You may have heard in the headlines a couple years back that a man from China has “sued his wife for being ugly.” Upon discovering that his baby was, in his words, “hideous,” he assumed infidelity on part of his wife, only to realize that she had in fact, been completely honest with him—minus the fact that she had undergone plastic surgery on her entire face prior to their meeting.
As far as beauty standards go, Pepperdine has an interesting demographic, doesn’t it? Lodged in possibly one of the most “appearance-affirming” areas in the world, a set of Christian ethics begs us to “free ourselves from our slavery to vanity.” However, ethical or not, it is so easy to mentally judge the average overly-Botoxed and silicone infused woman wandering around the ‘Bu.
So what is it about plastic surgery that disgusts us? Of course most of us would gladly justify burn victims and seven-fingered infants, but when anyone else commits to cosmetic procedure, it becomes frowned upon. Other forms of “image improvement” are accepted. Dramatic weight loss. Drastic hair changes. Face-altering makeup. Braces for teeth that can chew perfectly well. Teeth whitening.
So what is the difference between someone who wakes up every morning and drastically alters his or her appearance and someone who goes under the knife? Must we, under all circumstances, accept what we were born with? If your answer is ‘yes’, please consider leaving this article and visiting the comforts of hellogiggles.com. If your answer is ‘depends’, I would agree with you. Of course we would all agree that self-improvement in terms of intellectual advancement is great, but certain lines should be drawn for the body. My beef with plastic surgery is not that it shows how vain America (or the world, rather) is, but that it does not celebrate diversity.
The most common procedures include liposuction, double eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty and breast enlargement, and here’s the catch—they are associated by race. In 2010, the most common cosmetic procedures among African Americans were liposuction, rhinoplasty and breast reduction. Breast enlargement, on the other hand, was more popular among Asians, Hispanics and Caucasian women. Asian Americans topped statistics in you guessed it—breast augmentation, rhinoplasty and double eyelid surgery. Latinos followed the same pattern as Asians, with the exception of replacing the double eyelid surgery for breast enlargement. Meanwhile, the number of Caucasian patients for plastic surgery has declined by 11% from 2002 to 2008.
At this point, I feel obligated in my argument to explain that of course no one slides on the operating table with the intention of “looking Caucasian,” but a majority of them desire Caucasian-compatible features – without realizing it. This includes larger eyes, medium-to-large sized breasts and defined, taller noses. If you don’t believe me, definitely check out “Ethnic Differences Emerge in Plastic Surgery” from the New York Times.
In fact, if you take a look at the most desirable Asian actresses in Hollywood, a good half of them are biracial—with Caucasian features. Maggie Q is half Polish. Our very own alum Kelly Hu (not to mention ex Miss Teen USA) is part English. Kristin Kreuk is half Dutch.
Furious or confused? Looking for a culprit to blame? Don’t. You could blame beauty advertising on the cosmetic industry, but they profit off of society’s expectations. You could blame those individuals themselves for being “self-hating,” but they were given reasons to be insecure. You can blame society, and that is blaming yourself.
So let us stop priming children with “good hearted princesses” and “hideous villains.” Let us not associate beautiful people with being ugly or vapid on the inside. Most of all, let us create a society where the Susan Boyle effect should not have to exist because anyone, and I mean anyone, despite how he or she looks, should project an image of greatness and potential.
