Plastic Surgery + Birth Control + Women's Lib

I thought that the presentation on plastic surgery was really interesting. It's interesting how some people can be so absorbed in looking perfect that they spend that kind of money to "fix" themselves. It's understandable that celebrities would go to such lengths, since nowadays they are popular because of looks and personal style rather than talent. (Reality stars, Lady Gaga?) But what about us little people? Do people that aren't celebrities think that they have no self-worth if they don't look perfect?

I am the first to admit that I am a VH1 junkie. They are airing a show now that I think is the best that they've had in a long time, called "Jessica Simpson's Price of Beauty." In this show, Jessica Simpson and her friends travel to different countries to learn about standards of beauty. They get a regional beauty treatment, and interview a person who has been negatively affected by the standards of beauty. The most recent episode is about beauty in Brazil. Apparently there, it is commonplace to get plastic surgery. They even have discounted plastic surgeries for poorer people. In this episode, Jessica Simpson interviewed a poor person about her views on getting plastic surgery. This woman stated that she spent her money on getting a plastic surgery procedure instead of moving herself and her daughter to a better apartment. Since plastic surgery is seen as investing in the future (as in finding a man to support them) she sees no problem with it and would in the future encourage her daughter to do the same.

This presents a black box to the American mind. We see that Brazilian women (and men? it wasn't discussed) commonly get plastic surgery, and are not ashamed of that fact. They show it off freely. But what is in plastic surgery black box? Is it brimming with confidence and liberation? Or does it hide body insecurities?

This sort of ties in with the birth control presentation. Does a woman's worth stem solely from beauty and reproductive ability? Of course not. But we get into the gray area of choice: when a woman chooses to get breast implants by herself, is that a feminist act? I'm looking at this website: http://www.womensliberation.org/about/what-we-want-what-we-believe.html and they completely oppose plastic surgery. Then again, they oppose makeup, dieting and acting flirty. (Dieting isn't necessarily bad. Self-image is the problem.) Maybe I'm not a "feminist" after all! To think that all of this feminism madness stemmed from the birth control pill!

It's frustrating how birth control (pills and otherwise) have such political implications. Then again, sex is a touchy subject. It's amazing how something so private can divide people into different paradigms. How can a pharmacist tell if a birth control pill was prescribed to prevent pregnancy or alleviate severe cramps? Women on the pill are privy to the preconceived notions of many people. So, too, are those that have undergone plastic surgery. A paradigm shift that would benefit both of these groups would be toward giving people the benefit of the doubt. Women with conditions that they have little control over do, in fact, exist. In my experience, birth control helped with my terrible cramps and migraines (one of which needed an MRI to make sure I wasn't hemorrhaging). Although I haven't had any experience with plastic surgery, I know that it can help reconstruct normal facial structures like sinuses and cure cleft palates.

I guess my real point here is give people a break. Oftentimes there is a bigger story behind their actions than you can know just by looking at them.