Plastic Surgery As Bodily Reconstruction For Wounded Soldiers

Plastic surgery began as bodily reconstruction for wounded soldiers in World War I. The surgery developed in stages, starting with correcting traumatic injuries and deformed facial features. The more cosmetic focus began in the 1970’s, with creating â€Å"perfected† facial features and making aesthetically pleasing body parts. Cosmetic surgery boomed in the 1990’s, with 1.2 million procedures performed in the United States alone (plasticsurgery.org). The swiftness in which these procedures have infiltrated society has lead to a change in our view of the value of the body. The modern ease and accessibility of cosmetic surgery has intensified the need for external beauty and has influenced the loss of personal identity. Fascination with external†¦show more content†¦Patients opting for cosmetic surgery have a face in mind and it is usually a celebrity’s. In Abby Ellin’s article, several patients got plastic surgery just to look like a certain person. For example, 41 year-old Deborah Davenport spent 15,000 dollars on shaving cartilage from her nose, adding botox to her forehead, and pumping dermal filler into her cheeks to look like Kate Winslet (Galileo). While Ms. Davenport looked perfectly normal after her procedures, most often than not, people who get plastic surgery to imitate a celebrity usually end up disastrous. Kevin Fallon’s article mentions Claire Leeson, a woman who spent over 30,000 dollars on surgery to look like Kim Kardashian. The final result was admittedly dreadful (thedailybeast.com). While Davenport and Leeson had different results from their celebrity look-alike procedures, both claimed to be much happier after the surgery (Galileo, thedailybeast.com). Even if the face is not what would be considered actually beautiful, just the fact that the face resembles a celebrity seems to influence the perception that it is perfect anyway. This fascination and surety that celebrities contain the holy gr ail of external beauty reflects upon our certainty that there is a specific standard of beauty, and in order to fit in, we must perfect ourselves to meet this standard. There is a common belief that cosmetic surgery exists to make the body better and yet, there also seems to be an underlying notion that