The Search of Perfection (by Eliana)

Why plastic surgery is becoming more widespread? Nowadays it seems so easy to correct a body imperfection because plastic surgery is no longer a hidden procedure made only by wealthy people. It’s common to everyone to know someone that have made or intend to make some kind of plastic or cosmetic procedure. It’s becoming more frequent among people to talk about this kind of procedures likewise undergoing them. The main reasons why so many people have been undergoing plastic surgeries are the financial facilities, the low self-esteem, and the search of perfection.

            The financial facilities are bringing more and more people to the operation room. In the past few years, plastic surgery has become possible for those who don’t have enough earnings or savings in order to make such an expensive intervention; clinics and financial aid are helping many people with the payments. Erica Darrow, a 24-year old Chicago waitress wanted to blast away small acne marks on her face, as she didn’t have $ 4,425 for laser resurfacing, she loaned the money from the Unicor Financial, paid $ 500 she earned in tips as a down payment and the rest in $ 178 installments per month. Therefore, many people who weren’t financially able to do cosmetic surgeries have now hope on that.

            A low self-esteem state is something that brings many people under the knife. Those who have real imperfections, like born marks, scars, and other imperfections made by car accidents for example, have in plastic surgery the only hope to become “normal” again. Luciana Oliveira, 39, a friend of mine, had her self esteem back after doing several number of surgeries in order to reconstruct her face after she had it burned when she was opening an oven to light a fire at the age of 35. For these people, plastic surgery is a real miracle, it’s the only way to get their self-esteem back.

            The increase in the number of people that are willing to take the risks of a plastic surgery is also due to a new generation whose search for a perfect body is above all the other values. The teenagers are the ones that undergo plastic surgery even when they don’t have any imperfection; they want to look like models and achieve the beauty standards imposed by the fashion industry. Last summer, Amber Reeves, a 16-year old girl, wanted to be like Madonna. When she realized that even exercising and dieting weren’t getting her hips smaller, she decided to do a surgical procedure to reduce them. Even not having a visible imperfection, teenagers are undergoing plastic surgeries just to reach perfection.

            Therefore, many people are going under the knife because of varied reasons. If one looks after them, more reasons will be found. The increase in the number of clinics and plastic surgeons are proofs that plastic surgery is becoming more and more frequent.