pity. In my research, I found that there is a rapid increase in the number of Asian Americans who go under the knife. From 2004 to 2005, Asian Americas had a 58 percent jump in the number of cosmetic surgeries (asiannation.org). All in all, nonwhites account for 20 percent of these surgeries, while only eight years ago the group was a mere 15 percent (asiannation.org). These statistics are shocking because they demonstrate how minorities are attempting to conform to the nation’s standards of beauty. America was once called a melting pot of cultures, and with these statistics I believe we lose that title. Cosmetic surgery is just a foreshadowing of the near future.
With the development of biotechnology, self-improvement will be taken to a new level. The continuing advancement of science is ethical when a great amount of caution is exercised. As humans, our nature is curiosity. Biotechnology could have beneficial consequences when is negative potential is fully recognized. Power over God is an extremely dangerous thing. Once the sides become a mucky gray, trouble begins. With the idea of cosmetic surgery and biotechnology, we must satisfy our burning questions but proceed wearily and never forget the superficiality of it all. If our society would grow to become less judgmental and more appreciative of our individual differences, the fear of biotechnology would be greatly lessened. Weakness can at times be a valuable thing. Our flaws shape our character just as much as our strengths do.
With special thanks to:
http://www.asian-nation.org/cosmetic-surgery.shtml
http://www.cosmeticplasticsurgerystatistics.com/statistics.html#2007-FACTS
1 comment:
The Quest for Perfection: A Road to Dissatisfaction
I agree that with more widespread use of biotechnology for cosmetic purposes, “self-improvement will be taken to a new level.” However, I believe that while the initial push may be human “curiosity,” what will cause the ball to continue to accelerate is societal pressure.
There are a number of disorders that exhibit symptoms of dissatisfaction with one’s body. These include: anorexia nervosa, bulimia, nervosa, and body dysmorphic disorder. This last disorder often occurs in conjunction with anorexia and/or bulimia but can also occur independent of these other disorders.
It is important to note, that individuals suffering from all of these disorders suffer a obsession with an “imagined” defect. They have a distorted image of their body and are not able to perceive the size, shape, or appearance of themselves in an undistorted light.
Recent studies have found that between 24% and 32% of those seeking cosmetic surgery have a psychiatric disorder.1 In addition, according to a study done in 1996, 80% of American women were not satisfied with their bodies.3 There is no reason to believe that this number has decreased since 1996 and, in fact, will this number not rise with cosmetic surgery becoming more widespread?
We may be able to look at the trend of eating disorder rates to see the results of increased pressure to be “perfect.”. Rates of eating disorders in the United States, and around the world, have steadily risen over the past few decades.2 It has been suggested that much of this increase is due to pressure from the media and from society for women and men to look a certain way. In fact, the current obsession with obesity may be a cause of increased rates of eating disorders.
So how will increased use of cosmetic surgery affect our society? Will it not increase the pressure even more to look “perfect”? I believe that it will. With more and more people adopting cosmetic surgery and with more and more ways to make human beings “perfect” the pressure for perfection will increase and this will engender widespread dissatisfaction with that which we currently have.
1. Hollander, Eric et al.“Body Dismorphic Disorder.”
2. http://www.aedweb.org/eating_disorders/prevalence.cfm
3. http://www.healthywithin.com/stats.htm
4. Veal, D. “Body Dismorphic Disorder.”
Post a Comment