Anastasia Reskoss: Cosmetic Surgery And Stereotypes

They are all perfect. They never do anything real in all the books [about Barbie dolls]. I think she does too much. Yeah, they are all perfect [and] it's just too much.

In the short story, “Barbie-Q” By Sandra Cisneros uses a Barbie doll to portray the two young girls inner struggles with perfection and identity. Cisneros wanted to use two girls from families with limited incomes to get the surprise of having a local toy warehouse and stacks of burnt Barbie dolls, which immediately makes them available for a bargained price. The characters that Cisneros uses help show a flow of consciousness by using a variety of adjective and listing to capture the voice of these two girls. She also wanted to show the young girls infatuation with Barbie dolls. This shown when one of the young girls is describing her Barbie doll in comparison to the other

The beauty standard is a culturally constructed notion of physical attractiveness that has become increasingly imperative for women and men. However, this standard has become extremely perilous to men and women’s self-image. Camille Paglia, a highly educated individual who earned her PhD at Yale University and became a highly acclaimed author, explicates this conception in her essay “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery”. Paglia suggests that the beauty standard idealizes women to look like “sex symbols with an unattainable grandeur” (776). She continues to claim that it forces her audience of higher class women to pay large sums of money in order to alter their features ultimately conforming to a very “parochial” definition of beauty (776). Although Paglia is a highly credible source, she illogically appeals to the reader’s fears in order to persuade them. Paglia fails to give any credible outside sources which affirms her preposterous beliefs. Contrary to her inconsistencies, Daniel Akst, a social journalist and graduate from New York University provides his audience with reputable sources in order to persuade his audience. Daniel Akst believes that there needs to be a “democratization of physical beauty” in which instead of attempting to alter the beauty standard, we must first change how we view ourselves. Akst provides credible sources to establish his credibility where he observes cases studies and cultural experiments from scientists and organizations including:

Sandra Cisneros’s short story, “Barbie-Q”, describes the life of a young girl never identified by name and the less-fortunate life she and her family lead. The child explains how new toys are a rare find, but she loves Barbies. While entailing the family’s trip to the local flea market, she and her sister find Barbie dolls with water and smoke damaged. The main girl states the flaws of the Barbie, but counters with the positivity of having any dolls to play with. Through this struggle, however, the girl learns to cope with the gender roles and standards set by her peers and neighbors, particularly for women. Cisneros writes with these ideas in relation to her own childhood, motivated by the social standards of gender roles and body image in relation to the Barbie.

Did you know more than 16 billion dollars was spent on Cosmetic Surgery in 2016? (ASPS 2017) Throughout the many decades, cosmetic surgery had become widely known method to enhance an appearance. In recent years, this procedure has become prominent not only among adults but also among adolescents however, popularity does not mean it is safe and the best option. There are numerous negative effects of cosmetic surgery that people, especially adolescents should consider before undergoing such procedures. Some negative effects of cosmetic surgery are high expenses, high medical risks, promotion of unhealthy body image and adverse psychological conditions.

As I was on the hunt for the perfect gift for an 8 year old’s birthday, I discovered the doll market is quite different than my coming of age. Undoubtedly, Barbie is still problematic, but now she has competitors, including Bratz, and Monster High dolls, who are noticeably thinner than barbie and dressed up to look like grown women getting ready for a night of clubbing than a game of tennis. As I pick up the first doll box, I find a doll chained up in a slither of clothing with a blank expression on her face, a prominent thigh gap, with the tagline “GREAT for girls ages 5 and up!” By all means, I never imagined in my life that I would miss Barbie. For that reason, I begin to sit myself down in the toy aisle to start googling everything I could about these dolls on my

Should people push towards looking flawless, or should they embrace their blemishes? In Uglies, Scott Westerfeld critiques society’s fixation with unattainable perfection by creating a futuristic dystopia built on plastic surgery, while showing the self-esteem issues present in average people. In society, programs, apps, and social media bring people down even if they’re unaware of it. One example is photoshop.

Not only the measurements are what seems to be achieving this “perfect look”, but also her big, glossy, blue eyes, long blonde hair, and porcelain lips. Her ‘walking Barbie’ features gives her Internet popularity, but several people are taken by surprise by her physical

Cosmetic surgery, a type of elective surgery undertaken to alter a person’s appearance for reasons beyond injury, illness, or disease, has become increasingly pervasive in society in the past few decades despite sparking controversial debates. (Coleman, 171) While reconstructive surgery is condoned, cosmetic surgery occupies a gray area where physicians “dedicated to saving lives, healing, and promoting health” perform “invasive surgical operations on healthy bodies for the sake of improving appearance.” (Miller, 353) Nevertheless, demand for it is higher than ever with people looking to surgery as an easy method for changing their appearances. This essay will argue that cosmetic surgery is indeed ethical for physicians to perform by examining it through the perspective of the four basic principles of medical ethics: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice.

Page 25: This question makes me wonder if melinda is talking about Botched the TV show where people get plastic surgery. I have always wondered what it feel liked to get botched. Do you feel like a new person, or better version of yourself? I know when someone is depressed they don’t feel like himself, they mostly feel like a bag a skin with no life source. I wonder if this is what melinda feels like, lifeless. It must be miserable, finding no happiness. I would never be able to live life like that, I wonder how the people who are miserable live.

107) Second, magazines geared toward women often run stories focusing on the ordinary woman’s experiences with surgery of the benefits of surgically improving one’s appearance. Also, advertisements typically promote the benefits of cosmetic surgery using gendered stereotypes, with men represented as concerned with virility and professional competitiveness whereas women are investing in aesthetic improvements. Therefore, the idea of personal transformations and self-improvement is not particularly novel but standard approach that has become entrenched in mass media representations of cosmetic surgery (Adams, 2009, p. 108). However, the potential health risks are downplayed and negative outcomes are attributed to the unpredictability of the aesthetic results or poor surgeon selection. More importantly, these frames tend to diverge from the actual surgical experience, which rather being neat and instantaneous, is often complex and painful. Nevertheless, it is the media-mediated frame that dominates the broader social discussion of cosmetic surgery and often reduces it to a consumable lifestyle option as opposed to a complicated medical procedure fraught with potential risks and uncertainties.

Ken in the entire Target store. If one wanted to look like any of the dolls on those shelves they

Often, there is a disconnection between the self whom we present to the world and our “true” self. Some people try to blur the line between the person they are in the inside and the person they present to others. They try to rub out their imperfections and use plastic surgery to try to become that person they think they really are. However, plastic surgery does not change one`s “true” self.

Moreover, plastic surgery is an expensive procedure ranging up to $6,000 or more. It can put tremendous financial pressure on patient and their family. While assessing the cost of the surgery, people tend to forget the cost of the postoperative medication. And sometimes, people have to pay for a secondary surgeries because of dissatisfaction with results. Most insurance policies do not pay for elective procedures such as plastic surgery. Other disadvantage of plastic surgery is that it is time-consuming. Patients must plan time off to recuperate enough to return to work and daily activities. Lastly, dead can be caused by plastic surgery. The bigger the procedure, the higher the risk of complication should be aware of, for instance, infection, hematoma, allergic reactions and many more. Many celebrities have died from plastic surgery like Solange Magnano, Donda West. Though death caused by plastic surgery are rare, the possibility of death cannot be ruled out. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) has reported that within more than 400,000 operations, which performed in accredited facilities, the death rate was 57,000 cases- extremely low. Nevertheless, we can be one of that 57,000 cases.

     Plastic surgery ranges from one- thousand dollars to three- thousand dollars or more depending on the surgery (Body fat reduction: Suction-Assisted Lipectomy). There are plenty types of plastic surgery. One type is called liposuction. The best candidates for liposuction are of relatively normal weight with pockets of excess fat in particular areas. They should be physically healthy, psychologically stable, and realistic in your expectations. An important thing is to have firm and elastic