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Adrianna Duran
Mrs. Scaife
Composition I 8:00
06 November 2015
Ladies Let Cosmetic Surgery Go
With every new trend that pops up, the world goes crazy whether it be a materialistic item
or even a food item. The attention it receives as it is spun around in media and social media only
enforces the need people have to want it. The same occurs for societys definition of a womans
beauty. In the Renaissance Era women were depicted by painters as having a full round body
with a small chest that was the standard in that time period. When pop art and fashion came into
the scene in the 1960s a typical womens ideal shape was a thin and flat chested one. Once into
the 1990s and early 2000s a wave of women desired a bigger chest and a tiny waist as depicted
in media. How women achieved the last and most recent ideal look would obviously involve
plastic surgery (Why Thousands). It is true. In this current era where social media and other
media have a wave of power over women, making them desire the hourglass body shape, that
flawless complexion and skin, and the perfect hair they depict for them. Instead of going with the
current and being powerless, women should refuse the dangerous ideal standard of what society
says they should be and opt out of altering themselves with cosmetic surgery and just embrace
themselves.
Plastic surgery is not exactly what it sounds like. Plastic surgery is a type of surgery that
includes both repairing and improving any part of the human body. Plastic surgery is split into
two categories, reconstructive and cosmetic. Reconstructive surgery is exactly what it sounds
like; it aims to repair any damage made to the body such as repairing the face after a horrific car

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accident or for cancer patients looking to reconstruct their breast or even correct birth defects.
Cosmetic surgery is also what it sounds like; it aims to permanently change body features for
satisfaction such as rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, botox, or otoplasty (Plastic Surgery).
Just like anything in the world that involves risks, plastic surgery does too. And not just
physically but mentally as well. There is a chance of infection, bruising, or bleeding with any
procedure., says Nigel Mercer, British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. And this is
true whether it be for reconstructive or cosmetic surgery. Other risks include nerve damage,
which is rare but very much possible, and scarring. Ideally a perfect scarring will be a white
smooth mark but if proper care is not taken a red bumpy mark will take place and a perfect
scarring will not be the end result. Risks also come into play when multiple procedures are
established at once such as a lung infection, DVT (deep vein thrombosis), and a major blood
loss, which would lead to a blood transfusion involving even more risks. And worst of all death,
a rare result but is possible (Tutton).
With cosmetic surgery comes another notable factor which can creep up slowly without
notice until the victim is deep in or quickly right off the bat; an addiction or an obsession. Being
too self-conscious of ones image can lead to constantly wanting more and more surgery done,
aiming towards that perfect image which is portrayed to them daily. Once a patient undergoes a
cosmetic surgery, they will be happy with there new image but will slowly begin to look at their
other flaws and will also have the need to want to alter them. Another scenario would be that a
patient is rather happy with the change they make to their image and will not see it as enough
and will pursue a more noticeable or intenser change to that feature. Both scenarios are rather
harmful not only physically but mentally and true not only for adults but teens as well (Girls
Are Taking).

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After time, just like with any other drastic decision one takes, regret comes crashing into
the mind; for some women at least. For some women their cosmetic surgery, specifically with
breast augmentations, became somewhat of a burden for them. As a result the stable growth of
breast augmentations fell and the removal of the surgical breasts rose to nearly 10 percent from
2010 to 2014, as determined by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Women who
went through with the removal of their surgical breasts for the most part did it for themselves
rather than for their partner or society which was the reason to why they acquired them in the
first place. Women realized the affect of their new image. They realized that their new image that
was suppose to make them happy just brought onexperienced self-conscious later on, pain issues
for them and , and money issues. And some women go into a procedure blindly as they envision
in their minds the result they think they will see afterwards and when they do finally see the
finished result realize that it was not at all what they expected it would be (Why Thousands).
Any surgery is expensive and cosmetic surgery is no exception which is another factor to
why women should not give into cosmetic surgery. Wasting so much money on a surgery that is
not needed is pointless and instead can be put to better use. Yes, some insurances do cover plastic
surgery however most of the time they just cover reconstructive surgery leaving cosmetic surgery
to be paid for by the patient seeking a procedure. However it can be paid for if the patient is
seeking cosmetic surgery because of pain being inflicted upon them as in the case of needing a
breast reduction (Dowshen). Also depending on the cosmetic procedure, it can wear over time
and call for a retouching from time to time and the cost will start to stack up. Even to remove a
certain procedure can cause a dent in a bank account. There is also a chance of a cost increase for
a patient if complications occur during or after a procedure. Cost of a cosmetic procedure can
vary depending on age and location. Typically with age, risks increase so more money is

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involved and whether the patient is in a booming popular cosmetic surgery location also plays a
key role to the money factor (Why Thousands).
Locations are typically booming with cosmetic surgery because of the media attention
they get. Locations like these are usually popular cities such as Houston, Los Angeles, Miami,
and Las Vegas (Why Thousands). And most of the time celebrity orientated which involves
media. Women are constantly bombarded by media of how they should look. And they will
continue to do so. If women give in they are only adding to the medias power on the situation
but if women take a stand against it they can change the standard women to a healthy definition
of a true natural beauty; expand the definition. Magazines should not retouch or alter any
models photo whether it be the face or body to make it flawless. Doing so only puts pressure on
women and causes them to feel below a standard since all they see are full lips, a small waists,
thigh gaps, and flawless skin. As reported by the ASPS, teens usually take on cosmetic surgery to
feel accepted by peers and friends they see it as their ticket to fitting in. Whereas adults usually
take cosmetic surgery on as a way of being able to be different from the rest (Dowshen). It is also
an issue on social media now such as Instagram with celebrities such as Kylie Jenner who caused
an uproar about her lip fillers, her lip fillers even hit a Google search record (Girls Are
Taking). Such ideals of what a womaen ought toshould be, should not influence teens or adults.
Nevertheless,Well, what if the potential patient is a risk taker, what if money is not a
factor, or what if the patient truly does not let media influence them and gets cosmetic surgery
for the sole reason of it being for themselves and bringing happiness upon them. The power is
theirs to decide however if one does go through with the procedure, power is still given to
cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic surgery will continue to be promoted in women across the world for
the wrong reasons which would be because women accept it, support it, and practice it for no

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true meaningful reason. On the other hand, what if a woman decides that she wants to change her
lifestyle to be healthier and she becomes really fit and is left with an excessive amount of extra
skin. She of course would want a tummy tuck and any other procedure to reduce and smooth the
skin to a reasonable amount. This is a It is reasonable situation that can be understood e and in
the end the decision of having such a procedure falls to the patient.
The power is theirs to decide however if one does go through with the procedure, power
is still given to cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic surgery will continue to be promoted in women
across the world because women accept it and support it.
Women should embrace their natural pure beauty and stop aiming towards the
fantasy of the perfect ideal women, society has thrown upon them. A change in beauty standards
should be societys objective. Teens should not have to grow up and realize that they do not
resemble the models on the magazine covers or on the runways. Adults should not have to feel
intimidated by the unrealistic standard either. Both teens and adults should realize that they are
real and beautiful and that the flawless women depicted in media are falsely showcased to look
that way. They should feel and grow into a confident woman and accept themselves and not let
society dictate them. Everyone should pitch in, even TIMEs most influential teen Zendaya
Coleman has spoken out against media who portrayed her as having an unrealistic body image.
Zendaya known for speaking out against beauty and image was not shy on speaking out when a
magazine retouched her photo, giving her a noticeably smaller waist and lighting her skin.

Works Cited

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Dowshen, Steven, ed. Plastic Surgery. KidsHealth - the Web's most visited site about children's
health. The Nemours Foundation, Jan. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
<http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/body_image/plastic_surgery.html>
Girls Are Taking Drastic Measures To Achieve The Perfect Instagram Snap | Teen Vogue. Teen
Vogue. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. <http://www.teenvogue.com/story/photo-editing-apps-damageself-esteem>
"Plastic Surgery." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2015): 1p. 1. Funk & Wagnalls
New World Encyclopedia. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
Tutton, Mark. CNN. CNN. Cable News Network, Jul. 2010. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.cnn.com/2009/health/12/02/model.death.surgery.risk/index.html>
Why Thousands of Women Are Having Their Breast Implants Removed | Fox News. Fox
News. FOX News Network, 2015. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/10/20/why-thousands-women-are-having-theirbreast-implants-removed.html>