The Importance Of Cosmetic Enhancements In The Media

655 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Societal standards of beauty

Straight teeth, wrinkle-free skin, a super thin body and a perfect nose; these are just some of the many beauty standards that exist in society today. From rhinoplasty to Botox injections, cosmetic enhancement has become an increasingly common option to attempt to boost self-concept for many. What began as a taboo subject remains now not only acceptable, but a widespread trend that continues to grow. According to the ASPS, the total number of cosmetic procedures rose from 14,690,110 in 2012 to an astounding 15,116,353 in 2013. The continuous rise in aesthetic procedures results from poor self-image influenced by the false beauty standards projected by the media. Reasons for these procedures range from mature women wanting to look younger to the need of teenagers to fit in with the crowd and everything in-between but the true cause stems from the media. It’s proven that, “Social endorsements of an ideal body shape, such as those found in print and media formats, have been related to body image disturbance (Cusumano and Thompson 701-702). When the media presents these standards, they are internalized by the public and manifested into critical self-concepts which are a problem and the solution to these problems for some lies in cosmetic adjustments. One of the outlets through which the media broadcasts its unreasonable beauty ideals is television. Specifically, the wildly popular genre of reality television. Plenty of reality shows dealing with cosmetic enhancement have aired throughout the past decade such as, The Swan, Dr. 90210, and Extreme Makeover. These programs consist of taking an ordinary individual with cosmetic flaws and altering them into a new and improved version of themselves that better fits with the way that soc... ... middle of paper ... ...e feedback they long for but instead end up being bullied and made fun of, surgery becomes an option. ASPS reports that aesthetic procedures for teens 13-19 years old boosted 2% from 2011 to 2012 resulting in a total of 236,356. Adolescents don’t just want to look “regular” though, but to be beyond that. Per a 2009 report, the goal of teens getting plastic surgery is not just to look normal but, “to look better than normal,”(Gilbert 14). Based on studies, it’s clear that teenagers will continue to look to the media to decide their self-perception. As been noted, the media plays a huge role in influencing self-perception. Many Americans want to look young, beautiful and to be accepted into the crowd. So long as the media is allowed to dictate what’s beautiful and what isn’t, people will compare themselves to said standards and develop a desire to change accordingly.

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Body Image

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    From newspapers, magazines, television, movies, and the Internet, people are connected to the media in so many ways every day. Media plays a huge impact on daily life, telling the public what the newest trends are, events that are happening in day-to-day life, and scandalous stories of elite individuals involving politics, fame, and money. From young children to middle aged adults, people are constantly fixated on the images the media portrays for how they should look. “Body image is defined as “perceptions of and attitudes toward one’s own physical appearance” (Burlew & Shurts, 2013, p. 1). The media has an impact on how society and individuals view themselves and each other.

    Read More

  • The Pitfalls Of Plastic Surgery By Camille Pagalia

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today society, beauty in a woman seems to be the measured of her size, or the structure of her nose and lips. Plastic surgery has become a popular procedure for people, mostly for women, to fit in social class, race, or beauty. Most women are insecure about their body or face, wondering if they are perfect enough for the society to call the beautiful; this is when cosmetic surgery comes in. To fix what “needed” to be fixed. To begin with, there is no point in cutting your face or your body to add or remove something most people call ugly. “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery” explored the desire of human to become beyond perfection by the undergoing plastic surgery. The author, Camille Pagalia, took a look how now days how Americans are so obsessed

    Read More

  • Body Modification for Cultural Adaptation?

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    How should I look like to have the ideal body? An increasing number of women ask themselves this question many times in their lives. Deborah Sullivan’s essay, “Social Bodies: Tightening the Bonds of Beauty”, discloses the different cultural traditions that require various methods of body modifications. Women should undergo such modifications to obtain social acceptance. Similarly, “Pressures to Conform” by Celia Milne discusses the effects of media and society on women, and how women view their physical appearance. The media gives women a plethora of choices for the perfect body and even provides ways on how to achieve them. There is no escaping. There is no excuse of not getting the ideal body that ranges from that of a stick-thin ramp model’s to the buff and chiseled outline of a body builder’s. Still, the struggle doesn’t end here. Women also desire smooth, wrinkle-free skin, hairless faces, and ample busts. “Stencil” women are celebrities, models, actresses - women whose coveted looks are seen through discriminating TV screens, posters, and magazines. The steady demand for these forms of media is mainly due to women who are looking for body images to pattern from. These women are on the constant lookout in updating their appearance and considering the bulk of information that the media presents to them, the media is a source of considerable amount of physical and psychological stress. In their fight for their roles in society, women undergo various body modifications to suit the taste of the present-day culture.

    Read More

  • Melissa Dittmann's Plastic Surgery: Beauty Or Beast

    163 Words  | 1 Pages

    Cosmetic surgery convinces young teens to alter just about anything. The truth is, with various surgical possibilities, it can cause teens to make many changes with unrealistic expectations. Teenagers tend to get their hopes up with the intentions of evolving into a fantasy of what they wish to look like but are not always satisfied with the results. It is said by Melissa Dittmann in her article Plastic Surgery: Beauty or Beast, that it has been, “several predictors of poor outcomes, especially for those who hold unrealistic expectations or have history of depression and anxiety.” This can cause a teen to become even more insecure about themself because they have not gotten the closure they were expecting to have after the surgery. It also

    Read More

  • Eating Disorders and The Media

    1688 Words  | 4 Pages

    The media and how it affects our society has changed tremendously over the past few decades. Our population of children who spend a lot of time in front of the television or on social media continues to increase, creating a superficial view of themselves and who they should be. This superficial outlook has been created by the media because it preaches to our society that looks matter. Not only are there millions of advertisements saying to lose weight and buy certain products to be beautiful, but there has been a specific standard of beauty set for models and actresses to obtain. These standards include big eyes, volumino...

    Read More

  • The History Of Plastic Surgery

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ters of the covers of women’s magazines include at least one message about how to change a woman’s body image by cosmetic surgery. These articles about appearance are damaging because it leads to seriously unhealthy lifestyles that women and teenagers think they need to look beautiful. In addition to that, Teen Magazine published in 2003 an article saying that children from age 6-12 have been on a diet and are now considering plastic surgery. Cosmetic surgery sends the message that the prejudices some people have about appearance are valid, which is very wrong.

    Read More

  • Media Influence Over Body Image

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    The media has had an increasingly destructive effect on young people who are becoming worryingly obsessed with their body image. The media is saturated in sexual imagery in which young people have to face every day. The sheer volume of sexual imagery in the media today has resulted in the vast majority of young people to become hooked on looking as near to perfection everyday by using the latest products and buying the latest fashions. This used to be enough but lately the next step to achieving perfection is cosmetic surgery. Everyone wants to look attractive, especially teenagers who are not only put under massive strain to succeed but to look beautiful and climb the ranks of the social ladder, and it seems that the only way to achieve the much desired beauty is to turn to drastic measures.

    Read More

  • Plastic Surgery: The Negative Effects Of Cosmetic Surgery

    2217 Words  | 5 Pages

    The words plastic surgery ignite certain thoughts into people’s minds. One may think of a celebrity such as Kylie Jenner or the constant rise in breast augmentation. Typically most people do not have the desire to surgically alter their appearance. Some however, feel the need to enhance their look as a result of insecurity, low self-esteem or bullying. Others have certain role models they look up to and would like to resemble their idol in one aspect or another. Adolescents and young adults are the most influenced by the media. Often times, a teen girl will scroll through her Instagram or even look at models in advertisements and want to look like the women pictured. Even if this means mimicking a certain eye look or hairstyle. Some girls won’t settle for a subtle change and will want to take things farther.

    Read More

  • The Media's Effect on Women

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    The media negatively influences the way women are portrayed in modern society and culture. This can severely impact the way a woman views her self worth and beauty.

    Read More

  • Female Body Image and the Mass Media

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sullivan, Deborah A. "Tightening the Bonds of Beauty." Cosmetic Surgery: The Cutting Edge of Commercial Medicine in America. N.p.: Rutgers UP, 2001. N. pag. Print.

    Read More

  • Plastic Surgery: Should It Be Banned?

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some people’s obsession with plastic surgery is obviously getting out of control. It starts with only getting one thing fixed or corrected but then quickly escalates and before you know it, a face that once was all-flesh turns into plastic. According to a study conducted by Nigel Mercer (2009), “The number of official cosmetic surgeries has more than tripled to 34,000 since 2003”. The two reasons why plastic surgery should be banned are because of its high health risks, and because of the additional pressure it puts on people to look picture-perfect.

    Read More

  • Effects of Media on Women’s Body Image

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this age, media is more pervasive than ever, with people constantly processing some form of entertainment, advertisement or information. In each of these outlets there exists an idealized standard of beauty, statistically shown to effect the consumer’s reflection of themselves. The common portrayal of women’s bodies in the media has shown to have a negative impact on women and girls. As the audience sees these images, an expectation is made of what is normal. This norm does not correspond to the realistic average of the audience. Failing to achieve this isolates the individual, and is particularly psychologically harmful to women. Though men are also shown to also be effected negatively by low self-esteem from the media, there remains a gap as the value of appearance is seen of greater significance to women, with a booming cosmetic industry, majority of the fashion world, and the marketing of diet products and programs specifically targeting women.

    Read More

  • How Media Affects Our Identity

    659 Words  | 2 Pages

    Advancements to science and technology marks one way people are able to change the way they identify themselves. With these advancements, very little about a person’s figure is set in stone. Aspects such as how tall a person is, how much they weigh, and how they look can be easily changed. For example, if someone doesn’t like the way they look, they can go pay a surgeon to morph their bodies into a figure they desire. Nowadays, people can even alter the genders that they associate themselves with, to a certain extent. Since 1997, there has been a 279% increase in the total number of cosmetic procedures performed (“American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery”).

    Read More

  • The Unfortunate Prevalence of Cosmetic Surgery

    1968 Words  | 4 Pages

    Flipping through the pages of Vogue's latest edition, 23 year-old Susan seems quite upset. She struggles with the thought of lacking the perfect body and delicate features in order to be considered attractive. Surprisingly, Susan is not alone in this kind of an internal struggle. In contemporary society, every other woman aspires to have the lips of Angelina Jolie and the perfect jaw line of Keira Knightley. Society today looks down upon individuals that do not fit in, whether in terms of body shape or facial attractiveness. This forces them to consider the option of 'ordering beauty.' Since cosmetic surgery is no longer a social taboo in America given its widespread popularity, more people are promoting it which ultimately affects the rest of the world due to the unwavering influence of American culture. Cosmetic surgery should be deterred in the US because it promotes the idea of valuing appearance over ability, gives rise to unrealistic expectations, and brings with it high cost to society.

    Read More

  • Teenage Cosmetic Surgery

    2340 Words  | 5 Pages

    To many, the notion of a teenager undergoing plastic surgery is appalling and unbelievable. For others, such as eleven-year-old Julia, a nose job was able to help her lead a happier and more normal life. To eighteen-year-old Kristen a breast augmentation is a traditional rite of passage of the family. She claims that she “just wanted to look normal,” and that after surgery, she does. (Sweeny, 2009) In these types of cases, cosmetic surgery can be beneficial to the confidence of teenagers in what Ann Kearney-Cooke calls “an epidemic of low self-esteem among girls.” (Sweeney, 2009) Whether it is a physical deformity, such as protruding ears, or simply a lack of something that other peers have, such as large breasts, cosmetic surgery can help teenagers cope with self-worth in a world where beauty is ridiculously selective. However, aside from the confidence-boosting possibilities resulting from teen cosmetic surgery, there are many reasons why it should not be taken lightly for an adolescent. Although cosmetic surgery can potentially be beneficial, there are also many extreme risks for teenagers, including medical complications and in some rare cases death, and thus should be solely a last resort after meticulous analysis for serious cases. Furthermore, neither the adolescent brain nor body is even fully developed.

    Read More

More about The Importance Of Cosmetic Enhancements In The Media

Open Document