What are your thoughts on plastic surgery?

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ocu2fan

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Everybody has something that they would like to fix about their physical appearance (personally, my ears stick out a bit). In today's world, plastic surgery is quite common or at least it is in southern California. What do you all think about changing your appearance? Also, and I am most interested in this, do you think that in some way plastic surgery may go against God's will...following the argument that he made you the way you are for a reason so you shouldn't change it?
 
Originally posted by ocu2fan:
Also, and I am most interested in this, do you think that in some way plastic surgery may go against God's will...following the argument that he made you the way you are for a reason so you shouldn't change it?

By that argument, using prosthetics would be against God's will. And that would suck, because as They Might Be Giants have observed, everybody wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads.
 
I don't know if it's against God's will or anything...but I just think that people who use it are probably pretty insecure and that makes me sad. What has our society come to when we have to cut and paste ourselves up to feel wanted and accepted?
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I dunno, there are plenty of things I would change about my physical appearance, but I'm learning to be comfortable in my own skin and to be proud of the woman I am.

-sula
 
Originally posted by ocu2fan:
personally, my ears stick out a bit.

you think your ears stick out? you should look at sharon case's (an "actress" on young and the restless, plays a girl named sharon...how creative!)
hehe, all joking aside, i don't see any problem with plastic surgery. as long as it's done in moderation. a nip and tuck here and there is all right, but people like cher are completely plastic now and instead of getting burnt if she stood too close to the fire, she'd melt.
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i don't know what i'd get done since i'd never have the money for it, and if i did, i'm sure i could find better things to spend it on.
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when you stop taking chances, you'll stay where you sit. you won't live any longer, but it'll feel like it.
ME!
 
I had a nose job.

Now before you all start calling me vain and selfish and materialistic and shallow, let me explain.

I was always uncomfortable in my own skin, always self conscious. My looks weren't picked on by my peers per se, but I did not like the nose on my face. Sounds simple, right? Some girls think their boobs are too small or they're too big, some think their ass is too big, some don't like the pouch on their belly. Some don't like the flab on their arms because it makes them uncomfortable to wear what they want to wear. I didn't like my nose.

The root of that comes from my stormy relationship I had with my dad (hindsight is 20/20) I looked exactly like him, and I hated it. I wanted to distance myself from him physically as well as emotionally. I wanted to change my looks because I was tired of seeing my father's face every single time I looked in the mirror. Call it vain or shallow if you want, but I wanted the change for me because this was something I would have to live with and take to my grave. It was my decision, and mine alone.

So I had a nose job and I'm happy with it. I'd do it again. I feel that the small differences made to my nose is the nose I should've been born with. It feels right, it looks "natural" (I shopped around and chose a very skilled surgeon who actually took the time to counsel me beforehand to make sure I wasn't getting the surgery for anyone other than myself.) I got the surgery for me, not because I wanted to be popular or like the women in magazines, but because if there was one thing I wanted to change, that was it and I had the means to execute that desire.

I know others out there will disagree with me, but I don't think getting surgery disrupts a person's relationship with God or Christ. Surely you are judged by the merits of your heart, what's inside, what faith you hold dear. Our skin is only a shell that takes us through this lifetime.

On that same token, would it be "wrong" for a person who was obese at one time and lost the weight to have the extra loose streched skin taken off his/her body? Surely this is aesthetic as much as getting a nose job or a boob job. If a woman is small breasted but it would make her feel more womanly to have larger breats thereby "enhancing" one of the attributes that seperates her from being male, is that wrong? How about a woman who doesn't want to be the size DD God graced her with? How about a person who got in a disfiguring automobile accident? Was it God's will that that person continue through life with a disfigured face/body? Maybe, but how do we know for sure? How about a person born with a cleft pallette (not the horribly disfiguring kind, but the minor conditions that don't effect the person's ability to eat.) Or prosthetics? Or tattoos? Or nose piercings or ear piercings? These are all body modifications one chooses to make to their own bodies - it just so happens that even though there may be social stigmas attached to looking apart from the norm, there are definitely social stigmas attatched to plastic surgery - as people here and elsewhere speculate a person's self worth on the grounds of them having the surgery in the first place.

One can say that plastic surgery is for the weak minded, for people who feel insecure socially. There are people out there who are looking for the fountain of youth or bigger boobs or smaller butts because that's fashionable and maybe these people aren't getting the surgery for themselves, but who are we to know for sure? We have our own skins to carry through a lifetime and I'm under the notion that if a person wants to do something to help make them happier with themselves, then more power to them.

Plastic surgery by the way, has been around since ancient Roman times and maybe before. Mainly used as reconstructive surgery though.
 
Originally posted by KhanadaRhodes:
you think your ears stick out? you should look at sharon case's.

I couldn't find any pictures where I could see Ms. Case's ears, then again I didn't look hard at all, but from the pictures I did see, I could tell that she is stunning! Perhaps there is hope for me yet!
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Honestly, I think that those who condemn those who've had plastic surgery really doesn't know what it is like. I've had it myself actually: jaw surgery and a chin job. And it wasn't an easy decision. I grappled with it for a long time. The jaw surgery was the end result of orthodontic failure and the chin job was purely cosmetic. But I'm incredibly happy with the end result and I'm possibly maybe considering a nose job, although I am leaning toward that never happening.

As for "God's will," I personally think that God couldn't care less, as long as we are happy. But you have to understand that plastic surgery shouldn't be taken lightly. There are lots of complications that can arise and healing time is drastically underrated in the media--often up to six months for total recovery. I would weigh all options and feelings and then make a decision.

Melon

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"He had lived through an age when men and women with energy and ruthlessness but without much ability or persistence excelled. And even though most of them had gone under, their ignorance had confused Roy, making him wonder whether the things he had striven to learn, and thought of as 'culture,' were irrelevant. Everything was supposed to be the same: commercials, Beethoven's late quartets, pop records, shopfronts, Freud, multi-coloured hair. Greatness, comparison, value, depth: gone, gone, gone. Anything could give some pleasure; he saw that. But not everything provided the sustenance of a deeper understanding." - Hanif Kureishi, Love in a Blue Time
 
If you can afford it and want it, I say go for it.

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"I don't know you,
But you don't know the half of it..."
 
Originally posted by ocu2fan:
Everybody has something that they would like to fix about their physical appearance (personally, my ears stick out a bit). In today's world, plastic surgery is quite common or at least it is in southern California. What do you all think about changing your appearance? Also, and I am most interested in this, do you think that in some way plastic surgery may go against God's will...following the argument that he made you the way you are for a reason so you shouldn't change it?

Hey, join the club! My ears stick out too - they are of Prince Charles proportions.

Well, there are clearly many reasons behind people wanting to pursue plastic surgery. Some are very valid (a birthmark or something like that, perhaps); some are just sad.

I must say the incredible narrow-minded definition of what constitutes beauty in our society, sure doesn't help. It's fine if you're a self-confident type who cares less about the comments of others, but people with insecurities are easy prey.

I guess in total I tend to regard the plastic surgery industry as pretty much on a par with the weight-loss industry.



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"Once again
I'm in trouble with my old friend
She is papering the windowpanes
She is putting on a smile
Living in a glasshouse..."
 
And by the way, I certainly would not condemn anyone who has opted for some form of plastic surgery.

Depending on the circumstances, I might condemn those who push the cosmetic 'improvements' in the first place, but not the recipient.

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"Once again
I'm in trouble with my old friend
She is papering the windowpanes
She is putting on a smile
Living in a glasshouse..."
 
I want it. There are a couple of areas that I want to get fix/lipo so badly, it almost makes me cry to think about it.

Frankly if I could afford to, I'd head down to...is it Rio? where plastic surgery is a way of life, and is cheap to boot.

If that makes me shallow then so be it. I've never been happy with these 'sore spots' and will probably never accept them, no matter how I try. I know in all actuality I will prolly never get any plastic surgery done, but it's a constant goal of mine. It's basically the cost that's so prohibitive more than anything...
 
I agree with those who say that cosmetic surgery is fine when done in moderation. I think a lot has been said about insecurity and low self-esteem in relation to plastic surgery, but I think it's blown out of proportion. I myself have had cosmetic surgery which literally nobody has noticed (I did it only for me, so I'm happy with that), and it has made me feel a lot better on a day-to-day basis. So I believe that it has served its purpose, and I haven't just moved on to another area to dislike, which is what some suggest will happen.

As for God, I believe that he looks at what's inside.
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Originally posted by Klodomir:
As for God, I believe that he looks at what's inside.
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Exactly. And besides, it's my parents and genetics that make me look the way I do, God had nothing to do with it!

Anyway, I have to admit, I had liposuction on my thighs when I was a teenager, because of my ambitions to be a ballet dancer. Wow, that was quite an ordeal, I was sealed up in a body stocking with oozing bruises for a month!!! Anyway, it worked for awhile, but slowly but surely, I drifted right back into my original shape. Well, it was an experiment anyway!
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There are definately things I'd like to change about my body if I had the money, and wasn't afraid of pain... and I've seen plastic surgery work out really well. A friend in high school got a nose job (so slight, no one could tell the difference), and it made her much more confident. However, another girl I knew was given a choice by her parents: They'd pay for her first two years of college, or get her the boob job she'd always wanted. Guess which she picked. She works at Hooters now. I think that's unhealthy.
 
Originally posted by Kieran McConville:

Depending on the circumstances, I might condemn those who push the cosmetic 'improvements' in the first place, but not the recipient.


I have a friend who had a nose job. I thought she was beautiful before, very striking and exotic, but her nose bothered her. She broke it when she was a small child and her septum got wrecked. As a result of calcification, the bridge of her nose had a huge "hook" on it. She was the butt of many cruel jokes when she was growing up - it's as though people refused to look past the nose on her face and not only see other beautiful attributes to her appearance (gorgeous curly hair, flawless fair skin and rosy cheeks, curves, and a soft and wonderful personailty to boot.)

Anyway, she went for a counseltation with a surgeon, a fairly well known surgeon who worked in Hollywood. When she walked through the door to the doctor's office the surgeon took one look at her and said, "That 'thing' has GOT to go."

How fncking cruel!!!

As if she didn't get enough of that in her life.
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So my friend had the surgery. The doctor botched her nose. He raised the droopy tip so much that she had to have that inner "thread" that connects your gumline to the inside of your upper lip removed. He shaved down the hook so much her nose looked squashed. A year her nose seemed to shift: her poor nose appeared to be crooked to one side. It was so terrible, and that surgeon should have his liscense taken away.

Luckily she found another surgeon to correct the botch job and she is happy with her face now. But I still think about the cruel comment (and the crap surgery) that nasty man made to my friend and it makes my blood boil!
 
Originally posted by Peaseblossom:
There are definately things I'd like to change about my body if I had the money, and wasn't afraid of pain... and I've seen plastic surgery work out really well. A friend in high school got a nose job (so slight, no one could tell the difference), and it made her much more confident. However, another girl I knew was given a choice by her parents: They'd pay for her first two years of college, or get her the boob job she'd always wanted. Guess which she picked. She works at Hooters now. I think that's unhealthy.

Wow, I didn't know you needed a college education to work at Hooters.
 
If its to rebuild a part of the body that was fucked-up because of an accident, or in the case of an operation (the kind of operation when they open your belly to play with your stomach), then I don't mind, but if its for the f***** fashion, or to have bigger breasts (I like it natural, not with plastic... I would be the first to make the kid-trick to walk on the beaches with a magnifying glass y'know), then its a complete waiste of time for blond people.

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my friend is about to have her breasts reduced,they are huge she gets picked on and she get bad back aches.
everybody has the right to be happy,i know you should love youself for the way you are but their is alot of social pressure to look good.the sad thing is (according to a survey) you are more likely to get a good job the prettier you are!!!!
the thing that worries me is once you have had something done people ofton go on to have more done and it can becom addictive,
as for god i like to think he loves you the way you are!


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a vampire or a victim it depends on whos around
merry christmas-have a good one!!!!!!!
Dont let the Bastards grind you down
 
I think plastic surgery, if used in moderation, is good for one's self esteem.If it's for the right reason, then that's great. I considered it once (but forgot about it), and I can understand why some people go under the knife.

Holy John, what did you mean by your last statement?
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Naya<---Blond and tired of the "blonde women are dumb" stereotype.
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Originally posted by ocu2fan:
I couldn't find any pictures where I could see Ms. Case's ears, then again I didn't look hard at all, but from the pictures I did see, I could tell that she is stunning! Perhaps there is hope for me yet!
smile.gif

don't worry...i've come to notice sharon case wears her hair down when she's not filming an episode, however i suppose the writers want her to pull her hair up cuz i've been watching the show since spring '95 and i've never once not seen her ears. try watching an episode for about five or so minutes, she's got a thick plot going on right now so they're showing her a lot...and you'll see them! that is, if you're desperate to see this chick's huge ears.
but anyway, yeah she is really pretty, i just feel bad for her...use some of that soap money to get surgey, you know? lol

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when you stop taking chances, you'll stay where you sit. you won't live any longer, but it'll feel like it.
ME!
 
Will Smith has funny Dumbo ears too. It was even mentioned in Independence Day. I thought that was cute.
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