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Standards of beauty and its effect on women
Standards of beauty and its effect on women
Society's beauty standards
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DESIGNING A WOMAN Social Issues Regarding the acceptance of Women and Cosmetic Surgery Beauty has always been society’s greatest obsession and without realizing it, society is breeding a society that satisfies their standards. Society has compelled women to go “under the knife” as society’s ethics and beliefs have set an unrealistic standard of beauty that is unreasonable to meet. Cosmetic surgery has become a practice that is used to help women abide these societal standards of beauty. Women undergo surgical procedures to gain social acceptance in society, meet the standards that the media sets and satisfy today’s male dominating society. A woman’s physical appearance have been so concerning and important, their need to possess their desirable traits is eliminating their own individuality. Standards of physical beauty has been shown all over the media, as they continue to perpetuate this conception by bombarding women with images of unrealistic models. These unattainable goals are unrealistic and even dangerous as it makes it difficult for women to reach their satisfaction. The mass media has shown many females that achieved this standard making it seem normal for women to want to achieve it. This motivates more women to compel themselves to get cosmetic surgery. David Sarner from the University of Pennsylvania medical school states that, “Women more invested in their appearance and those who internalize mass media images of beauty hold more favourable attitudes toward cosmetic surgery”. Due to the rapid advancement and usage of social networking, women feel the need to compete with these fictional photo-shopped images that is circulating online. The importance of social media has become so strong, "It's as i... ... middle of paper ... .... Physical appearance of the body has become a fundamental part of identity. To gain social acceptance in society, women feel pressured to meet the standards of what society recalls as beauty. Women have tried to get a liposuction or reconstruct their face to try and attain their significant other's attention and follow what the media depicts as appealing. By eliminating their own individuality, women try to attain this invalid image to feel more confident and feel more accepted. As society becomes more accepting to plastic/cosmetic surgery, women in society will no longer look unique and will become a master race that will eventually brainwash society as individuality will become extinct. This is a result of a woman’s motive to try to obtain the ideals of beauty within society. As John Mason has said, "You were born an original. Don't die a copy" (Mason, 1993).
Beauty is a cruel mistress. Every day, Americans are bombarded by images of flawless women with perfect hair and smooth skin, tiny waists and generous busts. They are presented to us draped in designer clothing, looking sultry or perky or anywhere in between. And although the picture itself is alluring, the reality behind the visage is much more sinister. They are representations of beauty ideals, sirens that silently screech “this is what a woman is supposed to look like!” Through means of media distribution and physical alteration, technology has created unrealistic beauty ideals, resulting in distorted female body images.
We hear sayings everyday such as “Looks don’t matter; beauty is only skin-deep”, yet we live in a decade that contradicts this very notion. If looks don’t matter, then why are so many women harming themselves because they are not satisfied with how they look? If looks don’t matter, then why is the media using airbrushing to hide any flaws that one has? This is because with the media establishing unattainable standards for body perfection, American Women have taken drastic measures to live up to these impractical societal expectations. “The ‘body image’ construct tends to comprise a mixture of self-perceptions, ideas and feelings about one’s physical attributes. It is linked to self-esteem and to the individual’s emotional stability” (Wykes 2). As portrayed throughout all aspects of our media, whether it is through the television, Internet, or social media, we are exploited to a look that we wish we could have; a toned body, long legs, and nicely delineated six-pack abs. Our society promotes a body image that is “beautiful” and a far cry from the average woman’s size 12, not 2. The effects are overwhelming and we need to make more suitable changes as a way to help women not feel the need to live up to these unrealistic standards that have been self-imposed throughout our society.
In today society, beauty in a woman seems to be the measured of her size, or the structure of her nose and lips. Plastic surgery has become a popular procedure for people, mostly for women, to fit in social class, race, or beauty. Most women are insecure about their body or face, wondering if they are perfect enough for the society to call the beautiful; this is when cosmetic surgery comes in. To fix what “needed” to be fixed. To begin with, there is no point in cutting your face or your body to add or remove something most people call ugly. “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery” explored the desire of human to become beyond perfection by the undergoing plastic surgery. The author, Camille Pagalia, took a look how now days how Americans are so obsessed
Shaving, applying makeup, and curling hair are a few practices that if a female does not partake in, society, and the social norm are stunned. Those are just a few disciplinary body practices in today’s society. Disciplinary body practices “Are practices because they involve taken-for-granted routinized behaviors and they are disciplinary because they involve social control in the sense that we spend time, money, and effort, and imbue meaning in these practices that regulate our lives” (Shaw 193). These practices can extend way beyond the basic beauty routine of a female as well. Plastic surgery plays a huge role in these body practices. Even men have practices that they are expected to partake in. They are less extreme in terms of price and just simpler in general. But for example, men are expected to have shaved necks, large muscles, and a broad upper body. These standards are causing body and beauty shaming around the world. Disciplinary body practices relate to the adamant consumer culture, constant media advertisements, widespread globalization, persuasive colonialism, and powerful imperialism.
Beauty is becoming a belief that every woman is worshiped. Moreover, aesthetic technologies are growing up. Everyone is chasing trends to get more beautiful and fashion despite knowing the dangers latent in it. People, who desired to become more beautiful such as enhance appearance, improve aesthetic appeal, symmetry, and proportion, come to the aesthetic methods which are considered cosmetic surgery. Because “Cosmetic surgery is practiced by doctors from a variety of medical fields, including plastic surgeons.” (Cosmetic Surgery Vs. Plastic Surgery), many people have misunderstanding about cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery are the same. Technically, “cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery are closely related specialties, but they are not the same.”
Some people have decided that plastic surgery may help improve someones mental health and therefore should be included in health care insurance, I think this is just absurd. I am all for the improvement of mental health care considering it is very lacking in this country but I also think that until there is more proof to this argument we should not include it in everyones medical insurance fees. America is having a crises when it comes to mental health care and already doesn't include mental health care in many insurance policies as it is and this far fetched idea may not be a good thing to add in for the general public until we have more evidence to support this topic. However, I don't think general cosmetic surgery should be allowed, I do see the benefit of other "cosmetic" surgeries such as gender reassignment surgery which I feel these are less cosmetic and more geared towards mental health.Basically, I generally disagree with the idea that cosmetic
Sullivan, Deborah A. "Tightening the Bonds of Beauty." Cosmetic Surgery: The Cutting Edge of Commercial Medicine in America. N.p.: Rutgers UP, 2001. N. pag. Print.
Many startling statistics surround the topic of plastic surgery. The strong economy of the 1990's, and the decrease in the average amount of children, is what many credit for the excess income that has allowed for "discretionary spending" on plastic surgery. An opportunity to improve one's self-image at what seems to be a fair deal. Cosmetic surgery fees, as reported by the Sun-Sentinel, range from a modest six thousand for a complete facelift to a meager five hundred for a partial chemical peel. Once you have completed a consultation with the chief surgeon, or a patient coordinator, a financial arrangement is typically available through some type of assistance program. While women make up most patients, (Neimark 9), men represent 13% of current patients. This trend has been on the rise mainly because of the mainstream acceptance society has of plastic surgery. In addition, the expectations of women are strongly based upon their physical beauty, especially in the workplace. Yet some link the psychological need for an acceptable body image to the fact that plastic surgery helps emphasize the feminine and masculine features that many desire. Is this national ob...
Both men and women feel the need to look ‘ideal’ in today’s society, however these pressures fall more on women than men, although a lot of men do feel the need to under go procedures as well, “ A quarter for the Harley Medical Groups liposuction customers are now male.” (Nicolas, 2007) However according to BAAPS , 90,5% of women have cosmetic surgery where as only 4,757 of men have a cosmetic procedure (BAAPS). “Men began to dress soberly, paying little attention to their physical appearance, while women were increasingly concerned with altering and beautifying their bodies” (Davies, 1995) This means that the female body is the centre of attention in today’s society highlighting how women are expected to look ‘flawless’, at all times due to cultural expectations as well as emphasizing ...
In today’s society there is an immense pressure on women to have a beautiful body. Over the last few decades the concept of what a beautiful body is has drastically changed and has become more complex. Now, even very young girls are beginning to hate their bodies because they do not live up to the standards set by the media (Barbara 7). A somewhat new way to modify one’s body that has become popular in the last few years is female genital plastic surgery. If differing views on female genital plastic surgery from females and males, cultural backgrounds, and outside influences are studied, I believe that the results will show that females are more critical about their genital appearance than males and that females and males have a different
Advancements to science and technology marks one way people are able to change the way they identify themselves. With these advancements, very little about a person’s figure is set in stone. Aspects such as how tall a person is, how much they weigh, and how they look can be easily changed. For example, if someone doesn’t like the way they look, they can go pay a surgeon to morph their bodies into a figure they desire. Nowadays, people can even alter the genders that they associate themselves with, to a certain extent. Since 1997, there has been a 279% increase in the total number of cosmetic procedures performed (“American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery”).
Flipping through the pages of Vogue's latest edition, 23 year-old Susan seems quite upset. She struggles with the thought of lacking the perfect body and delicate features in order to be considered attractive. Surprisingly, Susan is not alone in this kind of an internal struggle. In contemporary society, every other woman aspires to have the lips of Angelina Jolie and the perfect jaw line of Keira Knightley. Society today looks down upon individuals that do not fit in, whether in terms of body shape or facial attractiveness. This forces them to consider the option of 'ordering beauty.' Since cosmetic surgery is no longer a social taboo in America given its widespread popularity, more people are promoting it which ultimately affects the rest of the world due to the unwavering influence of American culture. Cosmetic surgery should be deterred in the US because it promotes the idea of valuing appearance over ability, gives rise to unrealistic expectations, and brings with it high cost to society.
I find that society definitely takes things to the extreme when it comes to trying to be beautiful. While not everyone may do it, a large amount of both men and women take things too far while trying to become “fit” or “pretty”. “Men desperately want to look like adonis, because they constantly see the “ideal,” steroid-boosted bodies of actors and models.” (Cloud, 49). In 1999, American men spent more than four billion dollars on home exercise equipment and gym memberships, and in 1996, men in total had around 700,000 cosmetic procedures done (Cloud, 49). These numbers show that a large amount of men are unsatisfied with their bodies, and go to drastic lengths to achieve what the media is showing. Plastic surgery is not a decision to take lightly because it
Have you ever looked in the mirror and not liked what you saw? Haven’t we all? How about this, have you ever looked in the mirror and considered spending thousands of dollars to change what you see? Nope, me neither, but unfortunately thousands of people everyday do. Whether it’s a new nose, bigger breasts, an uplifted face, or any other cosmetic surgery, everyday someone is going under the knife to feel better about themselves. Now you may think, well that’s fine if they’re happy that way. However, it is most likely that after a surgery they will be more upset with what they see. There are many risks ignored by patients having cosmetic surgery
Plastic surgery has also received a boost in popularity due to the selfie craze. People are now becoming more interested in facial plastic surgery because they are so obsessed with the way that their face looks in these pictures. According to a 2014 study, “One in three facial plastic surgeons surveyed saw an increase in requests for procedures due to patients being more self aware of looks in social media” (Olya, 2015). The self obsessed world just got selfie obsessed, spending thousands of dollars for the perfect