The Human Obsession

The Human Obsession

In most television programs or magazines, depictions of an unrealistic population are portrayed. The images of clean-cut suburbanite family life, portrayed by television in the middle of the twenty-first century, can certainly be joked about now, however, this was only the spark that lit the flame. Families like the Cleaver’s, the Nelson’s, the Osmond’s and the Brady’s were put on screen to show our world what everyone’s life should be like. They had good children, nice homes, and every episode taught some lesson in mortality. Every wife wanted to be just like June or Harriet. Every teenager wanted to be Greg or Marsha. Society felt that they could be like one of these unrealistic characters, possibly have something that they had, they would, in some way, be happier or a better person. Then, corporations caught wind of this “effort to be like” and sent it to their advertising departments. Soon, it was not just another pretty face endorsing Mabeline cosmetics; it was super-model, Twiggy. Who better to sell the products, but someone rich, famous, beautiful, and appearing to be flawless. These seemingly trivial beginnings have now snowballed. Take a closer look at who is on the big screen; superstars like Pamela Anderson, a 5’7” blond weighing in at 115 pounds, including both of her 34 DDD’s. These are the images our society looks at in awe and strives to become. Looking good is a universal human obsession. Plastic surgery has taken the role of the closest thing to perfection of the body that we obtain. The reasoning behind cosmetic surgery are self-esteem, success, social stability, and health.

The definition of plastic surgery is “a medical specialty that has distinct branches of its own. ...

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...Four out of the top five types of cosmetic surgeries in 1992 were performed to correct birth defects, effects from diseases, and injuries. The surgeries in order of the most frequently performed were tumor removal, hand surgery, lacerations, and scar revision (Heckaman and Henry 5 and 7).

Underlying the outer appearances are the reasons for undergoing cosmetic surgery. Low self-esteem seems to be the number one cause for evasive actions taken in an attempt to be perfect. Many that do not feel naturally good about themselves do not receive the praise necessary to achieve a healthy level. Taking five minutes a day to compliment or praise another person, the world would not have to face the obstacles that we do about appearance and self image. Afterall, there are over 1 billion women in this universe and only eight of them are supermodels. The chances are slim.