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 Should cosmetic surgery be banned?
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Introduction
 
 Alex Deane ( United Kingdom )
Alex Deane won the World Universities Debating Championships 2004 in Singapore.

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  Friday, November 03, 2006

 

Context
³Cosmetic surgery´ (also known as ³plastic surgery´) is surgery that is unnecessary
from a medical perspective, but is carried out to improve appearance.
Cosmetic surgery is an ancient practice. In the 8th century BC, the Indian surgeon
Sushruta Samhita described what is known today as rhinoplasty (surgery to the nose)
and otoplasty (to the ear). Body alteration more generally has been carried out by all
peoples, from tribal tattoos to the neck-extending Kayans of Thailand.
But modern medicine has made the possibilities of cosmetic surgery far more
extensive. Anaesthesia has made procedures less unpleasant and less dangerous. In the
aftermath of each of the two World Wars, cosmetic surgery leapt forwards as the
demand for reconstructive surgery created skills and techniques that could be as easily
applied to (perceived) improvements to image as to medical necessity. Consequently,
cosmetic surgery has become increasingly popular. In 1948, fewer than 300 board-
certified plastic surgeons were in practice in the USA; today the number is more than
4,000. In 2004 12 million cosmetic operations were conducted in the USA alone.
Where America has led, much of the world has followed. Television shows and
newspaper supplements are now devoted to cosmetic surgery and makeover
programmes advocate it.
Today more and more parts of the body can be ³improved.´ Once the possibilities for
surgery were relatively restricted, now almost anything can be the subject of cosmetic
surgery. To name but a few, common operations include abdominoplasty (a ³tummy
tuck´ or reshaping/firming of the abdomen), blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), buttock
implants/reductions, chemical ³peels´ (removal of acne scars and sagging skin), chin
and cheek augmentation, lipectomy (or liposuction ± removal of fat from the body), and
rhytidectomy (a³face lift´) Among the most popular procedures are the otoplasty and
rhinoplasty mentioned earlier, and finally and most commonly, surgery for the breasts:
both mammaplasty ("breast enlargement/reduction") and mastoplexy (³breast lift´) ±
collectively known as ³boob jobs.´ Cosmetic surgery to genitalia is increasingly
common.
This article considers only cosmetic surgery carried out purely to improve appearance,
and does not address plastic surgery for medical reasons, for example post-
disfigurement reconstruction or remedial surgery.

Arguments
Pros Cons
We live in a world that is image obsessed,
and this kind of procedure panders to that.
We should promote the idea that appearance
is not as important as character. People
should be content with themselves and not be
so hung up on their looks.
There are dangers involved in any kind of
surgery. Sometimes we must accept those
dangers, as they come in the course of
necessary medical procedures. But with
elective surgery ± procedures people don¶t
need, but rather merely want ± the risks can¶t
be justified. These risks apply both to the
surgery itself, and to the long term. For
example, leaking silicone breast implants
have been a widespread problem and can lead
to death. Once, paraffin was often injected
into the face to smooth wrinkles, with
disastrous effects. Silicon often finds its way
into other parts of the body, such as the
lymph glands, and can prevent the early
detection of breast cancer as doctors often
think real lumps are silicon leakage. Who
today knows the full future implications of
injecting the highly dangerous poison Botox
into one¶s face?
To attempt to dress cosmetic surgery in the
flag of feminism is absurd. If anything,
cosmetic surgery is the latest phenomenon in
the long history of the objectification of
women in society. Women are driven to meet
male standards of beauty, exaggerating their
shape and seeking to remain youthful lest
their partner leave them for (often literally) a
younger model. Today many operations are
arranged by male partners rather than by the
women themselves. Cosmetically-enhanced
celebrities are redefining definitions of
attractiveness for new generations, leading
young girls who would have been considered
naturally beautiful in past decades to see
themselves as plain and to seek their own
surgical remedies.
The pressures of appearance apply If women or anyone else are secure enough
particularly to women. Pregnancy and ageing not to bother with cosmetic surgery, then fine.
That¶s nice. But given that the reality is that
we¶re judged on our appearance all the time,
it¶s perfectly rational to want to look good.
Nobody¶s forcing anyone to have cosmetic
surgery ± the market is driven by demand.
We should not restrict freedom of choice.
Certainly there¶s an element of danger
involved. But we let people box. We let
people bungee jump. They undertake these
dangers for fun or for money. Why shouldn¶t
we let people undertake dangers in the pursuit
of beauty, and higher self esteem?
Furthermore, cosmetic surgery is becoming
safer and safer. It is increasingly strictly
policed and sky-high legal pay-outs by bad
surgeons have ensured that practitioners take
more and more care. Technology in surgery
and in implants and so forth is forever
improving. The scare stories the proposition
talk about are the worst examples of thirty
years ago ± they¶re nothing to do with
cosmetic surgery today.
This freedom issue is particularly important
to women, who have historically been
subjugated by men, their bodies regarded as
owned and for the use of men. Cosmetic
surgery ± the ultimate control over one¶s
body, perhaps ± is the latest stage in the
emancipation of women and their ability to
decide what happens to their bodies.
Cosmetic surgery is empowering.
have predictable effects: they should be
accepted with grace, not fought against. The
messages sent when some women have
procedures are firstly that the prejudices some
have about appearance are valid, and
secondly that those women secure enough not
to contemplate going under the knife are
³letting themselves go.´
Doctors should heal, not waste their talent on
appearance. Precious talent and resources are
spent on this frivolous activity. Surgeons
should do medical operations that are needed,
not cosmetic procedures that are desired.
The black market argument applies to
everything illegal. Of course that risk exists,
but the number of those undertaking the
activity will be smaller, as you concede. Lack
of legal safeguards and medical
accountability, and the probability that only
badly qualified doctors will offer illegal
operations will deter almost everyone from
risking black market surgery. Fewer
operations must be desirable if it is agreed
that the activity concerned should be banned.
Black market activity will be vigorously
policed ± and after all, its usually pretty
obvious if someone has had surgery.
Cosmetic surgery is addictive: look at
Michael Jackson, or Lolo Ferrarri, who got
breast implant after breast implant despite the
harm it did her body. The compulsion to
change one¶s body is often a symptom of a
deeper mental instability. It should be treated
as a problem, not indulged and encouraged
with surgery. It¶s only a plaster patched over
a much deeper problem.
Pointing to accidental side-benefits of
cosmetic surgery will not cover up the fact
that its intention is to make money, not make
people better. If a fraction of the efforts
pumped into it went into proper medicine, the
medical world would be much more advanced
than it is today. And the fact that the benefits
arise from chance merely serves to highlight
the greed that constitutes the essential nature
But there are many who find that their
appearance truly troubles them and that
improving it would greatly enhance their
quality of life. If they can afford it, let them.
People pay handsomely for cosmetic surgery.
It costs the state nothing, except in situations
in which the operation is necessary medically.
Cosmetic surgery can turn a profit for
hospitals that is put towards more general
medical areas. And doctors receive training
and practice in difficult techniques which can
then be used to help patients in genuine need.
Cosmetic surgery happens because people
want it ± often, desperately. If banned,
cosmetic surgery will flourish on a black
market. It will still happen, but it will be very
expensive (and therefore only available to the
very rich) and it will be much more
dangerous as it will be done by unscrupulous
doctors and outside all the safety precautions
the legal environment provides.
This is patronising, insulting and wrong. The
vast majority of people who have cosmetic
surgery have one procedure and never look
back. They¶re made happier and more secure
in themselves because of it. It¶s fine to
oppose cosmetic surgery, but don¶t falsely
portray those that have it as being mentally
unstable.
The development of cosmetic surgery over
the years has been intertwined with that of
reconstructive and more general medical
surgery. Cosmetic surgery has greatly aided
reconstructive surgery. For example,
maxillofacial surgery, or surgery of the jaw,
has developed with insights from both plastic
surgeons and oral surgeons. It¶s impossible to
say in some areas who contributed the
of cosmetic surgery: those benefits ought to
be all of medicine¶s aim, not an accident
resulting from it. Certainly people make
money and careers in normal medicine, but
they are giving treatments that aim to make
people well, not look different.
There¶s a fair debate to be had here about
what we all know we mean when we talk
about cosmetic surgery. Balloon-breasted
Barbie-doll models and self-indulgent
collagen boosters are the issue, and trying to
squirm out of defending them by pointing to
sad children is pretty weak. Because the
answer is obvious - hare lip correction is
legitimate surgery. Collagen injection to hide
aging is not.
If the opposition is right and plastic surgery is
desirable, then such surgery is unfair. Only
those that can pay for it get it. So if it has the
advantages the opposition claims, the rich
will look good, and the poor will not.
In fact, often, people look appalling after
plastic surgery. Celebrities with ³trout pout´
overblown lips, or absurd, balloon-like
breasts, are only the most well known
examples.
Motions
This House would not improve on nature
This House believes that cosmetic surgery is a plot against women
greatest advances, the cosmetic or the
mainstream. To shut down cosmetic surgery
would be to cut off a valuable outlet for
research and discovery. The market can
sometimes create great benefits: people work
hard in pursuit of profits and often their work
can help us all. Plenty of people make a good
living from normal medicine and they are not
criticised, the same should be true for
privately provided medicine: there¶s nothing
wrong with turning a profit.
How do you define cosmetic surgery? Much
of the ³cosmetic´ work done greatly improves
not just appearance, but quality of life.
Operation Smile, which fixes oral and facial
deformities found in poor children across the
world, is doing ³cosmetic surgery.´ Sure you
can survive with a hare lip or a cleft palate.
But your quality of life ± your self esteem,
employability, acceptance in a traditional
society, etc ± is much better without one.
Following this principle, breast reduction or
augmentation or the removal of acne scars
can be just as important.
You can spend your money how you like.
Why shouldn¶t people be allowed to make the
personal choice to change their appearance
with their own cash? Better that than ask
others to contribute through the state.
Furthermore, the appearance division the
proposition seeks to suggest between rich and
poor is much more dependent on quality of
diet. Diet is a universal factor that affects
complexion, height, etc, while cosmetic
surgery is a relatively insignificant factor in
statistical terms and one that only affects the
particular thing on which surgery is
conducted.
That might be true. Let people choose what
happens to their bodies for themselves. For
every horror story, there are hundreds of
people who are happier with their appearance
after surgery ± whether you prefer their new
appearance or not.
 This House would restrict the availability of cosmetic surgery
That cosmetic surgery should be banned

Useful Sites
Time article on Cosmetic surgery in Asia
Awful plastic Surgery online
Wikipedia on plastic surgery
Operation Smile online
Online review of Elizabeth Haiken¶s Venus Envy, that sets out the history of
cosmetic surgery
Information about cosmetic surgery from the UK¶s Department of Health
(comprehensive ± includes A-Z list of procedures and information on each,
information about qualifications for surgeons etc)

Useful Books
Media and Body Image: If Looks Could Kill
By: Barrie Gunter
Reshaping the Female Body: Dilemma of Cosmetic Surgery
By: Kathy Davis
Venus Envy: A History of Cosmetic Surgery
By: Elizabeth Haiken
The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women
By: Naomi Wolf
Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery
By: Sander L. Gilman
Flesh Wounds: The Culture of Cosmetic Surgery
By: Virginia L. Blum

Themes
Health

Discuss
View the full discussion
 
 

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 01:59 pm
Member While some would think that it would be ideal to live in a society
where your appearance, from your choice of clothing to your
physical appearance, doesn't matter whatsoever, the truth is that we
do see appearance and it does affects us to some degree when it
comes to attracting a mate. I know a guy with a condition called
Gynecomastia (wiki for pictures and info), which is a non-lethal
condition that gave him large breasts. He is a skinny guy, so this
condition has nothing to do with obesity; there is nothing he can do
to get rid of them besides a small cosmetic surgery. We can tell him
 that he should love and be proud of his B-cup breasts (there's nothing
wrong with a man with skinny guy large breasts, I'm not being
sarcastic), people do see these things if he ever decides to take his
shirt off, and most people will not respond favorably to this. This is
only one of many social-life-threatening conditions that can be
remedied by plastic surgery. Getting breast implants of monstrous
proportions is another matter entirely, and you cannot judge all
cosmetic procedures to be the same. There's some difference
between blowing up your lips with collagen versus reducing your
large man boobs to open up opportunities to find a life partner. So
where do we draw a clear line between what's appropriate and what's
not? You can't, because every situation is different. In the end this is
a personal decision made by the individual, and the individual will
take full responsibility for the action; we as a society have no right to
judge an individual or an entire group of people and strip them of
this choice by force with an implementation of a ban, since this is a
personal choice that does not affect anyone besides the person in
question.

A related topic that I've touched on previously: How realistic is it to

completely disregard someone's appearance? Some people say, with
strong conviction, that someone's appearance absolutely does not
matter to them. To those of you who beliefs that, ask yourself this:
Will you still love your partner and treat her the same way if she
transform into a giant cockroach overnight? Or what if you fall in
love with someone online only to discover that he's creepy looking?
Or what if you fell in love with a veiled person who refuses to take
off the veil until wedding night? Let's not forget that we're sexual
beings, and how someone looks does matter to some degree.

Another point that was raised in this board is that a lot of Asian
women goes under the knife to change their mono-lids to a double-
eyelids since that is a standard of beauty in their society. I personally
find mono-lids to be very attractive and I feel that their society
should promote mono-lidded beauty in the media, like the way
Africa had done recently: A beauty pageant was held to glamorize
the beauty of dark skinned Africans in order to discourage the usage
of skin-lightening creams that is rampant within African nations
(Read it on BBC's website). The roots of the problem of cosmetic
surgery are the unhealthy, homogeneous, and unrealistic standards of
beauty. We should debunk these standards instead of imposing a ban
on cosmetic surgery, which is not a problem in itself.

  
Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 06:21 pm

Member i don't think that cosmetic surgery should get banned. i don't
personally think that people should get cosmetic surgery because
they should accept themselves for who they are. but, sometimes
cosmetic surgery is a big step in someone's life and they want to get
it done to make them happy..and..i guess that's ok...as long as you
don't over do it.


 Posted: Tue Apr 8, 2008 09:29 am
Member no i do not believe tht cosmetic surgery should be banned. Cosmtic
surgery is not just the means of people to make their perfectly
good noses narrower or reduce the size of their waist. Sometimes,
cosmetic surgery is a life saver. What about the survivors or a fire
or of a terrible accident whose faces and bodies has been mutiliated
beyond recognition? If we know the technique to recreate one's face
and body shouldnt we use this knowledge to give a new life to such
people.

But yes, i do belive that the use of cosmetic surgery should be

RESTRICTED. It should only be practised under medical
requirement and not because someone wants to change the way they
look. we should all be proud of the way we are. All of us are
different from one another, there is absolutely no requirement to look
a particular way...especially not by goinng under the knife.
?