Support In Plastic Disagreement?

I have been pretty upfront about my forays into plastic surgery. Oh, I guess they are borderline plastic surgery at best, but, let’s call a spade a spade. When you alter your appearance by surgery, it’s plastic. First, veneers added to fix my gap. Because while it was fun to be able to park a Mac truck between my front teeth, it didn’t do much for my smile. And more drastic – I had a breast reduction that cut 6 pounds off my chest. SIX. That was technically for my back, but yeah. It was for my self-esteem too.

Recently a friend decided to have her breasts augmented. She and I often joke that if we put our top halves together, we’d have a perfect woman. Bryan then responded he just wanted what was left over to mount on his shoulder for a pillow.

But that is the question here – what *is* a perfect woman? How far should we go to achieve it?

I can tell you, after a taste of that instant “fix” for your body – you want more. I am so totally not opposed to considering other things down the road, if they look natural and make me feel good. The scary thing is I am sure that crazy cat lady started out feeling that way too. How do you find the balance?

In my friend’s case, she thought about it, talked with her husband, and when she was ready, talked to her friends. She had breastfed, was unhappy with her breasts, still young, vivacious – so why not? I have seen the results up close and personal, and I can tell you it was about shape, not size. Here’s the weirdest sentence I have ever wrote on my blog: My friend’s boobs rock. Not a Pamela Anderson in sight.

She is happy.

Except for the point in time, while she was recovering no less, that her sister called, yelling obscenities in the phone about the choice she made. That had she known about the surgery, she would have come into town and blocked the doorway to the hospital.

I waffle back and forth about this. Part of me appreciates the protection factor. If I start going down the Cat Lady slippery slope, I hope someone will block the hospital door for me.

But more importantly, I wish the sister had heard my friend out. Her reasons. Her plan. Her lack of porn boobs.

And in the end, really, truly, what we do with our body is our own choice.

This article has 18 comments

  1. Meghann

    I think it just boils down to: Who the EFF cares about what someone else does to their body? It’s their body, and they have to live with the consequences of it, not anyone else.

    I’d never do it, because I’m terrified of unnecessary anesthesia. I’ve known people who have died from routine surgeries because of a weird reaction to it, so I’m not going to risk it.

    That’s about me though, and not anyone else.

    (if surgery were risk free, I’d totally want a tummy tuck. Giving birth to four kids has left some pretty loose skin around my middle that I don’t think any amount of exercise will ever get rid of.)

  2. Jennifer

    I agree, who cares? Especially after breastfeeding, ha.

  3. Pgoodness

    Just because I don’t have plans to do anything plastic surgery wise, doesn’t mean I would stop anyone else from doing it. If someone wants/needs to make changes to their body, and surgery is the best way, then who am I to judge them? I figure if it makes you happy, then it’s worth it.

  4. Katybeth

    Love Love Love the idea of plastic surgery only wishing it was not so expensive. I would have my chin done in a heartbeat with a top notch plastic surgeon. I think its interesting that in Texas, and New Mexico where I grew up the idea is so much more widely accepted than in Midwest–even in the big city of Chicago.

  5. Angelina

    Personally, I think the sister was right. Maybe she was mean about it – but she was trying to help.

  6. Aimee Greeblemonkey

    Meghann and Nat – I see your point, that really would be an awful conversation… but, at least in my case, I had been under the knife before (emergency c-section), knew how I stood anesthesia, researched and trusted my doctor, and felt the risks were very small opposed to the benefits of the surgery to me (HUGE).

  7. Burgh Baby

    It’s very easy to pass judgment when you don’t have the full story. It’s too bad people don’t think about it before they do, though.

  8. Patois

    It’s not something I’d do, but I’d totally back someone wanting to do that for themselves. My sister fixed a “gorgeous” nose she always disliked (but I always coveted). She’s happier. Whatever.

  9. Nat

    Hmmmmm… I’m leaning towards opposed, but I have tattoos so I may be a hypocrite on this one.

    Like Meghann, I don’t understand subjecting yourself to the possibility of death for vanity — I can’t fathom the possibility of The Man having to explain to The Boy “Well, your mother felt she was too (fat/small chested/ugly) so she decided that have a doctor do surgery to fix it. There were complications and she died.” I’m sure if you were to ask Micheline Charest kids they’d rather have a wrinkled mom than a dead one. (Although… she may not be the best example here.)

    As women, I also wonder who sets the ideals for beauty. Why is it that we feel we need to physically alter ourselves? Who decides? What is the ideal that we are holding ourselves up to?

  10. zipper

    Hey- do what you want!

  11. Marla

    I second that Amen, Sista!

  12. nonlineargirl

    I can’t see getting a breast job, but I am not horrified about others getting it. I feel the same way about tattoos.

  13. MB

    I think we should all have the freedom to choose what we want for our bodies. But I can also totally get behind not doing unnecessary procedures, especially if you have children. But hey, to each his or her own. Personally, I’ve never cared about my boobs, really, but I might head down the road to Juvaderm, or some other new dermatological produce that will slow my wrinkling skin. Beyond that, what you see is what you get. I can assure you that if my boobs got in the way, I’d get rid of ’em. 🙂

  14. Heather

    I agree with you. I have always thought of getting one of my chins ‘taken care of’ It always bothers me. No matter how little I weigh they are always there and it will continue to get worse and worse (I have seen my mother, grandmother and aunt and it isn’t pretty)

    Hubs and I have talked about it for years. And he says if I want it done, to do it. He understands and supports me. I am just so darn afraid of the recovery, which is why I haven’t.

  15. Gretchen

    Like so many things in life, I can’t decide what is right for another.

    That said, when I get where I’m going, I’d love a tummy tuck…

  16. Mary@Holy Mackerel

    No one owns our bodies but ourselves. And no one can tell us what to do with our bodies. Especially if we’re not happy with them!

    Having said that, I’m pretty sure I’d never have anything done to my body, although I’ve given quite a bit of thought to having my face jacked up a bit.

  17. EatPlayLove

    All the cream in the world doesn’t seem to make the grand canyon in my forehead disappear. I should embrace it, right?

    I definitely agree, it’s a slippery slope. When young girls are getting little fixes to keep up with photoshopped magazine covers, I’m scared. When mature women want the body of barbie, I’m scared.

    When you want to make your boobs a little perkier or fix a gap in your teeth, to each is own. I say do what you wish. Or just avoid mirrors, like me.

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