Xochitl Arellano Mrs. Lingerfelt and Mrs. Green British Literature 12/19/2017 Plastic Surgery People look at plastic surgery as a necessity to feel beautiful in their own bodies. Plastic surgery procedures have been very active these last couple of years. Long ago, it was just used to help recover after an accident. Now women and men use it to change what they do not like about themselves. What people do not notice is that it can be addicting, it can be dangerous, and it can be bad for your health. Plastic surgery is a very serious thing to undergo, and people can get addicted to it. Many adults that get addicted to plastic surgery also get their children involved. Mothers often get their daughters involved in pageants and to make sure they look their best, the mothers put their daughters through plastic surgery. In the article "Children's bodies, parents' choices", it is said that "In 2007, more than nine thousand Americans eighteen years and younger had liposuctions to remove body fat" (Gilbert). Many children do not make the decision in getting plastic surgery, plenty of times it is the parents taking the children to get the plastic surgery done. In certain places, plastic surgery is being banned: "Queensland's new law is not aimed at medically necessary procedures... It does outlaw breast augmentation and liposuction for children under
Arellano 2 eighteen" (Gilbert). Parents at times want to proceed with the plastic surgery because they have a different definition of beauty. "Alicia Ouellette discusses 'Asian eye surgery' performed on Asian children to make their eyes more like typical Western eyes. Parents who seek this surgery consider wide, round eyes to be a sign of beauty and even to confer a competitive advantage -- 'like having a great degree from a better school,' as one woman quoted in the essay put it" (Gilbert). Many women are so addicted to getting plastic surgery that they ignore and do not care what they look like anymore. "Instead of recognizing their own anxieties, the author (Bovy) argues that Western women deny that they are concerned about their appearance while still electing to undergo dangerous cosmetic procedures" (Bovy). Not only is plastic surgery very addicting, but it can also be very dangerous to go through with the procedures. Plastic surgery is a dangerous procedure to go through. The danger that can happen is when someone goes through surgery in a not so clean environment. In the article "Women Dying In Columbia After 'Garage Clinic' Cosmetic Surgeries," it talks about women and men dying from going through cosmetic surgeries done in 'garage clinics'. "'How many women die each year from these kinds of operations- these backroom surgeries in Colombia?'... 'The latest data that we have is from 2016, where there were 30 cases officially registered'... 'Of people who died?'.. 'Yeah. And 24 women and 6 men.'" (Women Dying In Columbia After 'Garage Clinic' Cosmetic Surgeries). Plastic surgery can lead to death if it is done wrong or if it is not the safest cleanest environment. "Donda West, the mother of rap star Kanye West, died a day after visiting a plastic surgeon. The doctor says he performed breast reduction, tummy tuck and liposuction procedures. Donda West died from surgical complications. An official cause of death won't be determined for weeks." (West's death reveals stigma of cosmetic surgery). People do not know the consequences of what plastic surgery can do. In Colombia, a woman named Ximena had a butt
Arellano 3 job done but then died from it: "Ok, well, this is the story of this girl, 21-year-old Ximena, in Medillin, who wanted to have a butt job. And one of her roommates had had that procedure at this, you know, spa. And she went there and had the procedure and within hours was not able to breathe correctly. So, she exchanged all these whatsapp messages. What we just heard was a whatsapp voicemail that she left for the doctor. He used to say, you know, it's OK, don't worry. Just take it easy. Get some rest. This is going to pass. And she had the operation on Thursday and died Wednesday. We later discovered that he was a chef." (Women Dying In Columbia After 'Garage Clinic' Cosmetic Surgeries). The dangers range from hundreds of things that can go wrong in surgery, one little mistake can cost someone's life. Some believe that people that are ok with doing that to their body are not in their right mind. In the article, "People Who Seek Plastic Surgery Should Have Mental Health Screenings," It says that people that want plastic surgery should first be go through a health screening especially if they are going to get breast implants. "In the following viewpoint, Newsmax.com reports that women who undergo breast augmentation are more likely to suffer from psychiatric disorders and are at risk for suicide. Findings from a study in the August 2007 Annals of Plastic Surgery demonstrate the link between breast implants and a high risk of suicide." (People Who Seek Plastic Surgery Should Have Mental Health Screenings). Women with breast implants seem to go through a harder time, and it can cause them to want to take their own life even more if they have psychiatric disorders; " Women with breast implants also had higher rates of death from psychiatric disorders, including a three-fold increase in deaths resulting from alcohol and drug dependence. Several additional deaths classified as accidents or injuries, might have been suicides or involved psychiatric disorders or drug/alcohol abuse as a contributing cause. 'Thus at least 38 deaths (22% of all deaths) in this imprint cohort were associated with suicide,
Arellano 4 psychological disorders, and/or drug and alcohol abuse/dependence,' the researchers write" (People Who Seek Plastic Surgery Should Have Mental Health Screenings). Some women that go under plastic surgery usually do it because they do not feel confident in their bodies. "The increases in suicide and in deaths related to alcohol and drug dependence suggest that a 'nontrivial proportion of women undergoing breast augmentation... may bring with them-or develop later- serious long-term psychiatric morbidity and eventually mortality,' Dr. Lipworth and colleagues write" (People Who Seek Plastic Surgery Should Have Mental Health Screenings). Plastic surgery may help with your looks, but it does not help you fix what you are feeling inside and what you think of yourself. It can cause much mental instability, and mess with your head and self-esteem even more. Shiela Jeffreys believes that body modification is another way of self-mutilation, and she talks about it in the article "Body Modification is a Form of Self-Mutilation." She thinks that people that young people who self-harm, take it to the next level with body modification. "Cutting one's own flesh, body piercing, tattooing, and cosmetic surgery are all forms of selfmutilation which should be opposed," (Jeffreys). Jeffreys points out in her article that "all of the practices of piercing, tattooing, and cutting can cause severe physical harm and even medical emergencies. About 10-15percent of piercings get infected. The majority of problems are caused by staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus. Infection with pseudomonas can be dangerous because it can liquify ear cartilage" (Jeffreys). Jeffreys also points many type of infections that can occur with any type of piercing. Another contributor that promotes body modification, or in Jeffreys eyes self-mutilation, is the internet. Many websites do promote body modification, especially to those who are for the development of 'body integrity identity disorder.' Several psychiatrists and surgeons are working to get BIID recognized in the US Diagnostic and
Arellano 5 statistical manual. If they are able to do this then they will be able to legally amputate limbs that people say they feel uncomfortable with. "A Scottish surgeon has already cut legs off two healthy men" (Jeffreys). Jeffreys also talk about deaths that can occur because of body modifications, "There are deaths too.. Olivia Goldsmith, the US author of the novel on which the movie the First Wives Club was based, suffered a heart attack from bad reaction to the anesthetic during a routine cosmetic surgery procedure to tighten skin on her neck" (Jeffreys). Plastic surgery is a very scary thing to do because there are so many risks that can lead to death. Plastic surgery has been a necessity to so many people just so they can feel beautiful in their own skin. Surgery is not necessary to feel beautiful, people just need to understand that everyone is beautiful inside and outside. The internet and social media should not define beauty by having high standards on what they look on the outside. Many women and men have beautiful minds but that is torn down by what society tells them is beautiful. Plastic surgery can end someone's life, but as a society that can end by accepting and loving everyone as they are.
Arellano 6 Works Cited Bovy, Phoebe Maltz. "South Koreans Are Obsessed With Plastic Surgery, But Are Americans Any Better?" Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2017. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/upmlqs098623603/ovic?u=sequoyahhsmc&xid=5b7d9ad7. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017. Originally published as "South Koreans Are Obsessed With Plastic Surgery, But Are Americans Any Better?" New Republic, 24 Mar. 2015. Gilbert, Susan. "Children's bodies, parents' choices." The Hastings Center Report, Jan.-Feb. 2009, p. 14+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/a195319424/ovic?u=sequoyahhsmc&xid=161c01d5. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017. Jeffreys, Sheila. "Body Modification Is a Form of Self-Mutilation." Self-Mutilation, edited by Mary E. Williams, Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/ej3010510210/ovic?u=sequoyahhsmc&xid=3adc7e74. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017. Originally published as "Body Modification as Self-Mutilation by Proxy," On Line Opinion, 10 Apr. 2006. "People Who Seek Plastic Surgery Should Have Mental Health Screenings." Cosmetic Surgery, edited by Roman Espejo, Greenhaven Press, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/ej3010676213/ovic?u=sequoyahhsmc&xid=17de1552. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017. Originally published as "Breast Implants Triple Suicide Risk," Newsmax.com, 8 Aug. 2007.
Arellano 7 "West's Death Reveals Stigma of Cosmetic Surgery." Talk of the Nation, 26 Nov. 2007. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/a171801687/ovic?u=sequoyahhsmc&xid=596ed301. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017. "Women Dying In Colombia After 'Garage Clinic' Cosmetic Surgeries." Weekend Edition Sunday, 7 May 2017. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/a492252166/ovic?u=sequoyahhsmc&xid=1d531a96. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017.
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