I want to take a minute (or two) to talk about plastic surgery. I know I’m probably a little late in the game to discuss this, but this weekend a copy of People landed in my mailbox (thanks to the previous tenant’s subscription), with Heidi Montag’s newly shaped face staring at me from the cover. I have never watched The Hills, and I do not follow all the Heidi/Spencer drama, and normally I wouldn’t even open up People magazine, but I just had to when I saw the headline: 10 Procedures in 1 day. I was SHOCKED when I began to read the article describing how unsatisfied this 23-year-old girl was with her body, that she felt that she needed to have it all re-done. I was even more shocked when I saw the picture of her before all the surgeries only to realize that she was already a beautiful girl – and her when she smiled, her chin definitely did not look elongated (her complaint) to me. And even with a size DDD chest, she still wants more surgery to further augment her breasts. How is she going to stay balanced after that surgery?
To me, all this plastic surgery is just a cry for help. It is clear to me that there is clearly something mentally wrong with this girl if she feels that at 23 she needs procedures like liposuction and a brow lift. What’s troubling is that People does not seem to give credence to this argument – they just photograph her in sexy poses, seemingly reaffirming her decisions and suggesting that all women should be as bold as to alter their bodies in this way.
What angers me the most, however, is the fact that there are cosmetic surgeons out there who are actually willing to perform these procedures on a 23-year-old. I am not familiar with the AMA Code of Ethics, but I feel like there should be something in there that prevents this from happening. How could a doctor ever look at Heidi Montag, or any other similar girl, and think, oh yes, I definitely see why she would want to have these procedures done? It disgusts me to think that there are doctors out there that are so motivated by money and possible celebrity shout-outs that they would disregard the fact that this poor girl needs serious psychological help. Someone needs to call these doctors out and force them to change their practices, because in my opinion performing all these procedures should have been criminal.
Hey I read your post on Tumblr, and clicked on your blog to leave a comment. From one law student to another, I was really suprised to hear you say you think doctors should have some sort of legislation regulating pastic surgery procedures. I think there is a distinction between your arguing for ethical considerations versus criminal regulation you fail to account for. We already live in a rule striken, police-esque society where everything we do, and hell almost all we say, is regulated.
For someone, who seemingly, stands for first amendment freedoms, I find your argument counter-intuitive for the simple reason that you’re essentially negating an individual’s freedom of choice and free will; for both the patient and the doctor.
Why should performing a procedure on an individual be a criminal act? And what makes plastic surgery different from abortion? Would your argument apply to a woman’s right to choose?
You make a good point, but I stand by my argument. Yes, plastic surgery is a form of a women’s right to choose, but in many other medical situations a doctor must analyze a person’s mental state before performing a certain procedure. For example, transgender individuals must go through rigorous psychological testing before they are able to have surgery to change their bodies to fit the gender they identify with. How is this any different? Why should doctors who are performing plastic surgery on anyone (not just transgender patients) be required to get authorization from a psychologist before performing the surgery? How is it really any different? Although Heidi Montag was not changing from one gender to another, she was making serious, long lasting alterations to her body, without any consultation as to what was truly motivating her. I am not saying that women should not have the right to choose to have cosmetic surgery, but I do think that doctors should be held more accountable in how and on whom they are performing these procedures. The media seems to blindly accept the fact that women should naturally have a desire to look a certain way, without evaluating the social factors that are motivating that desire. To me the abortion argument is completely different, although I do agree that it is complicated. Women who have abortions are often going against societal expectations that women should always want to procreate and conform to gender roles. Women who have excessive cosmetic surgery, it seems to me, are doing the exact opposite and just trying to conform to the unrealistic beauty standards we place on women. I think that these standards should be questioned, and those who perpetuate them should be held accountable.
Point taken; however, I think the use of transgender is an ill-suited example of what you’re talking about. That’s a whole different ball game! Obviously there is some sort of esteem issue when women go to get some sort of plastic surgery done, but there is also a consequence of under going the procedure. For example, and what seemingly may be Montag’s “issue” and definitely Janice Dickinson’s and Dolly Parton’s as well, their consequences are becoming addicted to the procedures.
While plastic surgery may be promulgated by some sort of patriarchial societal paradigm, I think to decline an individual to exercise free choice based on esteem is a bit far fetched. Basing it on rehabilitation on the other hand, say for example where addiction is present, is more plausible.
Plastic surgery is just like everything else in this world, it has it’s pros and cons.
I’m eager to read about your same sex marriage blog, so get to lady. I’m a follower. thanks for making me think 🙂
I agree that 23-year-olds getting plastic surgery is ridiculous, however I disagree that the onus is on the surgeons to intervene. (I also disagree that Heidi Montag is or ever was beautiful.) The decision to have plastic surgery is a big one that has important consequences; but there are many decisions in life that have important consequences where we don’t want an outside party interfering with our judgment. What about the decision to get married or to have children? Psych evaluations before those decisions would probably save society a tremendous amount of trouble (and is actually an amazing idea…) but we would never do that out of respect for personal freedoms. Sure, plastic surgery has irreversible and potentially negative effects on the patient’s health, but what about the decision to get a tattoo, to donate an organ, or to have your tubes tied (or, as the previous commenter noted, to have an abortion)? Doctors always have to be medically responsible and not perform procedures that will endanger the patient’s health. But if a doctor is going to deny procedures on the grounds the patient is too young and pretty to need it, or on the grounds that she is just perpetuating beauty standards (interesting point here: what about breast reduction?), then he isn’t doing his job as a doctor.
I think in these cases, the onus is on the parents. By the time these wealthy LA girls reach 23, many of their friends have already had work done, their mothers have had work done, and they’ve probably already been thinking for 10 years about having work done. Just the other day on Real Housewives of Orange County, a mother took her daughter for a nose job for her 18th birthday. By the time they’re 23 — especially a girl in the entertainment industry! — plastic surgery is a normal part of life. The problem isn’t with the surgeons who do their jobs, it’s with the parents who raise their daughters to have these unhealthy ideas about beauty about what’s okay to do to your 23-year-old body.
*Smooth transition…*
Unrelatedly, I was looking at your links list on the side and wondered if you’ve ever seen http://www.autostraddle.com? It’s run by a friend of a friend, and I think you’d quite like it. It’s geared towards lesbians, but they’ve got all sorts of good gay rights and what might flippantly be called “girl power” stuff on there.