Young Girls & Plastic Surgery: The Impact on Body Image & Psychological Well-Being - Essay Sample

Introduction

The main reason why young girls seek plastic surgery is to enhance their body images. The term body image normally involves the perception that one has regarding their physical appearance. The nature and prevalence of negative body image experience are often high in young girls than in males who seek for plastic surgeries. Today, many girls fail to act themselves because they are focused on responding to the world's view of them

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Body Image and Psychological Well-Being

The connection between body image and plastic surgery depicts a new generation of research on the psychological aspects of plastic surgery (Di Mattei 2). In 2012 alone, over ten million plastic surgical operation was performed in the USA. The increasing acceptance of plastic surgery for beauty reasons has been attributed to a series of psychological, and social factors which explain their desire to seek cosmetic surgery (Di Mattei 3-4). Young girls have a myriad of reasons why they seek out plastic surgery other than their desire to change their own appearance. Some of these reasons include:

In the age of selfies, more young girls are seeking plastic surgery (Furnham 48) They are all testament to the fact that the first impression matters and most teens do not like to be teased based on their looks. For example, a young girl had a condition called "Stahl's ear" which made is an ear to look folded over. At the age of seven, his family opted for plastic surgery to fix the condition after noticing the child had developed low self-confidence because of the teasing she got from other teens.

The young girls who seek for breast augmentation procedures often do that to make themselves beautiful, and normally act older (Singh 57). Young girls who seek plastic surgery express their desire to wear shorts and tight trendy dresses to become attractive to the opposite sex. The thought of having sex start getting into their young minds especially after high school graduation. Parental permission is pivotal, in tandem with determining the physical, and emotional maturity of a young patient before plastic surgery is conducted (Furnham 49). The patient should be aware of all the potential risks, and possible complications involved with the plastic surgery.

Lack of Self Confidence

Insecurity is making women feel bad about their physical appearance. Whether fat or think, women tend to care more about their looks or physical attractiveness. The uncertainty upsurges their lack of self-confidence since they always have worries about their bodies since if they don't look good, they are given low social status by society. In the same parallel, research shows that loneliness is associated with negative body image (Carpenter 27). Women who are not attractive struggle making friends. To address the problem, they tend to create a solution by changing their physical appearance with the aim that it will help them connect with friends and peers. Moreover, peer pressure is another factor that is making girls change how they appear. Peer influence pushes them to change who they are in order to fit into their groups. The conforming habits show that such girls lack self-confidence about themselves.

Suicide

Suicide rates in the United States are common among girls who think that they are too thin or too fat irrespective of their weight. Research shows that bullying is a major factor that contributes to the high number of suicide rates (Carpenter 11). Bullying about physical appearance has detrimental effects, which result in suicidal consequences. Women who are bullied experience problems associated with emotional and mental health. In the result, they develop stress and trauma something that elevates suicidal thoughts (Kittredge n.p). At the same time, lack of support develops perceptions to the girls that since they are too thin or too fat, they are not a sizable proportion that can fit into American society. Extreme weight is a suicidal warning sign that requires social and emotional support from parents, peers, and teachers. Another alarming factor that is increasing the rate of suicide among underweight and overweight girls is depression. For instance, obesity has been a challenge among teenage girls in the United States. It affects their self-esteem hence categorizing it under the risk factors that generate suicidal feelings.

Imperfection

Young girls are seeking plastic surgery especially facial surgery to remove the dark spots on the surface of their skin, and to "obscure imperfections" (Furnham 49). However, this kind of procedures has its flaws and long-term effects which cannot be corrected. Genetics is a major reason why young girls seek plastic surgery. Hence, the type of gene within an individual can be a determining factor whether to indulge in plastic surgery or against it. For example, a young girl may have "Deviated Septum" condition which makes her look different and might opt for nose surgery to fix the problem. Young girls seek plastic surgery to look like other girls whom they see in the Snapchat or Instagram (Furnham 50). However, little do they know that popular filters on snapchat help in accentuating the best features in them. The condition that these girls suffer is known as "Body Dysmorphic Disorder" which lowers their esteem and causes them to change their face, and bodies to look like other girls. Teens often get motivated to undergo plastic surgery since they lack self-esteem, and believe that their natural looks are inadequate.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important for girls/women to be the true self. Changing of who they are in order to fit into society creates challenges such as anxiety, depression, a high number of suicide rates, and health problems especially to those who undergo through plastic surgery. The best option is to be who they are instead of what the world wants them to be. However, for them to be who they are to be achieved requires support, particularly from the family and society, therefore, it is better for women to be whom they were meant to be in the world.

Works Cited

Carpenter, Stephanie. Are educational trajectories influenced by childhood and adolescent experiences of bullying?. Diss. University Honors College, Middle Tennessee State University, 2018. Retrieved: https://jewlscholar.mtsu.edu/bitstream/handle/mtsu/5597/CARPENTER%20Final%20Thesis%2018S.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Di Mattei, Valentina Elisabetta, et al. "The impact of cosmetic plastic surgery on body image and psychological well-being: a preliminary study." International Journal of Psychology & Behavior Analysis 2015 (2015). Retrieved from: file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/The_Impact_of_Cosmetic_Plastic_Surgery_on_Body_Ima.pdf

Furnham, Adrian, and James Levitas. "Factors that motivate people to undergo cosmetic surgery." Canadian Journal of Plastic Surgery 20.4 (2012): 47-50. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3513261/

Kittredge, Clare. "The Physical Side of Stress." Everyday Health-Women's Health. (2017). Retrieved from: https://www.everydayhealth.com/womens-health/physical-side-of-stress.aspx

Singh, Kuldeep. "Cosmetic surgery in teenagers: To do or not to do." Journal of cutaneous and aesthetic surgery 8.1 (2015): 57. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4411597/