Is cosmetic surgery becoming a societal expectation?
Society is already faced with numerous reality TV shows, some of which are well-liked and others that are hated.
Reality TV shows are becoming hard to avoid. At first, the only medium platform to air these shows was television. But with services providing streaming of TV shows and movies such as Netflix and Hulu, it is becoming increasingly hard to avoid watching reality TV.
To some, reality shows are garbage, and to others, reality shows are fascinating and entertaining. According to the uses and gratifications theory, some people use media for satisfying real needs such as relaxation and passing time, which could be the reason for some people who watch reality shows.
But the issue of reality TV is that some viewers might not understand that there is a difference between real life and what they see on TV. According to the cultivation theory, the more time people spend watching TV, the more they will perceive the world as the reality portrayed on the shows.
A controversial topic is having plastic and cosmetic surgery for the purpose of trying to alter the way people look, and there are many reality shows that air procedures done on people.
Some people who want cosmetic surgery are dissatisfied with their appearance so they try to change their features to look the way society thinks people should look.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there were 15.9 million plastic surgery procedures performed in the United States, which is a two percent increase from 2014 (15.6 million).
The most common procedures are breast lifts, buttock lifts, lower body lifts and upper arm lifts, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
It is said by many that you should embrace what you look like and love yourself, but because of some hegemonic ideologies it is hard for many people to do this. There is an unwritten standard in society that people strive to live up to.
The new reality shows about people undergoing cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, it is showing ordinary people changing their appearances to try to look like somebody they are not.
Just because reality TV stars appear to be “normal people” does not mean the rest of society should strive to be like them.
According to a study reported by the Center for Aesthetics and Plastic Surgery, people who watch reality shows about cosmetic surgery are more likely to be interested in changing their appearance with a procedure.
These cosmetic surgery reality shows could have a disastrous effect on society.
Personally, I would not want my children to watch these shows because I would not want them to think they should get plastic surgery to increase their confidence levels. I would hope that they could see themselves as beautiful even if society does not say so.
Unfortunately, these shows can have effects on society and how people think they should live their lives. Societal expectations of how people should look could promote these surgeries.
The agenda-setting theory could play a role in why plastic surgery is becoming a norm because the theory says that the mass media influences the public agenda.
Many celebrities have had a cosmetic surgical procedure, and when people constantly see these celebrities in the media, it can be hard to not want to live and look like them.
The statistics of the number of people who want and get plastic surgery is alarming, but it does not seem to be a topic that is looked at with high importance.
Should people begin to take action on changing society’s perception on plastic surgery? Or will cosmetic surgery continue to increase until people are just reinventions of themselves?
