The popularity of mommy makeovers has risen predictably after the sudden rise in birth rate.A couple of years ago, everyone was enthusiastic about pregnancies.Starting with a few Weather Channel meteorologists, the entire celebrity body as a whole began having children, and there was enthusiasm in the media about Britney Spears, Katie Holmes, Demi Moore, etc.The list went on and on, and the phenomenon became so prevalent that Maxim magazine for men ran a story on the “Hottest Moms.”Now, things have changed, and gotten, well, ugly.Starting with the death of Anna Nicole Smith, there’s been a decided turn against motherhood in the media.
While the courts have punished Britney Spears for continuing her partying ways despite having children, the court of public opinion has spoken out fiercely against her “overweight” appearance on MTV’s music awards, a criticism that she has apparently taken to heart. All around, it seems that the natural bodily consequences of pregnancy have become suddenly, horribly apparent to all those who so eagerly rushed in to meet the call of maternal duty.
Fortunately, all those who found themselves unwittingly swept, whale-like, onto the beach by the mommy wave, can now be swept back into the ocean by the next one, the mommy makeover wave.
In general, a woman’s body suffers several major transformations during pregnancy.Her breasts swell, her abdomen expands, and she gains weight in a number of locations dependent on her personal genetics.After pregnancy, these changes, and the physical and emotional stress of child-rearing, leave their mark.A woman’s breasts sag, and her stretched skin is permanently marked.She may be unable to lose the weight gained, and, even if she is, she is often left with sagging skin that is no longer sufficiently elastic to shrink back onto her restored frame.
In response to these difficulties, many plastic surgeons are offering what they call “mommy makeover” packages, a combination of liposuction, breast lifts, breast augmentation, face lifts, tummy tucks, skin care, even “genital rejuvenation” options to try and counteract the physical consequences of childbirth.
My concern is not over the surgeries themselves. I am all for women wanting to look their best throughout the course of their lives. What does concern me is the general malleability it shows in us that we are able to be led around this way, from one thing to another, because the next thing you know, all these women will also be trying to get rid of that other pesky thing that gets in the way of them looking and feeling their best: the kids. Just like Britney Spears all over again.
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