"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." - Marilyn Monroe
These days, beauty can really be taken to the extremes - fad diets, tanning, and at the most extreme, plastic surgery. I find it so fascinating, mostly because I live in a small enough town where it just isn't super-common. But whenever I watch the news or pick up a magazine, there seems to be new, wacky procedures (shoulder lipo, anyone?) all the time. Also, more and more celebrities are being accused of going under the knife, no matter how much they try to deny it.
Now, I generally believe that people have the right to do what they want with their bodies. But the problem I see with this growing trend is that it shifts the standards far beyond natural beauty. When so many celebs (and even average women and teens) are going in for parts as perfect (and real) as a Barbie doll, it gets a lot harder to accept your own body as beautiful as it is. Even if you know what's real and what's fake, it totally shifts the framework for what "beautiful" should be.
So I don't think that plastic surgery should be outlawed or anything. I mean, there's all kinds of ways to change your appearance, and that's a personal choice. But I think the reasons for doing it have to be considered. Health concerns are one thing, like when Ashley Tisdale got her nose done to fix the deviated septum that was causing breathing problems. But when it's insecurities, well, I don't think surgery can really fix that for you. "What I found, though, was that it didn't help me one bit," says actress Kathy Griffin, who got a face lift and multiple other procedures. "It didn't get me happier or didn't make me look particularly younger." Acceptance, happiness, confidence - these things really can't be touched by outside changes I've learned.
But what do you think, Fab Gal? Would you ever get plastic surgery, if it were a possibility? Do you think it's okay? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
