Term Paper on "Cosmetic or Plastic Surgery"

Term Paper 4 pages (1306 words) Sources: 5 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

beauty" is as old as humanity itself. From earliest times, worldwide cultures altered their appearance based on what was desirable by that society's standards. Both female and male Egyptians wore makeup to enhance and shape their eyes. Small feet remained a standard of beauty in China, even after footbinding was outlawed. Throughout parts of Africa, obesity of the buttocks was associated with erotic desirability and fertility. In the U.S., as with other Western nations, consumer demand for cosmetic surgery goes back to WWI. Yet even when negative factors are associated with the procedure, most individuals still go ahead. For example, medical problems with breast implants may have motivated some women to defer this procedure, but on the whole the majority is willing to take the risk. Nearly 300,000 American women had breast augmentation solely for cosmetic (not for reconstructive) purposes last year. The answer is not to outlaw such cosmetic procedures -- those who want to get them done will do so even in an unsound black market. Rather, physicians and mental healthcare providers need to become more aware of the overall psychological needs of the patients as well as better inform and educate them to make well-thought-out decisions.

Cosmetic surgery is found very early in human history. In 600 B.C., a Hindu surgeon reconstructed a nose by using a piece of the cheek (Feldman 61). In the late 1900s, John Orlando Roe, a Rochester, New York, surgeon worked on noses so individuals could "pass" for another culture or race. Although Victorian society stressed that beauty came solely from internal qualities of character and health, by 1921 most Americans saw physical beauty as an external, and thus alterable, quality (Haiken 3).

Plastic surgery advancements in World War I soon impacted the society at large. In 1931, Dr. John Howard Crum performed the first recorded public face-lift. After WWII, doctors began to market the procedure. Husband-hunting girls, divorce-aversive wives, and even career women had to look their best to succeed; in the youth-oriented postwar culture, looking good meant looking young. Affluent 50-year-olds were willing to spend their hard-earned money to change their appearance (Feldman 63).

Since then, cosmetic surgery has become highly desirable by men as well as women: For example, penal enlargement is now very common. "Penile enlargement, if performed by a qualified and experienced surgeon and realistic expectations are stressed, is safe and effective," said Whitehead, an associate clinical professor of urology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and president of the American Academy of Phalloplasty Surgeons (Urology Times 35).

And as far as the 'cosmetic' issue goes, if a woman who feels her breasts are unattractive can take advantage of the numerous options in cosmetic breast surgery from augmentation to reduction to lifting, why can't a man have the same cosmetic options in terms of penile enhancement?" Enhancement phalloplasty and girth enhancement have been discussed in the literature for many years and have been in use for about a decade (Urology Times 36).

Over the years, a variety of negative factors has not deterred individuals from going under the knife. For example, the first silicone breast implant was marketed in 1963, and several decades later the FDA released a report showing polyurethane foam can break down into the body and form a carcinogen. The agency also issued a warning regarding the alarmingly high rate of saline implants that split open and require additional breast augmentation surgeries. This type of damaging information has not discouraged most women from getting implant; in fact, increasing numbers of teenage girls are also having their breasts enlarged. "I tell these women about all these complications and more, and they still want to do it. They say they want to look better in clothes and feel more confident and less self-conscious. It's a very powerful motivator," says Leroy Young, a plastic surgeon in private practice in St. Louis, Missouri (Feldman 70). Even the… READ MORE

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