Plastic surgery is an individual's choice, so why do others feel the need to tear it down?
By On Mutual Terms — Written on Oct 15, 2014
There was a piece by Lindy West on Jezebel.com a while back [1] that brought up the negative characteristics that we attribute to people (and especially women) who get plastic surgery. Certainly, plastic surgery is not as looked down upon as much as it once was, in fact, in certain places and social circles it's considered the norm. However, there is still that stereotype that women who get plastic surgery are shallow bimbos. The thing to remember (and what Jezebel also brought up) is that in most cases, women decided to get plastic surgery because they want to and/or they feel pressured to look a certain way. And, who are we to tell people what to do with their own bodies?
It is sad that we live in a society that makes women believe that they will only be beautiful if they look a certain way. However, do women that get plastic surgery really deserve to be looked down upon as morally inferior? Is plastic surgery really that different from dying your hair or getting a tattoo? Plastic surgery does not harm anyone else. At the end of the day, we are going to be judged by our appearances. And women know what it's like to get judged based on how we look. All. The. Time. Let's not be each other's enemies here.
We should definitely remind every girl that they are beautiful and should feel that way. After all, the "perfect person" does not exist. No matter how close you get to looking like Barbie, there's going to be a group of people that think Asian girls are the more desirable. You can buy awesome DDs, but someone you meet is going to want them smaller. Even though it's kind of cliché, the most beautiful people are the ones that are confident and believe that they are beautiful. I don't know any woman who hasn't "conformed" to a standard of beauty in some way, whether it's shaving her legs or getting a nose job.
Women who get plastic surgery are not really the problem. Maybe they, like so many of us, are just responding to societal pressures in their own way. Maybe they just think they'll look nice. Either way, they don't deserve the hate.
[1] http://jezebel.com/why-do-we-hate-cosmetic-surgery-so-freaking-much-1578798128