A Brief History of Plastic Surgery
As early as 600 Before Christ (BC) was the beginning when a Hindu surgeon experimented on reconstructing a nose using a piece of cheek. By 1000 Anno Domini (AD), Rhinoplasty was quite familiar because of their barbaric custom of cutting off the noses and upper lips of one’s enemy which sign their victorious towards enemies. In the 16th century, “The father of plastic surgery”, Gaspare Tagliacozzi had reconstructed the slashed noses by transferring flaps of upper arm skin. The purpose of taking out the arm skin is to reconstruct the saddle nose deformity of syphilis. The term plastic surgery comes from the Greek word “plastikos” (fit for molding) which had been popularized by Pierre Desault in 1978 as a label to repair deformities. The developments in anesthesia and antisepsis had made the plastic surgery procedure become less risky. Plastic surgery surgeons had applied their technique to the victims of birth defects and for people who involved in industrial accidents. “Batter Baby Contests” organized in America had helped to usher the plastic surgery industry.
Culture of Conformity verse Plastic Surgery
“If I get the surgery, my eyes will look bigger” said Min-Kyong to the CNN World during her interviewed. Min-Kyong’s mother said to the news that people always look down on her daughter’s small eyes. Everybody, she says, keep pointed on the small eyes whenever she performed her ballet in front of the audiences. Why they kept judging on her eyes? It is actually on of the sign of racism and their eyes are targeted as mockery. As an example, Heidi Liow said “They say chinky eyes, or slit eyes, or they pull their eyes and go “ching chong wah” or something like that.” For Koreans, having a pair of...
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...s made [plastic] surgery tax deductible [and] is allocating [$ 1.3 million] to market Korea as a plastic surgery destination.” Now it had been proven that, the government’s policy also had become one of the factor why Koreans were obsessed with plastic surgery.
Conclusion
After done this research, I conclude that the Koreans had their own personal reasons on why they were so obsessed with it. They see the value of having an admired beauty as their pride and their tickets to win the society’s acceptance and appreciation. Although having a plastic surgery was quite risky for health, the acceptance from society had matters the most. Day by day, Koreans were slowly changed its original custom and replaced their inherited Korean’s look with Western look. So, the plastic surgery trending had spread all over Koreans which then become part of their culture’s identity.
The first recorded surgical procedures according to Doctor Haiken were in India, and they consisted of reparations to the nose and ears, usually because the person had been injured in battle or as punishments for crimes (1997). Such procedures though were not openly talked about and were kept secret for centuries by the Indian society (1997). Indians weren’t the only ones to take to such practices; Romans also became proficient in advanced plastic surgery procedures. To the Romans it wasn’t so much about to trying to make reparations to past wounds, but rather assure a person’s beauty by removing any imperfections. As a matter of fact the most popular surgery was circumcision removal to both females and males (Random
“Why do You Call it Plastic Surgery?” Fighting Ignorance since 1973. Web. 14 March 2014.
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
Surgeons discussed their widespread discomfort about how many people were getting plastic surgery because of these programs. When they were asked what they’re greatest fear is they responded, “The reason for getting plastic surgery”. They believe it is encouraging them to altar themselves in a negative manner. This is also one of the issues that Pink, an American singer, song writer, and actress brings to attention in her video “Stupid
Every people has a different sense of beauty, but in Korea, people tend to want to have outward adornment. This means, they want their face to be beautiful. In general, people think plastic surgery is not really bad things in Korea. They are evaluated by their appearance from the time when they are children or even when they were born. (HUFF POST, 2015) Therefore, sometimes parents pay for the cost of plastic surgery as their children’s birthday present, and Korean teenager often make fun jokes about plastic surgery. Those facts make Korean to have deep attachment to the beauty. They even photoshop their passport picture, and children also start wearing makeup when they are in
Reader! It has come to my attention that the human world has been thrown into major conflicts surrounding the ethics of restoring the function of the face, using microsurgery, to those with severe disfigurements (Lamparello). This revolution of the science that led to my creation has almost rendered me speechless! No longer will patients feel hideous in their own skin because of unforeseen circumstances. Oh, how it is a horrid life to live, to be unaccepted by your fellow man, no matter how much YOU try and assimilate! Facial reconstruction is an innovative process that can improve the self-confidence of those whom were born naturally disfigured or were disfigured later in their lifetime. Face transplantation implores my interest simply because of how close it pounds at my wretched heart. When I escaped to a land far from the accursed laboratory I was “born” in, I found documents belonging to my creator that detailed his disgusted thoughts during my creation and final “birth”. It was exceptionally difficult to study his horror-stricken account of my hideous appearance (Shelley 34). When he’d lain his eyes on his obsession for the first time, he promptly disregarded his previous claims of my
According to the article “ The History Of Plastic Surgery” by The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, plastic surgery began in ancient India where it was used to heal those who suffer from facial injuries. In the 20th century plastic surgery helped soldiers from the World War I and World War II reform their faces. However, after war, most people started looking for ways to ameliorate their looks and improve their physique and their only choice was cosmetic surgery. In today’s society, a teenager tends to be exposed to a lot of peer pressure that pushes him/her to hate his/her own body and makes him/her forget the importance of natural beauty. Dr. Ned Hallowell, a child psychiatrist, clearly supports the writers thesis by saying, on ABC news, that Plastic Surgery to avoid bullying and peer pressure is a bad idea “The idea of someone getting plastic surgery to avoid bullying seems to me as crazy and worrisome as if a black person were to go to a doctor and say, 'I want to become white...
Plastic surgery is one of the most growing fields in medicine. Reconstructive surgery is one of the branches from plastic surgery and it is defined as surgeries performed to restore facial and body defects caused by a disease, trauma, burns, or birth defects (Nelson, 2010). When it first started, it focused on helping people who are having difficulty blending in society. For instance, during the Renaissance era, in the late 1700s, doctors worked on enhancing the appearance of patients suffering from the nose deformation caused by syphilis using plastic surgery. Enabling them to blend in society and cover the disease. Also, after World War I, because there were a large number of soldiers with disfiguring injuries, the United States of America relied on plastic surgeries to improve the life of wounded soldiers (Nelson, 2010). The other branch of plastic surgery is cosmetic surgery. This type of surgery is performed to preserve or restore normal appearances, or to enhance it beyond the average level (American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, 2014). For the last couple of years, Plastic surgery marketing has focused massively on cosmetic surgery procedures rather than reconstructive ones. This type of advertising is having negative effects on society by increasing the number of needless procedures, changing the true meaning of beauty, and harming females’ self-esteem.
Plastic surgery’s history goes as far back as 2000 B.C. Ancient physicians in India and Egypt practiced simple forms of plastic surgery. Why was plastic surgery important? Around the first century B.C Roman physicians practiced surgical methods to alter the human body. Roman culture highly valued the shape and beauty of the human body. Roman doctors also operated on gladiators whose body and faces had been severely damaged. People in Rome were afraid of scars on their back as it was considered shameful and depicted that a man had turned his back during the war and would use plastic surgery techniques to remove the scares.
Some people’s obsession with plastic surgery is obviously getting out of control. It starts with only getting one thing fixed or corrected but then quickly escalates and before you know it, a face that once was all-flesh turns into plastic. According to a study conducted by Nigel Mercer (2009), “The number of official cosmetic surgeries has more than tripled to 34,000 since 2003”. The two reasons why plastic surgery should be banned are because of its high health risks, and because of the additional pressure it puts on people to look picture-perfect.
One app called, “Plastic Quote” allows the user to upload photos and digitally augment their appearance through various types of online surgeries to achieve desired appearances. We then looked for American plastic surgery apps and also found quite a few which was quite shocking, but many of the apps were games and were significantly less serious than Korean ones, which have become incorporated into the process of getting plastic surgery. The apps differed significantly in appearance, modes of advertising, its capabilities and purpose. We also learned that there are many reality shows and perpetuations of cosmetic surgery and positive ideas attached to it, through Korean television shows and movies. We then are able to compare this with American’s depictions of plastic surgery, or lack thereof, through its own digital spaces, while also analyzing the difference in ideas that these representations are attached with. Through all of this, it became very clear that apps are not the driving factor in cosmetic surgery in South Korea. It is digital media in general, from a culture’s TV shows, digital advertisements, along with the apps that lead to an increasing income of this market by its simultaneously increasing
In conclusion, the benefits of cosmetic surgery differ between people and situations; any negative thoughts of others may have an effect on a person’s decision to have a procedure done, but it is for the patient to decide if changing their body is the right decision for them. Regardless of the influences on the younger generation, unrealistic ideologies of patients, and moral issues others may have, plastic surgery will continue to be a huge part of society. However, society should be focusing on how to encourage others to seek happiness in whatever they seem fit, rather than choose to destroy the aspirations of others who choose to build a perfect body for
...hese days and is no longer accessible only to the rich and famous. Any person in the world can have the procedure they want done. Men, women and parents of small children are making the decision things about their bodies and looks each day. Plastic surgery can improve a person’s self esteem or can drastically change the life of a child or adult with deformities. No matter what the reason may be, plastic surgery is not something that is to be entered into lightly. It requires a long thought process, a search for a good and credible practitioner, support from loved ones, possible therapy and of course, a lot of money. The decision to undergo cosmetic or reconstructive surgery is intensely personal. People, for reasons as simple as a crooked nose, to the lessening of a serious scar, to those deformed by birth, accidents or injury have options available to them.
Wolgemuth, L. (2011). People Have Cosmetic Surgery to Make More Money. In R. Espejo (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints. Cosmetic Surgery. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. Retrieved April 6, 2014, from Opposing Viewpoints in Context database.
Colins, Joan. N.d..”The Pro’s and Con’s of Plastic Surgery”. Retrieved on January 28th, 2008. From http://cseserv.engr,scu.edu/StudentWebPages/KNguyen/researchpaper.htm