Is Unneeded Cosmetic Surgery Just?

In our world today we are convinced that you need to look a certain way. There has been so much pressure that 14.6 million plastic surgeries were completed in the United States in 2012. Only 2% of that was needed reconstructive surgery. The 14.3 million operations were done by people who are not happy with their body image. Women accounted for 9.1 million of these procedures, and the men accounted for the other 5.2 million of the operations that were not reconstructive. Clearly by these numbers women feel more pressure to look "beautiful" in the eyes of society. Men also have this pressure, but even though unrealistic doesn't take plastic surgery to obtain good results.

Body image plays a huge roll in the decision of a cosmetic surgery. Many men can feel inadequate if they aren't a mass of toned muscle. The men you see in magazines that are shirtless are toned, but not as much as you would think. Usually really good lighting can make almost any man look appealing. Especially if the man is already somewhat fit. Men have it a lot easier because men can get the results that they want from some discipline and making time to work out frequently.

With women they can feel inadequate with not only how toned they are but also with their breasts. 3 million breast augmentations were done in 2012. That's more than any other single cosmetic surgery that has been performed. It is a lot easier to say that girls just need to learn to accept their body, when it's clear that society looks for certain traits.

I don't think personally I would ever get plastic surgery and it saddens me that people put so much emphasis on looks. Plastic surgery is an escape for people who struggle to accept themselves and who God made them to be. I do not think plastic surgery is just for many reasons but one that I will bring up is the fact it only makes one person better. By that I mean when you get plastic surgery that doesn't mean that your DNA changes. Your kids can still have your old big nose, small breasts, or a lot of stomach fat. With having plastic surgery you mess with natural selection by an illusion of you having traits you may not actually have.


Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2890136/
http://www.plasticsurgery.org/news-and-resources/press-release-archives/2013/14-million-cosmetic-plastic-surgery-procedures-performed-in-2012.html
http://www.surgery.org/media/news-releases/cosmetic-procedures-increase-in-2012