How Women Are Falling Into a Plastic Surgery Trap

Question for ladies: Are you happy with your looks?

My girlfriends always wanted to fix something about their appearance.

While physical exercise and nutrition can improve physique, repairing facial features requires professional help.

This is where plastic surgery comes into play.

Although it was conceived to help people with disabilities, it is now turning into an alarming trend exposing people’s insecurities.

We seem to have forgotten how to love ourselves.

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1. Plastic Surgery Is in Huge Demand

Plastic surgery emerged in its present form during WWI to help people who had their bodies disfigured.

It picked up in the 1960s when a new breast implant device was made of silicone.

More popularity came in the 1990s probably due to supermodel Pamela Anderson. A slim blonde with large boobs became a feminine beauty ideal.

Anyone can be Pamela Anderson nowadays. Ladies get to look like supermodels in no time by having their lips and boobs done.

More than 15 million people had plastic surgery done in 2020 in the US alone. Facelifts, nose reshaping, and breast augmentation are the most common procedures.

9,000 sex reassignment surgeries take place in the US annually.

The quality of the surgical intervention has become scaringly good.

Transgender people in Thailand epitomize this phenomenon. They are called ladyboys.

An untrained eye won’t tell them and women apart. If you are new in Thailand, remember my friend Victor’s words:

“The most beautiful girl in the room is a ladyboy.” — Victor

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2. Are You Insecure?

Appearance ideals and appearance comparison define how we perceive beauty.

Ideals stem from the socio-cultural environment. Small feet were considered the highest degree of attractiveness in China.
Appearance comparison involves evaluating yourself based on the looks of others. It’s easy to see where this is taking us in the age of social media.

Social-media followers of influencers who underwent cosmetic enhancements are dissatisfied with their appearance.

They “solve” this psychological issue by getting cosmetic surgery.

But it is unnecessary for most of us.

We are born healthy. Proper nutrition and an active lifestyle can keep us this way for many decades.

If your partner gets erect when he sees you in underwear or naked, why would you need to modify your body?

I see this issue over and over again across former Soviet republics. I lost count of how many Russian and Ukrainian ladies I’ve met with their lips and boobs done.

They probably go for more, I just don’t recognize the corrected eyebrows, cheeks, and chin.

And they tend to be very beautiful even without medical intervention!

Trust me, ladies: Swollen duck-like shining lips look unnatural and unattractive.

I see insecurity behind the mass run on plastic-surgery clinics.

It’s a mental-health issue. Lots of women have an unrealistic view of their appearance as they are bombarded with images of unattainable beauty standards.

The plastic-surgery industry makes an effort to keep ladies hooked. These excerpts are from blogs promoting cosmetic surgery:

Women want a “positive change”
“cosmetic surgery helps people become their true selves”
“most patients seek cosmetic surgery to enhance their body image”

This is exactly what being insecure means.

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3. Love Yourself!

We must cultivate self-love.

I’ve no idea who decided that we should judge people by their appearance.

Men won’t suddenly develop deeper feelings for you because your breasts have become larger. They are not natural anyway and you’ll get the implants removed one day.

You want your partner to be interested in you as a person above all. What will happen if you enter a relationship with body proportions that are not yours?

You also get older. Betting high on your looks is risky because there’ll always be another lady, younger and more attractive.

Self-love comes from the inside of a self-sufficient individual. Loving yourself is not hard in times of gender equality.

My girlfriend and I are equal in terms of cleaning, cooking, and finance.

We naturally affect each other on an emotional level. This is a rational choice of two adults who enhance their lives by each other’s presence.

Bottom line?

Your individuality comes first.

Self-love comes down to assuming full control of your life and thoughts.

The notion of your imperfect looks only exists in your head. Ditch apps and magazines showing you ‘ideal’ models and your life will change for the better.

Final Thoughts

We have unlearned to love ourselves.

Finding peace of mind is a good starting point toward self-love.

Forget beauty ideals that don’t even exist. Your value goes beyond your looks.

Love your body even if it seems imperfect. This is a recipe for staying mentally healthy and laying the foundation for a successful relationship with the opposite gender.

If you don’t love yourself, who will?

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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