Sunday, June 6, 2010

The Surgery...

Alrighty folks, it's time! Now that my blog has been up for a while I feel like we can talk about some more serious matters. Surgery. Not just any surgery. Breast Implants. No, I am not contemplating getting implants. That would put me up with Pamela Anderson, someone I avoid associating with. And no, I never got this surgery.

Now, my father is a plastic surgeon, so I am grateful for the vain and insecure who made my life possible. Thanks! :) I must preface this by saying plastic surgery is such a blessing. How awesome that should tragedy strike we can help someone look like their original self! However, this boob job thing is getting a little crazy!

First, let's discuss the graduation present.

Many 18-year-old girls get breast implants as a graduation gift from their parents. I'm against this. Why? Well, first because at 18, you may continue to grow...and this includes certain body parts. Second, what message is this parent trying to send their child?! "I feel guilty that your mother and I failed you the first time and didn't pass along the "big boobs" gene, so now I'll make it up to you." Or is the message, "You should be insecure! You're flat! You'll never catch a boy looking like that!"

The other problem with getting this surgery at such a young age is that you will inevitably need to get a second surgery. Although, one may think that fake boobs void out the law of gravity, they don't. Gravity works the same on all women.

Now I would say that most women get a boob job for one of three reasons.

1. To reconstruct their breasts after surgery for breast cancer.
2. To feel more feminine or attractive and eliminate insecurities about their body.
3. A man has requested that she get the surgery.

The first one is obviously necessary and I find no moral dilemma with it. The second is where most people find moral ambiguity. Here is my problem with the second reason. We have a society that degrades women so much that a woman elects to undergo major surgery with many risks in order to fit the model of a perfect female figure. I just don't feel good about women electing to do something so painful when they should have never felt pressured into it in the first place.

This brings us to the third point. The man's request. I remember when I was young, a couple of my mom's friends got breast implants "to save their marriage." Look, if the success or happiness of your marriage depends on the wife's boobs, well, you've got serious problems. You picked the wrong man! Now, they may say we have equal rights, but tell me this, do you think I would ever ask my husband to undergo major surgery and enlarge a body part with the possibility that he would lose sensation in that body part? What man would agree to that? He wouldn't. Yes that's right, many women lose sensation in their breasts after the surgery. On top of that, you can no longer breastfeed. Breastfeeding provides your child with so many health benefits! I'm not even going to get started on that one.

Well, obviously this surgery is a personal decision but it makes me sad that it is becoming so common place that we will forget what the natural female body looks like. I hope none will be offending by my honest opinion. I know many friends that have seen the confidence a woman has gained after such a surgery. However, my problem is the fact that she ever felt a lack of confidence without it. And that my friends is the real issue.

2 comments:

  1. I totally agree. I've known many women who have undergone breast augmentation, and the vast majority of them had major insecurities which were not solved by larger breasts. Personally I think that potential plastic surgery patients should be required to undergo a psychological evaluation prior to the surgery. Some people really seem to go nuts with the enhancing surgeries.

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  2. Amen sista! Count me as one of those women who "grew" after she turned 18, two cup sizes in fact.

    But seriously, this is such a problem with our society, it deeply saddens me. And I think the worst part is that we have such unreal expectations of what our breasts are supposed to look like because no one in the public eye has their "original" ones anymore.

    If Ryan ever asked me to get a boob job I don't even know what I would do. But I do have a friend whose husband is frequently requesting it...ugh.

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