Fig. 5.

Cosmetic Surgery National

Data Bank Statistics
THE PHYSICAL SELF

“You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.”

-Amy Bloom

There is always a pressure in our society to look good, and to seek a visually better version of

ourselves. We often get so caught up with the ways we can make sure that we look beautiful

and nice, that sometimes, we frown at our natural looks, our dark complexion perhaps, or

even our short stature.The social pressure of looking perfect gave rise to the many beauty

products and enhancement procedures, being patronized by a large portion of our population,

no matter how expensive they might be, just to fit in, to be accepted, and be beautiful.In the

global society where fairer skin and size zero for women are deemed attractive if not

stunning, we can only expect ourselves to follow and abide by the mantra, “Beauty is Power”,

no matter how destructive it might be for us.

WHY DO I LOOK LIKE MYSELF??

Have you ever faced the mirror and asked yourself, “WHY DO I LOOK LIKE ME?”

GREGOR MENDEL

-He figured out how genes are passed from parents to offspring in plants, including

humans.

Genetics definitely has a hand on our physical appearance. Our biology dictates that our

looks are a result of the genes transferred to us by our parents.

a.) Skin tone

b.) hair color

c.) height
 Our physical features are evidence that we are our parents’ children. We find

ourselves being the mirrors of our parents, which was the result of their DNAs

(deoxyribonucleic acid) at work in us, and for some, even looking like carbon copies of them.

CULTURAL STANDARDS OF BEAUTY

Different cultures have different standards of beauty:

*During the 19th century in the African country of Tahiti, it was recorded that some men

and women were set aside in a special place for fattening purposes (Pollock, 1995). In

addition, they were covered in large amounts of tapa barkcloth, which, after the ritual is over,

reveals a lighter skin for those who were selected. The goal of this ritual is to enhance their

beauty, not only by feeding them but by making sure that they get a lighter skin afterwards.

* In Nigeria during the ancient times, being fat was viewed as a sign of prosperity, fertility

and beauty (The Fattening Room, Nkugho, n.d.). It depicts how beauty is espoused

distinctively in different societies.

* Lakoff and Scherr (1989), in their book Face Value: The Politics of Beauty, explain this

perfectly saying that… “Beauty was not just a product of wealth, but a commodity in and of

itself. In other words, it was no longer a matter of looking to wealth to find beauty, but of

looking to beauty to find status. Now, beauty could give the illusion of wealth.”

Fig. 1. Interesting Facts About Efik/ Calabar/ Akwa Ibom People of Nigeria (Chomskyweb,
n.d.)
* Lighter skinned individuals are considered higher in terms of social status, and therefore, in

the social rank compared to those with brown or dark skin (Rondilla, 2012). Our concept of

physical selves as Filipinos is largely associated with our skin color.

The Filipino Obsession with Beauty: THE CASE OF XANDER FORD

Xander Ford, previously known as Marlou Arizala, a former member of Hash5- a teen boy

band which became an online sensation not because of their attractiveness, nor talent, but

because of the disgust and animosity they receive for their ‘ugly’ faces.

Fig. 2 Marlou
Arizala before his transformation to Xander Ford (Nelz, 2017)
His decision to go under the knife was because of a lookist culture which dictates that

happiness is only afforded to good-looking people (Estrada, 2017).

Fig. 3. How much Does Xander Ford’s Makeover Cost? (Tuazon, 2017)
 There are those who feel that there is always need for them to alter whichever part of

their body, because they feel that they do not look beautiful, even if you tell them that they

already are.

This perspective seems to be the case not only for a lot of millennial but for those who are

suffering from BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER or BDD.

Fig. 4. Diagnosing & effectively treating Body Dysmorphic Disorder (Axe, n.d.)

Those who are suffering from BDD are so obsessed about their appearance, thus think

about their flaws, real or not, incessantly and uncontrollably (Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A

Quest for Perfection, 2012).

Dr. Yapchangco explains this obsession of millenials with plastic surgery, in the case

of millenials saying, “They want to be more pleasing, to be more beautiful. They consider

that having a beautiful face and body is always an edge in most aspects of life, especially in

getting into their chosen career,” (Sallan, 2017).

A HEALTHY BODY IMAGE AND SELF-ESTEEM IN PERIL

Fig. 5. Cosmetic Surgery National Data Bank Statistics

Fig. 6 Almost Anorexic (Arnold, n.d.)

Anorexia

Defined as “a serious mental illness where people are of low weight due to limiting their

energy intake. It can affect anyone of any age, gender, or background. As well as restricting

the amount of food eaten, they may do lots of exercise to get rid of food eaten. Some people

with anorexia may experience cycles of bingeing (eating large amount of food at once and

then purging,” (Anorexia, 2017).

Body image Disturbance (BID) is an important aspect of several pathologies in

psychology, particularly eating disorder. It has two perceptual components:

1.) Body size estimation- refers to how we accurately perceive our body size.

2.) Body dissatisfaction- refers to how we think and feel about the size and/or shape of our

body, if not correctly processed.

 Fig. 7 Body Image in the 21st Century (Konter, 2017)

Stice and Whitenton (2002) found out that body dissatisfaction is also linked with mental

disorders including depression and anxiety among adolescents. Today’s generation have

fallen prey from body image disturbance.

The Filtered Self

The advent of social media put pressure on us to look even better. We post our most

physically appealing self, and more often than not, we use filter applications where we can

hide our imperfections, creating, and recreating a self that is better approved by our online

friends. Gives us the freedom to alter our looks, and present our physical selves, not just the

way we want it, but the way our society approve it.

The more we approve of the filtered us, the more that we disregard our real, unfiltered

physical selves.

CELEBRATING BEAUTY IN DIVERSITY

The celebration of beauty in diversity requires, as she calls it, a culture of resistance.

This is a culture that veers away from the dictates of what women in society should look like

to be called beautiful. We should never allow ourselves to be victims of this since we are

supposed to celebrate the authentic us, where we do not need to hide our physical flaws and

to resist the demands of a deprecating image driven society.

YOU ARE WHO YOU LOOK! EMBARACING YOUR PHYSICAL SELF

The significance of self-acceptance is necessary in embracing physical selves. We have

to be reminded that our health is foremost in all these. Remember that body size, shape, skin

color, and stature are never correct indicators of a healthy life. There is nothing more

important than to learn to accept and embrace who we are, with all the beauty, flaws and

imperfections, because this is the only way that we can live in peace and at peace with our

selves.