In the first half of this chapter entitled “Lean and Mean”, Susan Douglas addresses how society and the media have distorted our notions of beauty. Everything ranging from Victoria’s Secret ads, Cosmo magazines and television series show the female audience that their hyperfemininity characterized by their unbalanced, oversized breast and size 0 bodies are their most powerful tool. Moreover, they depict men as “helpless, salivating dung beetles” (214) when confronted by such type of women. The most disconcerting part of this chapter was related to the increasingly large number of TV shows broadcasting how plastic surgery is considered a miraculous intervention in a woman's life.
I remember catching a few episodes of ¨The Swan¨when I was still in middle school and thinking how people could undergo such harsh procedures, both physically and mentally. The scariest part was always towards the end of the episode, ¨the revelation¨as I recall, when the women admitted to themselves how beautiful they looked in the mirror, YET, it didn't feel like them...rather, a whole new person. Obviously (as Douglas would argue and I agree with her), these women experienced a 180 degrees transformation in order to reach a fake standard of beauty. Who would recognize themselves after having knifes and foreign compounds invade one own's body? Unfortunately, even though the negative secondary effects of such procedures, like Botox, are endless, an increasingly alarming number of people continue to pay for these ¨miracles¨....2.8 million Botox injections were given in 2007 alone.
Definitely scary stuff. As you pointed out, these women (and a few men) completely change the way they look; the shows justify this transformation by pitching the idea that it helps the women's self esteems. Though it may briefly give them confidence, being truly comfortable with yourself goes much deeper then that. It is about liking the way that you look, but that stems from liking who you are much more so than actual physical traits. Plastic surgery is a superficial solution for the much deeper issue of confidence.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you. These plastic surgery "wonders" presented on reality tv are really disturbing. I remember watching The Swan in middle school as well - watching patients (mostly women) agonize for months only to not be able to recognize themselves. And the most disturbing bit of all, as you both pointed out, is they actually seemed to be happy about this. I agree with April, that plastic surgery is a quick and often temporary fix for confidence issues that go much deeper. Douglas points out that once the scars have healed, patients who are lucky enough not to have complications or need further corrective surgery are more likely to commit suicide than those who do not get plastic surgery.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone has made some really interesting points. The idea behind plastic surgery is, itself, fascinating. Women (and men) pay billions of dollars every year to become the perfect (fill in the blank). Today in class we talked about the plastic surgery done on vaginas. I was not surprised to read about the surgery, but it made me think, is there any part of the body that people will not change?
ReplyDeleteAs both Lisa and April pointed out plastic surgery is only skin deep. It does not solve the self-esteem issues that women suffer from. I wonder if instead of surgery, women went to therapists to improve their self-confidence if less people would have plastic surgery. In a world where the perfect body seems to be only attainable through plastic surgery (or air-brushing) I am not surprised that plastic surgery is so popular.