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Ramita Oil Chalearmchutidath

Ms. Orana Meenongwha
English 10/10:05
May 25, 2017

How Plastic Surgery Changes Lives?

Introduction

People have always been concerned about their outer appearance since the

beginning of civilization as a result plastics surgery was introduced since 1600 BCE.

According to a 1994 article in the Washington Post by Thomas V. DiBacco, reeds

were used in Egyptian nose reconstruction to keep the nostrils open as the nose

healed. Even in the past, people were worried about their appearance and beauty

standards, so they invent the surgery in order to make change on their body. Plastic

surgery is a type of surgery that involved in reshaping and changing the body

appearance and also the ability to function. Currently, with high development of

technologies and medicine, plastic surgery takes place and has huge effect on human.

However, many people tends to think of plastic surgery only as the procedure that

have been done for changing face and body to become more attractive, but they forget

about reconstructive surgery, which helps to reshape the face and body that caused by

genetic disorders, scar from accidents and burns. For example, from Kristins story,

her plastic surgery with Dr. Ben started a positive revolution in her life (Kristins

story, n.d.). So much has changed. I have been promoted to a much higher-level job

with better pay. Therefore, plastic surgery not just only has the negative point of view

but also have positive view such as the opportunity for more jobs, self-esteem,

improvement of social life and etc. Those things show that it really make life better so

although it though to be risky, those risk is worth to take. It is not noticeable that the

trend for plastic surgery in some countries has continuously increased over a decades.
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Still Many people tends to think of plastic surgery only have negative side but this

research will show you how it can change your life forever. In this study, the

researcher, therefore, aimed to explain the positive effect of plastic surgery and how it

hugely changed people lives in terms of appearance, mentality and sociality.

Plastic surgery and appearance

It is commonly known that plastic surgery is the procedure that people

undergo in order to improve their appearance. Throughout decades, plastic surgeons

have been developing and divided into two main types, which are reconstructive

surgery and cosmetic surgery. These two main types aim to enhance the patients

appearance. Reconstructive surgery is done to correct or improve defected parts of

body either on appearance or function (Plastic, reconstructive, and cosmetic surgery,

2007). Physical defects include traumatic defects such as burned skin, damaged

tissues, and cleft lips. In addition, this kind of surgery helps people who have natural

birth defects or experience serious accident or burns, which may ruin their facial and

body appearance. Both groups of people is facing the same problem as their body

cannot function properly, and the outer appearance is abnormal. So, the reconstructive

surgery is the procedure to help them improve their appearance and ability of defected

tissues to function. For example, the Korean TV show named Let me in which is a

makeover reality show features a person who experiences in physical defect or

accident (JayD, 2013). This show offers the candidate a free plastic surgery operated

by experienced surgeons and specialists. All candidates are suffering from having

genetic defects, resulting a serious lack of self-esteem that leads to a miserable life

and pursues to get the surgery. After undergoing the plastic surgery, they become

more attractive and their life change for the better. One of the most surprising and
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impressive episodes is when the show featured a woman who had a strange-looking

jaw. This episode becomes the most-talked about because, after the surgery, her face

has hugely changed in good ways when looking at the before and after photo. Also,

the woman was able to find a new job with higher pay, made more friends, and

decided to leave her ex-boyfriend, who had been making fun of her old appearance.

And, she found a new and more handsome boyfriend soon after. Another type of

plastic surgery is cosmetic surgery or aesthetic surgery, which is a procedure that can

change unattractive facial features or parts of body that a person is not satisfied with

(Plastic, reconstructive, and cosmetic surgery, 2007). The most popular procedures of

cosmetic surgery done these days are breast surgery, Liposuction, nose reshaping, eye

rid surgery, and facelifts (Friedman, 2017). For breast surgery, many women are not

satisfied with the shape and size of their breast. The beast implantation, which

enlarges the size of the breast, is done for the women who aspire bigger breast. Some

women have sagging and loose breasts that can be the result of aging or breastfeeding,

so they undergo breast augmentation that helps them rejuvenate the firmness and

elasticity of the breast. By taking the breast surgery, it improves womens feeling

about sexuality, boosts up their self-esteem and improves their social life. From all

that mentioned above, it can be concluded that the positive effect of plastic surgery in

terms of appearance has significantly improved peoples lives.

Plastic surgery and mental health

Plastic surgery not only improves patients appearance but also enhances their

mental health especially their self-esteem. Despite the famous saying don't judge a

book by its cover, people usually judge the other by their looks at the first sight. On

the survey, it had found that more than three quarters of participants said they judged
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and accepted their peers based on what they saw on their Instagram, Snapchat or

Facebook profile. Also the survey reported that two-third of people on social media

post image to make their lives seem more exciting which will make others accept

them as a friend or even make them more popular as a support ideas (Zolfagharifard ,

2015). As a result, people decided to undergo plastic surgery in order to improve

their self-esteem. Golodryga and Frost (2012) reported that one-bullied teen decided

to undergo plastic surgery in order to gain her self-esteem back and get away from

being bullied. Nadia llse, 14 year olds girl had been bullied for years, and she kept

this as a secret from her mother because she didnt want to burden her mom. She said

the school was a nightmare for her as she was teased about her appearance all the

time. Nadia said that the bulliers offend said this to her, she has the biggest ears that

they've ever seen, so they called her Dumbo, elephant ears. In order to avoid

bullying, she decided to act like she doesnt care but deepest in her heart she really

does and it hurt her a lot. Somehow later, her mom finally finds out about the bullying

and her mom is heartbroken. So, they tried to find the solution together and the final

result is plastic surgery. They go to consult with doctor, the doctor suggested she to

get a chin implant to balance her face and a nose job to fix a deviated septum. She

went under the knife, getting a nose job, a chin implant and had her ears pinned back.

The result comes out well and she finally has the confidence to walk in the school

with her hair banded up to show her ears. And she said that she is more confident than

ever now and is ready to forgive her tormentors. To sum up, despite the fact that some

people opposed the plastic surgery, it can improve a persons appearance and, more

importantly, his self-confidence. To some extent, plastic surgery can solve issues of

bully better than other solutions.

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Plastic surgery and career advancement

Besides improving patients appearance and self-confidence, plastic surgery is

one of unorthodox approaches to career advancement. Some people who undergo the

plastic surgery only aimed for career improvement, especially in entertainment

industry. South Korea is the worlds third biggest plastic surgery market and many

Korean people use plastic surgery as the path to their career (JiJi, 2017). Herman

(2017) reported that a K-pop girl group named Six Bomb releases the two versions

of musical videos Becoming Pretty that show before and after the members have

undergone plastic surgery. Six Bomb debuted on the K-pop scene in 2012 with six

people members, but later disbanded (Jiji, 2017). The group bounced back as a

foursome in 2015, but with three new members, and rapper Soa as the only returning

player. Six Bomb have yet to become major stars and with all members now in their

mid-20s, time could be running out for them in a youth-driven market. So thats why

they went under the knife. Also they said that they all want to some surgeries done to

look prettier. However, Six Bombs decision to get plastic surgery is also pressured

by the K-Pop industry. Six Bombs head manager Kim Il-Woong, told AFP News that

Six Bombs management funded the plastic surgery operations. The total cost of the

procedures was 100 million Korean Won, which is roughly equivalent to $90,000

U.S. dollars (Kim, 2017). The funding of these procedures reveals that for Six Bomb,

plastic surgery is about more than just being pretty. Its an investment in the future

of their careers as K-Pop stars. Many K-Pop singers, male and female, choose to get

plastic surgery, including double eye-lid surgery to gain the appearance of larger eyes,

jaw slimming surgery, and rhinoplasty to gain a higher and perkier nose. Moreover,

Zhang (2014) informed that many graduated students go through cosmetic surgery in

order to be more competitive while looking for jobs. As the masters degree from a
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famous university doesnt make them get the decent job, but a better appearance will

help them more. For example, if two candidates have the same degree and

experiences, the more attractive one has a better shot at landing the job. Some

companies even list being pretty/handsome as a requirement for a position, while

qualities like academic performance, professional background are considered less

important. It can be seen that plastic surgery can be a career changing practice that

certain groups of people decide to do. As demonstrated, all member of a Korean girl

group, Six Bomb went under knife, and after the surgery they were able to get more

jobs and become more famous not only because of their talent but also their improved

appearance. As a result, this influenced the graduated student to undergo plastic

surgery in order to stay competitive in workplace. Plastic surgery, therefore, is

adopted to be the effective way for career advancement.

Conclusion

To conclude, this research purposed the positive effects of plastic surgery,

including improvement of appearance, self-esteem, and career. Those positive effects

help to enhance lives of people whom undergo plastic surgery in different ways as it

can be seen from all evidences that are mentioned above. One type of plastic surgery

is reconstructive surgery, which is done to correct or improve defected parts of body

and also improve the ability to functions. This type of plastic surgery is done for

people who have the body that cannot function properly, and the outer appearance is

abnormal. Moreover, plastic surgery not only helps to enhance the appearance but

also improve the mental health in term of self-esteem. For people who are being

bullied on their appearance, the bullying incident makes them lose their confidence

and even cause mental problems. So, the plastic surgery is the effective solutions for
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this problem as it helps to regain their confidence back and get away from being

bullied. Apart from ameliorating the appearances and self-esteem, the plastic surgery

is also a solution for career advancement. In the work place, the competition is very

high and one of the ways to stay competitive in your workplace is to improve the

appearance, which can be done by undergoing the plastic surgery. So, after reading

this research paper, did it change the belief of the effect of plastic surgery? As most

of people seem to think of plastic surgery as a high risk procedure that have only

negative sides, so the researcher aim to exhibit the positive side of plastic surgery in

order to let the reader know another sight of view and why the plastic surgery become

very effective procedure for many people today. However, people should think

carefully before making the decision on having plastic surgery. If they have the

problem about their appearance, the number one solution that they think of should not

be plastic surgery, as they should think of other ways to solve this problem first. After

that, if they have done what they could and there still a problem so the plastic surgery

can be the solution for them. The researcher strongly believes that the plastic surgery

will hugely change the peoples lives for the better.

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References
DiBacco, T. (1994). ALTERRED IMAGES. Retrieved from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/1994/12/1

3/altered-images/d84e0894-08ae-4dcd-ada0-

83aa40831fdd/?utm_term=.99b72f4b8083

Kristins Story How Plastic Surgery Change My Life. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.advancedfacialplastic.com/wp-

content/uploads/2015/04/How-Plastic-Surgery-changed-my-life.pdf

Plastic, reconstructive, and cosmetic surgery. (2007). Retrieved from

http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/Pa-St/Plastic-Reconstructive-

and-Cosmetic-Surgery.html

JayD. (2013). Let Me In Korean Plastic Surgery. Retrieved from

https://myseoulsecret.com/let-me-in/

Friedman, M. (2017). THESE ARE THE MOST PLASTIC SURGERIES

RIGHT NOW. Retrieved from

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/health/news/a21088/most-

popular-cosmetic-surgeries-2016/

Zolfagharifard. (2015). Over 75% of people admit to make their lives exciting

on social media. Retrieved from

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3274749/Welcome-

Fakebook-75-people-admit-making-lives-exciting-social-media.html
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Golodryga, B. and Frost, M. (2012). Bullied Teem Who Got Facial Plastic

Surgery Ready to Forgive Tormentors, But Wont Forget. Retrieved

from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/bullied-teen-facial-plastic-surgery-

ready-forgive-tormentors/story?id=17002192

Jiji. (2017). Cutting edge: K-pop band praise plastic surgery in new song.

Retrieved from

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2017/03/17/entertainment-

news/cutting-edge-k-pop-band-praise-plastic-surgery-new-

song/#.WSOcplKB1PN

Herman, T. (2017). A K-Pop Girl Group Turned Their Plastic Surgery Into a

Musical Concept. Retrieved from

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/7727834/six-bomb-

k-pop-girl-plastic-surgery

Kim. (2017). Six Bomb reveal how much they spend on plastic surgery for

Becoming Prettier (After) + new MV teaser. Retrieved from

http://www.allkpop.com/article/2017/03/six-bomb-reveal-how-much-

they-spent-on-plastic-surgery-for-becoming-prettier-after-new-mv-

teaser

Zhang, C. (2014). Cosmetic Surgery for a Better Job?. Retrieved from

http://www.10minuteswith.com/blog/cosmetic-surgery-better-job
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Appendix