I Wouldn’t Get Plastic Surgery… Would I?

I always assumed cosmetic surgery was something motivated entirely by vanity. A desire to look prettier, or younger, or both, since our culture generally equates the two.

I’ve never felt the kind of vanity that would make me want to aspire to be more attractive. I’m not a psychologist, but it seems to me that one category of people who might be more inclined to get cosmetic surgery are people who are already quite good looking. If you felt you were almost “perfect,” by whatever standard you’re applying, then surely it would be tempting to “correct” that one last detail. I’ve never felt I’m attractive enough to be within that kind of range.

Which is not to say I feel significantly dissatisfied either. Another motivation for cosmetic surgery, maybe more obvious and common, is to want “fix” what you might see as a barrier between yourself and some kind of minimum standard you’re setting. On that end of the scale, I think I’m okay looking, basically normal.

I’ve contemplated “fixes.” I’m not thrilled about my receding hairline, for example. If there were some kind of treatment that was neither too invasive nor too reliant on long term chemical use, I might be inclined to do something about it.

But probably not, largely because I don’t seem to have been held back by my receding hairline. I took the…