I actually find a surprisingly large amount of relevant and interesting news posted to my Facebook news feed. I suppose I have a large population of socially conscience “friends” as we so colloquially refer to them as. Anyway, I recently came across a posting of a New York Times video article. First of all, I had no idea this section of the website exists but they have a large amount of video news reporting on here: link. I came across a video that highlights the amount of plastic surgery that is happening in Venezuela. The news team interviewed two select people: the creator of mannequins that go into the stores in Venezuela and an owner of a store who dresses these mannequins. It starts off with a comparison of the old mannequins, that typically look like what you find in the U.S. with relatively small breasts. Then it shows them making the new mannequins, which look like they have had plastic surgery. The difference in the mannequins was enough to increase the sales of the store owner, who says that her customers would rather look at the new mannequins. She believes that her customers want to look like these mannequins.
The women in Venezuela are affected by the culture of beauty pageants and the idealized notion of beauty. The beauty pageants do not require “natural beauty” and will accept anyone who has undergone plastic surgery. Therefore the “regular” citizens watching these pageants believe that what they see on TV is what is beautiful. As a result, the number of women undergoing plastic surgery procedures has increased dramatically. What kind of world are we living in? I didn’t realize that this idealized notion of beauty has spread to other countries as well and is perhaps even worse than it is in the U.S. I think this definitely demonstrates that most industrialized countries have similar reactions to television and the media. The way beauty is portrayed in the media in America is not unique only to our country.
I would be interested as a result of this finding to see what other countries are experiencing these problems of increase plastic surgery use. I surely did not expect to find this happening in Venezuela, not that I know a whole bunch about the country to start with. I feel bad for women who do not think of themselves as “good enough” and must undergo dangerous procedures in order to simply feel better about themselves. Perhaps we should be getting to the root of the problem, which in this case I believe to be self-esteem issues. On a positive note, I still do believe that there are women who do not succumb to the societal pressure to undergo surgery to be “beautiful”. What do you think?
Healthcare is Everywhere 