plastic not so fantastic

More often than not last week, I was assailed by words, images, and vocals pertaining to plastic surgery. Men getting 'Bro-tox'; Candy coating plastic surgery with virtuous terms like 'maintenance' and 'highlighting ''natural'' features', culminating with the plastic train wreak that is Rock of Love Bus where money should be placed on how many more episodes it will take before Bret Michaels is visually indistinguishable from the contests who make Amanda Lepore look frugal with the knife. Jezebel's weekend contributer, commented on a USC study that equates plastic surgery as the new placard of class status and how this effects women's perceptions of their own bodies. Personally, I would be more apt to let a doctor file my teeth into points or outfit me with robotic apendages as an alternative to getting surgically sculpted to a preconcieved ideal; atleast in that situation the modifications would be of some use. However, to give a temperature reading of my feelings on 'enhancement' i even find hair extentions and victoria's secret's vein of boob crushing pushup bras to be eye-roll worthy and somewhat desperate. Some people cite that they cannot go outside because they are so traumatized that they have small breasts or that their nose was so crooked it caused them to be the town leper. Is plastic surgery necessary in some cases for the patient's mental well being? Yes. Do I find it socially laudable that we are collectively homogenizing our bodies to a pop-culturally presumed ideal? uh not so much. And really, especially where contestants of Rock of Love are concerned, why are you going to pay so much money for a body and dress it in such cheap clothing? I could close up with just closing my eyes and smiling wishing that everyone would just be happy with what they have been given, but that is not only trite it would never work. Cultures have always placed value on a seemingly silently agreed upon standard of beauty whether it be fairness of complexion or darkness of hair or straightness of teeth or the spectral ends of voluptuousness and prepubecent body types. And it is understood that some 'looks' will be more or less socially popular than others, but I feel it to be irresponsible to permanently alter the only body you have just for, what often ends up, the acceptance of others instead of yourself.