Vanity or Societal Norms? A Look at Why Plastic Surgery??

I responded to a post on WordPress about warped body image and “extreme” procedures like, actually making yourself taller with bone grafts in your legs and why people endure such “painful procedures”… 

Hello, I enjoyed your post for the most part.  Personally, I have undergone four rounds of plastic surgery procedures in order to reconstruct my body after massive weight loss.  Am I a “have or have not?”… it really doesn’t matter!  This was a matter of necessity, not only physically for proportion’s sake, and psychologically for my own sanity and sense of well-being, but it was truly a “repair” and return to a functional form! 

Was vanity also involved? ABSOLUTELY. 

Was desperation present at times? HECK YEAH!

Was bravery, or bravado, a function of my vanity? Hard to say… But I never really considered it vanity, I considered it, and do to this day, more than 6 years after I started this Journey, simply a series of steps I had to complete to make my outside truly reflect who I knew I was on the inside.  Now, I take a more unique stance perhaps and I do NOT blame “society” for not accepting what I might look like on the “outside,” in a way, FORCING me to undergo these painful procedures…  Heck no.  I really didn’t CARE what society thought, I was doing it for ME… not society, not my husband, not my kids, not my friends or family, not for a better job or more opportunity,… It was purely and simply for ME.    I knew what I wanted to look like and plastic surgery was a way to achieve it. Now, am I a product or function of the society in which I live?  Well, how can we NOT be?

I literally got my “new body” in Brazil but I am American.  Did Brazilian societal norms of what a “great body” should look like influence my desire for certain procedures and even the final results of the surgery itself?   Of course!   But why is that a bad thing, necessarily?  Unless it just doesn’t “sit right” with you and so I say then again, “Do what YOU want then.  Look and dress and act the way that YOU want… “ as long as it resonates within you and YOU can look in the mirror everyday and be at peace and harmony with yourself.  Even though I am back in the USA, I love my “Brazilian body” and would not want to conform to the American society standard (bigger breasts for example). 

I was most disappointed, yet not surprised, by the last comment about the man saying he was married and had a wife and therefore saw no reason to alter his appearance.  What exactly does THAT have to do with any decision to do something so life changing and transforming?  If anything, THAT statement is a clearer indication that more people are concerned with society than about vanity.  Which is the lesser evil?  LOL!!  What I tell MY patients (I began a Medical Concierge Service in Brazil in 2002 to help my peers after my own experience) when I consult them about having these surgeries, is to make sure first and foremost that they are doing it for THEM and only THEM!  They cannot CARE what size breasts their husband or boyfriend or whomever may “want” (excuse me??!!) because they could very well be gone tomorrow and then you are stuck with D cups and perhaps some neck pain, etc just because someone preferred that size and the woman gave in.  Now THAT is desperation! 

Cosmetic or any plastic or “beauty enhancement” procedure or surgery should ultimately be judged or justified for its necessity and motive by no one other than the person choosing to undergo it.  It really isn’t anyone else’s place.  Are there going to be extremes where most of society will have some reaction, like the Texas woman going to Brazil for yet another breast enlargement procedure because a surgeon here either lacks the skill to perform it, or simply chooses to “judge” her and decide for himself that she doesn’t “need” it. Perhaps there are indeed even medical reasons NOT to go larger (I myself cannot imagine the neck and shoulder pain she could experience) yet, there are medical reasons not to take aspirin too… so… again, all relative to the individual.  That’s what we all are:  Individuals.  With our own set of values, perceptions, vision, needs and desires.   And if we want it bad enough, and there is a way to achieve it, especially knowing the risks and becoming informed, we will continue to strive for our own idea of perfection.  Let’s just try and bless those on this journey to self-reveal or maybe, “self-harmonization.”