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Essay On Cosmetic Surgery

analytical Essay
1194 words
1194 words
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Cosmetic Surgery, Suspect Norms, and the Ethics of Complicity

Cosmetic surgery does not operate under the same distinct goals that regular medical practices operate under: the removal, relief, or curing of maladies. Cosmetic surgery is mainly deemed as a luxury, one that is allotted to those with the means to send money on something that is often deemed purely superficial. These surgeries do not stem from a base of medical necessities however there is a certain level of suffering that can accompany some of the patients want for surgery. The suffering, coming from mostly issues with self image, are directly related to social norms. These social norms are ones constructed by society as a whole based on what they deem as “beautiful”, “expectable”, …show more content…

In this essay, the author

  • Explains that cosmetic surgery does not operate under the same distinct goals as regular medical practices. however, there is a certain level of suffering that can accompany some of the patients want for surgery.
  • Analyzes how margaret little separated how society treats those who do not fall into what is deemed attractive into three cases. the relations of social norms and cosmetic surgeries place surgeons in a particular position.
  • Opines that surgeons may be uneducated or not consciously aware of the several social norms that provide pressure on their clients and influence their decisions.
  • Analyzes how little discusses the idea of surgeons doing the act of surgery, but speaking out against the norms which caused the patients to seek surgical intervention. how is one to fight the system while perpetuating actions which may uphold it?
  • Explains that critics may claim that a surgeon is complicit even if they are ignorant of particular social norms. others may argue that it is not the surgeon's responsibility to create new systems.
  • Analyzes how little's stand on surgeons performing the surgeries while still fighting the system is open to criticism.
  • Opines that cosmetic surgeons should still perform surgeries that relive their patients from biological maladies, but in the case of cosmetic surgeries purely for vanity, the surgeon has no ground to fight the system.

Margaret Little separates how society treats those who do not fall into what is deemed attractive and acceptable into three cases. These three cases essentially focus of how society as a whole treats the individual who is somehow outside of the norm. The relations of social norms and cosmetic surgeries places surgeons in a particular position. Despite possible good moral reasons for doing cosmetic surgery on patients with appearances that do not match up with social norms, the very action of doing the surgery upholds these social norms. To act morally, a surgeon participating in a cosmetic surgery must also reject the norms that caused the patient to want to go through with the surgery. To simply do the surgery would account for a rejection of the root cause of the problem. Even further, surgeons end up reinforcing social norms when they simply perform the task without speaking out against the institutions that enacted or govern the …show more content…

Surgeons may find themselves in a awkward position if they are both doing the surgeries, and also speaking out against the norms that more that likely initially caused their clients to become their clients. Little speaks of “fighting the system.” However, how is one to fight the system while perpetuating the very actions which may uphold the system? If a person is to fight the system; shouldn't he or she first learn of the systems flaws, step outside of the system, and attempt to create a new system based on the foundation of acceptance of peoples individual

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