“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who’s the fairest of them all?”
I happened to watch an episode of Oprah Winfrey Show a few days back.
And I was surprised to hear about Jenny.
“So who’s Jenny?” you ask.
Jenny is a 28-year old woman who has already had (hold your breath) 26 plastic surgeries!! She decided to go under the knife because "My ex-husband told me that my nose was too big, that my boobs were too small, so eventually I got a boob job to stop the comments.” And from then on (albeit clichéd), there was no stopping her. She was 25 when she first had her brow lift. So if you consider the fact that she is only 28 years old now, it indicates that she had 26 surgeries in a span of three years!
Mind-boggling figures those. She has had Botox, cheek implants, three nose jobs,
veneers on her teeth, three lip implants, three breast lifts, and liposuction on her arms, stomach, hips, thighs, and knees. Jenny says that the plastic surgeries cost her a total of about $80,000.
Meet the new kid on the block- surgery addicts! Sure, you’ve heard of drug addicts, alcohol addicts, smoking addicts.
But then, plastic surgery addicts?
At first, it seems convenient to pass them off as freaks or as exceptions.
But then, it mirrors an alarming trend. And it’s not just one person.
I was surprised to see there were more such cases. These are of course, extreme cases of excessive ‘obsession for perfection’. There are many other individuals who are just as eager to get a makeover; it is just that they don’t have the resources or the knowledge.
Today is the age of looking good.
Want to impress your prospective employer?
Your boyfriend? Or your Boss?
Then look GOOD!
In fact, personality nowadays is grossly mistaken for appearance. People are engaged in improving their looks. In turn, their confidence and performance hinges on it. They end up believing that improved looks is a solution to all their problems. And let’s not blame these hapless souls alone. Today, guys don’t want to date ‘girls’; they are interested only in chicks, babes and hotties who have swinging busts and butts. So you have self-obsessed women undergoing face-lifts, breast implants, nose jobs, liposuction and the works.
And society does nothing much to ameliorate the situation. We have models with wafer-thin bodies sashaying on the ramps. On what account they are ‘models’ to others, I have no clue. They would sure give the under-fed people of Somalia competition! Not to forget movies, where there is a tacit rule as to what is expected of heroines (hour glass figures, anyone?). Not to forget Kareena recently going stick-thin for her role in Tashan!
So what is with this whole ‘appearance’ thing? Why is it that when some people look into a mirror, all they see is imperfection? Sure, we occasionally stare at the mirror and wonder why the noise is a wee bit pointed, why the hair-line is receding, why the lips are too thick. But to be obsessive to such an extent defies logic.
But not all bow owing to social pressure, or due to external influence. For some, it’s more of a psychiatric problem; a sense of feeling inferior on account of their looks. In Jenny’s case, her husband’s comment triggered it off. And like any other addiction, it never ends with one. You change your nose a little to realize that it doesn’t suit your face. And then you want to tamper with your cheeks, brows, lips and so on to make it ‘perfect’. Then you want a hot bod, so then the tummy tucks and liposuctions are resorted to. This is known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), which usually strikes people in their teens. It is when the subject is obsessed with how she looks and is constantly worried on that account.
A clear case of lack of self-esteem and self-loathing.
And that is what exactly needs to be tackled. People should realize that they are worth more than what they weigh, what their nose looks like or what colour they are. Until then, we’ll hear of stories weirder than that of Jenny’s.
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Thanks for taking the effort to read (my incoherent babblings) !
Honoured,
Vini.
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Vinitha, your blog and the comments were all an invigorating read. You do write well and are racy too ...Uma
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'The problem with inner beauty is that it cannot be turned inside out'
Well said !
I dread the day when I'll be surrounded by *perfect* people around me...a world where people shop for them. Grecian noses...luscious lips...other endownments...bionic zealots!
By God ! What an imagination !! Hope that day never comes...
Thanks pavementfreud for visiting !
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Vini,
Popular media drags around the demented notion of beauty that is born in the chic studios of Milan...Paris...
The great Indian obsession with fairer skin is well known...now the trend of anorexic...bulimic *chicks* is all the rage...
...I really wish people spent as much time learning to be better human beings...to think of it...it costs nothin!
I dread the day when I'll be surrounded by *perfect* people around me...a world where people shop for them Grecian noses...luscious lips...other endownments...bionic zealots!
'The problem with inner beauty is that it cannot be turned inside out'
This seems to be the mantra these days!
PF
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Thanks Pooja for the comments.
Beauty doesn't give a person superiority over others. It's a poor yardstick by all means.
As u said, the intellect is far more indicative of a person's worth than his looks.
So long,
Vini.
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@ elsas19:
Well, maybe awareness more than education is the need of the hour.
Media can definitely play a role in reversing the so-called concepts of beauty
which is the norm now. But as long as 'vested interests' (read: cosmetic industry)
propagate the 'fair skin' and 'slim looks', this malaise remains.
Thanks for dropping by,
Vini.
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Dear Vinitha....
Ur post is very thought provoking...In their anxiety to look extraordinary good and in competitions to their role model people are doing all sort of things they can to look better and in this race they are forgetting that they are in a way infecting thier own body and wasting their hard earned money to please the man behind the mirror....They think if they will look good then they will be superior to others....and in a way they are conveying a very wrong notion because in fact "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder".Its high time now when ppl shud try to be happy wid their God gifted looks or else day is not far wen dere will be so many beautiful model lookin ppl roaming here and there with no brains...
Good one.
Keep writing,
Pooja
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good one. I think both women and men need some 'special education' in the department of body image. It is important, otherwise notions of beauty, as propogated by the media will take over and the world would be full of Jennys
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Sadly, people don't realise that there is beauty in imperfections.
Thanks Santosh !
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Indeed if ppl could live with themselves as they are what would happen to plastic surgeons and counsellors?
Santosh
ppl are flawed but that is the fun part
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