Hey, fam. Consider this Honest Thoughts on Plastic Surgery, Pt. 2.
I’ll admit two things right now:
- I wouldn’t let a Botox/injection/filler needle touch me with a 10-foot pole. But that’s just me.
- Yes, I can get a little judge-y when I see someone with an excessive amount of plastic surgery.
Of course, there’s the argument that people can and should do whatever they want to their bodies to make them feel good about themselves. It’s their bodies, so who cares, right? But there’s also the argument that there’s something really powerful about people embracing the faces and bodies they were given. (Like Lea Michele giving a hard no on a nose job or Ashley Graham in damn near anything she does.)
I had this debate with my mentor the other night who straight-up called bullshit on the stigmas and now it has me thinking.
His argument: Plastic surgery is no different than makeup, hair extensions, heels, bra padding, tattoos or anything foreign that alters our appearance.
He argued that makeup is just a bunch of chemicals that go on our skin to change how we look and plastic surgery consists of chemicals that go in your skin — in or on, what’s the difference? In regards to working out to change and get the body you want, what if procedures for changing your body became less and less invasive? Would you do it then?
My argument: Makeup, extensions, etc. aren’t permanent like plastic surgery procedures can be. They come and go, but our natural selves remain the same. Plus, I mostly work out because of how it makes me feel mentally; and there’s the commitment and payoff aspect which is so rewarding. I understand people can and should do whatever they want to their bodies, but do I want my own daughters or sons seeing that one day and wanting quick fixes to what they were given, wanting to look like someone else or feeling like they’re not enough? HELL no.
His counterargument: If you’re against the notion of plastic surgery altering your image, then you shouldn’t alter your image at all. And if you’re blessed enough to like how you look naturally, then great. If not, why not change it? Plus, stigmas around plastic surgery just put those who get it down.
So, are those of us against plastic surgery but still into makeup, clothing, extensions, etc. a bunch of hypocrites?
I think a problem is that a lot of people like myself think of plastic surgery in extremes. When I think “plastic surgery,” I don’t think about the girl who got one nose job. I think Kardashians and Instagram models with butts from here to as far as the I can see. I think about the twenty-something celebs I’ll see out in Hollywood who’ve already changed their face so much, they’ll never know how they would’ve aged naturally–or what they’d even look like at 30. And that makes me sad.
That, to me, feels really excessive and unhealthy not a positive image or message to put out there. But on the flip side, I can also see how those who’ve gotten work done and embrace it can also empower those who want it and have their own body image problems.
So what do you guys think? Is there a line? Or is altering image the same no matter what? Are the stigmas around plastic surgery unwarranted? Or are they needed to avoid a slippery slope?
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