How Did Plastic Surgery Become Such a Trend

Plastic surgery is arguably a medical process that can be undertaken by people to make their physical aspect look like what they consider perfect. For a majority of the young people in the Millennial age, there is an existing belief that plastic surgery, is in its deepest essence, one of the many ways that can be used to enhance beauty. And while this trend has become increasingly popular among the modern day generation, medics, surgeons, and cosmeticians have held different views about plastic surgery. For this reason, procedures which are primarily intended to offer fuller body parts such as the female lips, hips, sleek noses and also flawless faces have become popular among a majority of the people today, particularly the celebrities. This, in essence, has been cited by many scholars as one of the major inspiration for the prevalence of the plastic surgery trend. This being said, this essay seeks to explore and discuss the manner in which plastic surgery has become such a trend.

Firstly, according to a majority of the American doctors, the pervasiveness of this particular trend is highly attributed to the pressure not only to look good but also look perfect. Further, the doctors claim that the desire to look perfect has been on the rise in the modern day today due to the unnecessary pressure to look good on social media. According to an American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstruction Surgery Survey, an approximate of over 40% of the surgeons pointed out that many of their patients agreed to the fact that looking better on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, was one of the primary incentives for getting the surgery. Therefore, this being the case, it is with no doubt that social media, among other reasons, has been one of the primary orchestrators of plastic surgery and hence a way in which it has become such a trend.

In a similar regard, today, plastic surgery has become such a trend since many people, especially in the Westernized countries are increasingly finding the inspiration to undergo a plastic surgery through celebrities. For instance, the young generation has young celebrities such as Kylie Jenner as the people they look up to. Therefore, many who admire how these stars look like after undergoing the plastic surgery will be easily compelled to perform the same. Besides, unlike in the past where the wealthy elite only endorsed plastic surgeries and other cosmetic procedures, today, these procedures have become ridiculously affordable for a lot of young people, and hence its current trend today. For instance, the affordability of these procedures has become common to a majority of the young people, especially the women thanks to deal aggregation sites such as Groupon. Sites like these offer services such as body countering, face lifts and other cosmetic and plastic surgery procedures for prices as low as one-third of the original cost (Gray). Additionally, sites like these bank on social media as their central advertising platform and are therefore able to reach out to a majority of their audience, who are the young people. For instance, in a recent survey done by an American Society of Plastic Surgeons found out that more than half of the plastic surgeons contend that most of the social media platforms are a cheap way of advertising their services. Thus, with this ridiculous affordability and the social media marketing strategies, the plastic surgery procedure has increasingly become such a trend in the modern today.

Martin Donohoe, a Medscape expert, highlights that the modern day reality shows such as "Extreme Makeover" have endorsed and have also got people talking about plastic surgery. For this reason, people have developed the desire to avoid ethnic prejudice, age discrimination, and even coercion by peers or spouse, among other reasons. Besides, there also are those people who suffer adverse esteem issues and therefore, internal motivators such as the desire to do away with depression or social anxieties compel them to alter a specific feature in their bodies that they may tend to dislike. More so, many at times, this comes tagged along with a yearning for a more youthful and healthy look that signals appeal and appearance in most of the women. Thus, based on this kind of reasoning these people hope to create a strong and a powerful appearance which fosters social appeal such as marriage, career advancement among others. Therefore, this, in turn, has seen plastic surgery become such a modern day trend (Donohoe).

While sometimes ago plastic and cosmetic surgeries were once reserved for reasons such as concealing burns, cuts or accidents acquired marks, today, they both have become a trend which has tipped to make 2017 by storm. For instance, psychology has it that people depend on attitude as a primary driving aspect to improve themselves. This being considered as a primary way in which this practice has become a trend in the modern day today has boosted both joy and confidence in many people and hence igniting in them, a positivity that affects every area of their life. The Survey conducted by the American Society of Plastic surgeons contend that unlike the women, men, especially those in the corporate market are increasingly undergoing different plastic and cosmetic surgeries for them to remain competitive in the marketplace (Maddeaux). Women, on the other hand, are the substantial reason why this practice has become a trend since through both plastic and cosmetic surgery, they are able to openly declare and at the same time, pursue an appearance that looks as young as they would want to look.

Also, while there seems to be a vast range of agreement in the contentions made by scholars from diverse disciplines, technological advancement has revolutionized a majority of the modern day sectors. For this reason, the plastic and the cosmetic surgery industry is not an exceptional. The progress in technology has, in turn, improved the surgical techniques which have brought about a significant difference in the plastic and cosmetic surgery procedures available. Additionally, this has brought about a significant change in the tools and products which are currently present in the market and hence offering improved results. From a medical perspective, a majority of the plastic and cosmetic surgeons point out that with the technological advancement, plastic surgery has become a common trend since unlike the olden days, the increased technological advancement substantially encourages the attractiveness of having the procedure done.

Media, both written and communicated, are used as the collective outlets and tools in which a lot of information is passed. This being the case, the topic of plastic surgery has become more acceptable in our societies today, and this has seen media playing a significant role in the prominence of plastic and cosmetic surgery. Despite having different reasons for undertaking either cosmetic or reconstructive plastic surgeries, many women ranging from the young to the old are compelled by the media and also various media personalities to take the procedure (Siemionow and Marita). This being said, this has essentially made the plastic surgery idea and procedures a commonplace that has in the recent past, become endorsed and accepted by the society. Thus, in a nutshell, for most people who are compelled to carry out the practice, either by the media or by celebrities, scholars contend that they begin to believe that the practice is a common trend. Therefore, this being the case, people, especially the women, begin to feel better knowing that those close to perfection images they see on the televisions did not come naturally and this though, in turn, makes them believe that they, too could become beneficiaries of the plastic surgery (Aslam).

In conclusion, it is with no doubt that plastic surgery, whether cosmetic or reconstructive procedures has more than ever, become a common trend among millennials. Besides, as facts would have it, while the trend has been overly orchestrated by media, technology, and celebrities, it seems as though the trend does not have any signals of slowing down anytime soon. With tons of options available to many people today, unlike a couple of decades ago, medics, surgeons, and cosmeticians recommend that the prevalence of the trend is only a matter of preference. Therefore, at no given time should anybody feel as if they have to run out and bring about changes about themselves in an effort to keep up with the media, celebrities or their peers.

Works Cited

Aslam, Mohamed, et al. Sustainable Tourism in the Global South: Communities, Environments and Management. IGI Global, 2015.

Donohoe, Martin. "Cosmetic Surgery Past, Present, and Future." Medscape, 2006, www.medscape.com/viewarticle/542448_2. Accessed 2 May 2017.

Gray, Eliza. "Plastic Surgery: 3 New Trends | Time.com." TIME | Current & Breaking News | National & World Updates, 30 Apr. 2015, time.com/3842179/plastic-surgery-trends/. Accessed 2 May 2017.

Maddeaux, Sabrina. "The Rise of Richface: Why So Many Young Women Are Getting Cosmetic Surgery." The Globe and Mail, 31 June 2015, www.theglobeandmail.com/life/fashion-and-beauty/beauty/the-rise-of-richface-why-more-and-more-young-women-are-getting-cosmetic-surgery/article25756128/. Accessed 2 May 2017.

Siemionow, Maria Z, and Marita Eisenmann-Klein. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Springer, 2010.