I have been following the news reports with regard to PIP breast implants with some interest.
Due to the risk of rupture, the French government has agreed to the removal of all these breast implants free of charge. It is being said that the British Department of Health should do likewise for British women who are currently reporting any side effects and/or are becoming concerned about the risks to their health.
Apart from correcting disfigurement after a traumatic accident or necessary surgery, what makes anybody, female or male, decide that they need to take the very real risk to their health of having cosmetic surgery ?
In a world where magazines are persistent in their portrayal of women as thinner, paler-skinned, and more wrinkle-free than they really are, is it any wonder that a falsified body image can become something to strive for ? In order to be accepted in today’s youth conscious society more and more people, men as well as women, are engaging in a quest to look as young as possible.
Whether it’s a brow lift, a lip plump, a chin implant, jaw line shave, a cheek reduction or a more simple procedure such as botox, they all conspire to rendering a person unable to register any emotion through facial expression. Registering emotion facially plays an essential role in communicating our feelings to others. By facial expressions we can show love, compassion, irritation, anger, concern and empathy. For example, a smile is a two way interaction which radiates positivity between two human beings without a word passing between them. Plastic surgery all too often leaves the face incapable of showing these essential human emotions to others therefore placing an invisible barrier to beneficial communication.
In my work as a psychotherapist I usually find that a lack of self-confidence and a need to feel socially accepted is behind a decision to choose plastic surgery over natural beauty. Beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder and both the beholder and the beheld are unique human beings. Surely then our beauty is to be found in our uniqueness and individuality, not by the aid of some overpaid surgeon’s knife ? Beauty is subjective and therefore makes striving for perfection illogical.
Emotional insecurities cannot be addressed by outside means and I can’t help feeling that if respect for self and others were on the school curriculum from primary school onwards there would be far less folk heading towards the surgeon’s knife.
Take care
Jacqueline
