As time progresses, technologies develop and media sources expand, people tend to become more materialistic in order to keep up with the swelling material economy around them. Faster, more efficient, more productive, and especially sexier models of everything are coming out, from computers to cell phones to music devices …and to people.
Some say people are being sold out, marketed, upgraded, and analyzed like the machines around them. Cosmetic surgery fits right into this slot, as far as most opinions are concerned. People being cut up, filled up, sucked thin, and pulled tight is an unpleasant concept for many, epitomizing the advancement of self-image for the shallow purposes – advancement in sex, society and business. But for a gross exhibition of our decline of morality, it scores extremely well. The fact remains that just last year, 11.5 million surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures were performed in the United States alone. With plastic surgery usually priced at thousands of dollars per procedure, Americans spent a total of approximately $12.4 billion last year. That’s a hefty market to consider, and an amazing output of interest from a public with such negative opinions of the practice. So why is it happening?
Imagine you, yourself, right now as you are. Part of a community of average Americans (given that “average American” tends to be a little eccentric). You probably know a few aging mothers, around their late 40’s. Normal jobs, simple lifestyle, tired but occupied and happy. These are the women that cosmetic surgery is targeted at. The majority of people who undergo cosmetic procedures are from 35 to 50 years old, and usually female, although current trends show a definite interest in male cosmetic surgery. For these men and women, it isn’t about sex or financial empowerment – it’s about their own self image, and their confidence in facing the rapidly advancing world around them. Women fix their sagging breasts because they nursed their children diligently; people perform weight loss operations because they work too hard and too often to find time to take a jog.
These people want to look in the mirror at the end of the day and see the physical representation of the strong, shining individuals they work so hard to become mentally. And cosmetic surgery can give them that. Is it a crime?
*Statistics from 2005 ASAPS Statistics Report, found on www.surgery.org.
As an elective medium it seems like morality would really come down to a person’s right to choose. In a free society body modification (breast augmentation, nose job, liposuction …) is no less moral than trading in the family truckster for a brand new sportscar.